Libs, Dems & Progressives: Stress, Anxiety, Depression meds.

I am working on a blog article about what the level of stress, anxiety and depression is with the diehard libs, progs and dems. Will you be a guinea pig for a lil bit of research for me. I'm very curious about this. Consider it an victim impact statement on how this has affected you.

Feel free not to divulge anything too personal. This is a very unscientific poll about stress.

Meds- refers to prescription medication. OTC - refers to over the counter.

Thanks DUers!! Love to all.

Especially with commercials and all of their caveats about their products (may cause organ failure or instant death.) I take an occasional ibuprofen for arthritic pain. I shy away from stronger stuff (much to my wife's chagrin.)

It's really something I'm very curious about. How bad is this all making us feel. Bad enough to get help?

make me very angry and I'm getting close to being pessimistic about our future but I'll shy away from medications to cope with it. I was a beer drinker before bush, during bush and no doubt after bush. Maybe I medicate but liberally sharing my opinions with others, usually in a loud voice with wild gesticulations and I like to throw in my retiree ID card as lagniappe (coonass for a little something extra.) pronounced lan-yap.

drug companies have to list their side effects during their commercials. Their advertisements are scarier than science fiction movies. I'd rather hurt a little than take most medicines. I have found Ibuprofen to be a reliable pain reliever but I don't use that very much.

it raises blood pressure

and it can cause destruction of the stomach lining more than something like Celebrex or like Cox 2 inhibitors.

ibuprofen is a cox 1 inhibitor

they are very similar, except that cox 2 inhibitors don't damage the stomach lining as much

I can't take ibuprofen because it causes terrible stomach irritation after only a single dose.

To quote Bill Maher: "It's not pot or acid or LSD, the scarier drugs are the ones they advertise on the 6:30 evening news!"

The trouble with caring about other people, and not just about your selfish self, is empathy. "I feel your pain" and it is... painful.

It would hurt less to hate all, except for me and mine.

I've been on anti-depression meds for a long time, but after 2000, my doctor had to add a med and increase the dosage of the second one.

or stressed. i get angry yell vent and all better. but i dont depress or stress. it is what it is. i can only od me. i cannot do another and certainly cannot do the whole world, ergo i dont have it on my shoulders.

more so.... i dont believe in victim, further, i totally reject victim. regardless of what we are given, we have the power to deal with it in a healthy and positive way. higher in all things, even the situation in u.s. right now with asshole bushco's.... lots of higher, and lessons. has made me a better person. has made my children better people, and yes, has taken my hubby from repug party to independent and so mad at repugs wont ever vote for them again. as i say, there is a higher in all things. life happens, it is what we do with it.

now bong, booze..... ok

I need someone on the happy end of the bell curve.

for the data

...before I got diagnosed with anxiety disorder and got medicated, shortly after we went to war with Iraq. Even with anxiety meds, I often reach Critical Asshole Saturation (CAS) without occasional pot smoking. I'm sure some here would argue that I'm always at CAS, but that's probably just because they've received preferential treatment.

Had depressive episodes all my life, but had good spells between them, medicated and not medicated.

Since 2000 it's been one long depression/anxiety fest, tried medication twice in that time, once it worked for a little while, the second time was awful and made everything worse.

And since I've had no prescrip coverage in that time ANYWAY, am now not taking anything, feel better than in a while though, because of hard exercise. And booze.

I really do think that lots and lots of liberals have had an emotionally HARD time in the last few years.

The actor on "Law and Order: Criminal Intent" apparently had some real problems in November, 2004. He was strongly for Kerry, and anti-Bush, and after the election, he passed out on the set, etc. That's why Chris Noth now does half the "CI" edisodes.

I experienced several overlapping crises which caused great anxiety...things which would cause anxiety for most people. These unexpected events occurred without my seeking them out in any way. One was a completely unavoidable natural disaster which re-routed my life forever. The other cases involved corruption and nastiness inflicted on close associates, and the disintegration of all illusion of community trust and security. There were also 3 deaths in my family including the death of a 12 year-old, during this time. And what you might call a defacto death, a complete personality change in a parental figure.

I made it through these crises with limited use of medication. I do credit a very positive counselling experience however--sometimes you do encounter the right person at the right time. OP--I notice you do not include support groups or counsellors in the poll, as an addition/alternative to medications or ansthetizing substances. (But less likely to be covered by insurance I realize). Anyway I can honestly say that I developed a way of coping with the unforeseen that has helped me weather the insults and abuse of the B* administration and enough inner strength to fight back. --"All the crap that 'Life' dishes out, and NOW we're being asked to save Democracy too!"-- has become my mantra for the millenium.

