Mood Gym
 

As I'm sure you're aware, I had an episode of depression this year, and it is something I am still living with. It brought to a head many issues, not least my incredibly negative opinion of myself, and an underlying unhappiness I had simply accepted as being a part of me.

GP resources have pointed me in the direction of a free Australian website called Mood Gym and although I have only just started it, I am hoping to address some of my issues via this.

Most people here seem pretty well balanced - or at least aware of the problems if they aren't - but I thought it worth adding this link in case you know anyone who perhaps needs to work through this kind of thing.

It's fairly standard - you are in control of your own happiness, you can choose how to view yourself, view the world etc. But sometimes I find the simplest way can lead to the greatest revelation. Just this morning while I was working through the