So anyway after all this adversity close to home, I was not shocked by the S/election of 2000, and after that unprecedented opener, NOTHING the Bushies have done, including the theft of election 04, has particularly shocked or awed me. Certainly the disaster they created in Iraq wasn't too hard to see coming. Even 9-11, such a spectacular mind-blowing tragedy, just made me MORE determined to understand WHAT is going on here--WHAT has our country DONE to get to this point, where planes deliberately fly into buildings!?! One of my New York friends gets my award for ultra-cool (or maybe complete shell-shock) --when I asked him shortly after 9-11 how he was doing with it all, he said casually "oh no problem, I was uptown at the time..." that statement did shock me. I also have an elderly uncle who the day after (9-12) said "Oh yeah, that was pretty bad, wasn't it?" as he flipped back to easy-listening. I assure you I was not quite that oblivious (!) but to this day I know that somehow by the time of that terrible event I had built up some psychological immunity to horrific shock, man-made or otherwise. This state has helped me to see 9-11 and the diabolical deeds of the B* administration more clearly. I never had the delusion of thinking "they can't be THAT bad...' or 'maybe we can just blow thru it'--Nah, I KNEW we were IN for it, bigtime, and that it would shake the fundamentals of this country. I feel like I had time to fasten my seatbelt.

We Americans are not used to such a dissonance between what we were taught to believe about our country, and what we now see that it actually is. So in a way this is a necessary reality check. At least the Russians knew they were living in a totalitarian state. Here in this country there is a cruel disconnect going on, an even bigger betrayal in some ways. However we are now seeing a general awakening to the truth of it. Liberals (& anyone else dealing with distress under Bushco) now understand that we have, as preposterous as it sounds, witnessed the Hijacking of the Government of America. No two ways about it. This is serious stress, esp for people who are paying attention, people with some sense of right and wrong. I don't blame anyone who takes breaks from "feeling" these stresses with their distraction of choice. We also need support groups that deal directly with this kind of abuse--abuse of a sacred trust. To a certain extent, that's what DU and other outlets for expression are. Whatever the ways of coping, we're not going gently into that goodnight, I don't think.

Like Junior is going down one way or another. This ongoing five year bivouac could be going on six but we or at least some of us will outlast that traitorous AWOL piece

Had to quit drinking because I tend to be an angry drunk, exacerbates the anger. I sneak three beers once a week, usually friday after work. Pot makes me dizzy

Prefer cognitive therapy - sleep, eat, read, work, go fishing and camping when possible

Blow steam at my repuke boss /friend regarding politics

It was then that I realized that America might not have a good future or one at all.

Guess I need to hook up with some of my students. :rofl:

Not to put down those that do. I've just had some bad experiences with them and getting them.

But!

My husband says I am grinding my teeth like mad at night. My dentist is after me big-time to get a night guard.

Stress is what causes most night grinding....

And just for your scientific study, I haven't changed jobs, no new kids or other life-changing events that would be contributing to this new development.

"going to drink my way through the 2nd term of Bush**" on Nov. 6th they were stunned. My kids looked at me in total disbelief because they were used to my being able to count the number of drinks that I had in a year on one hand , and that was after decades of not drinking at all (pregancy, nursing, long illness, etc.).

If I don't have a meeting or don't have to go out during the evening I have a beer while I'm beginning to cook dinner, and I'll have another or a glass of wine with dinner. Not major drinking, but it does help me get to sleep.

And yes, I'll admit to being stressed.

I was on them before 2000, & it's good that I was because the only way I can deal with this horrible era is by taking anti-depressants. I figured out a long time ago that I am an unusually sensitive person, & it has always been very difficult for me to deal with how unfair the world is (maybe this is why I am a Democrat rather than a Republican. Republicans never seem to care about how unfair things are). So yes, I have had to "medicate" myself. I won't touch drugs or alcohol. They wouldn't mix well with my medication, & I always say that I'm crazy enough sober--why do I need to make it worse? Heh.

Tammy

just worse high blood pressure as a result of greatly increased anxiety, especially since 2004.:scared:

after beating a panic disorder for about 15 years, I had several panic attacks in 2001. Much better now but I do have a sense of hypervigilance that I didn't have before this Felon and his Thugs were put in office.

So, I voted #1 but in this context. Good luck with your article. :hi:

I don't mean to be a party pooper, but I wonder what purpose this serves?

felt any anxiety about the current political situation, then you probably wouldn't understand. But, intellectually speaking, you could probably agree that it's important for those who do feel threatened to the core, to have group support.

Anxiety about the current political situation and anxiety and depression as psychiatric diagnoses, while they could theoretically be linked in some cases, are not one and the same, by a longshot. Further, this is just anecdotal, which makes any link to the "outcomes" of this survey rather dangerous, if nothing else.

just a little informal survey to gauge responses, trends. Obviously it's not a random sample, nor is it a wide enough sample, to make it fit any scientific protocols. (Nor is it any attempt to categorize respondants as to psychiatric diagnosis).

However if the OP wants to POSTULATE a link between the current political situation and a rise in anxiety and depression in his article, that's OK as long as it is presented as speculation or opinion, with supporting facts. The reader can take it or leave it. Most likely this question COULD be a subject for a scientific study (not funded by the current administration...) The degree to which people in general are affected today by the political situation is a viable topic--I'm sure we'd all like to see definitive studies on that. Have any been done in the US? To what extent does living under a repressive government induce or aggravate negative mental health conditions? To what extent is it a stress factor for those who do not have a history of anxiety or depression? To what extent does this kind of stress create a sense of hypervigilance? Reasonable questions.

I just see this as another opportunity for people here at DU to speculate, tell where they are emotionally at this point, share reactions. No harm done.

Think of me as asking you at the mall!!

--it was HuckleB questioning the "validity" of it, not me.

Right, it's only a blog survey--that's what I was trying to argue.

Sorry!!!!

OK.

But it still seems irresponsible to me.

You're real close to protesting it too much. Got some personal issues about near-meaningless internet polls?

Your answer contradicts itself.

I was on anti-depressants before * was selected; I've since gone off them, some years ago now. I chose pass the bong for a reason...medicinally an excellent treatment for migraines, insomnia, mild depression & anxiety, and strangely enough, also great for hot flashes, which I suffer as a side effect of early menopause from chemotherapy due to breast cancer.

Of course, I'm a wild child from the seventies, what I call a "tail end baby boomer", meaning I was born at the end of the baby boom. I also grew up on the west coast of Florida, and in that time and place there was a much less puritanical attitude.

My level of stress and anxiety due to this god-awful nightmare is sky high. My husband says I'm obsessed. I feel as if I HAVE to keep track of everything that is going on - it's like my Karma demands that I bear witness or something. I have a hard time concentrating on things not related to this criminal regime. When someone talks to me about something not related to *, I have a running joke now - I say "I can bring that back to politics in one step."

There is also the unfortunate fact that since December 2000, I've been laid off 3 times due to corporate mergers/buyouts, and outsourcing - and I'm a secretary! - and my husband was laid off once, from a job with very good pay and benefits that he had been at for 9 years. He is employed, with a good company and good benefits; the pay is decent, and will get better as his time on the job increases. And it is a job that cannot be outsourced. I'm still unemployed, but I got folded into the NAFTA retraining program, so I'm in school right now. That doesn't change the fact that we're making about 50% less a year than we were 8 years ago. Money is really tight, of course, so that adds to the anxiety.

I also live in a very rural southern area; smack in the middle of a hissing nest of Repukes; although they're hissing a lot less now than they were! I have had to be careful what and to whom I spoke openly for a long time, which made me VERY stressed; and I felt extremely repressed and discriminated against because of it. The hate mongers spewed their filth on TV and radio, and the people around here passed it on. I've had my car keyed (at the time my new car), I've had bumper stickers torn off my vehicles, I've been treated to junior high school "shunning" type of tactics by grown women who should know better, I've been harassed at work (which I put a stop to), I've been treated like crap in the church I was married in because of my views, and it has all taken a toll on me. I often feel as if I'm trapped; I sometimes experience feelings of hopelessness, anger, and despair. I feel like I've stepped through an invisible door to an alternate universe where up is down and down is sideways.

Reading this over, I'm struck that this sounds really depressing. I'm not depressed though; I have a very strong (and twisted) sense of humor, so I usually find a way to laugh about everything. Humor is the one thing able to restore my sense of equilibrium. My very strong (and unconventional) spiritual beliefs are an equalizer for me; I contemplate the big picture, and remind myself that Karma DOES work.

I thank the gods and goddesses daily for DU - because of where I live I've felt really isolated and alone at times, and DU reminds me I'm not alone. It's reassuring to get on DU and have and/or read conversations with people who are intelligent and critical thinkers; to know that I'm not just paranoid, and "they" really ARE out to get me!!! Whoever the eff these "they" people are, anyway!

I think anyone who has not felt some stress from this is probably someone who drank a LOT of the Kool Aid. Helen Keller locked in a padded room in a straitjacket couldn't miss the dysfunctional behaviour of this regime.

will you please post your article here when you are finished with it?

I think you raise some interesting questions about the stress level of those who realized the truth about the B* regime early on. It does take a toll.

When I'm stressed with this maladministration I come here and rant. Yeah, I'm here a lot.

Not like it couldn't have, and not like the social situation alone probably hasn't pushed a lot of people into various diagnosable imbalances, but mine was purely chemical. Just for the record.

I was diagnosed with mild depression. Again, as a teenager.

Every single one of them but the last- Serzone- caused more problems than they solved. Prozac, in particular. I think Prozac may have "fucked me up" for life, actually. I never had clinical anxiety before taking it.

But I haven't taken any kind of psychotropic medications since 1998. I'm in my mid-twenties now, and doing great. Very glad to be rid of them.

:beer:

:smoke:

anymore".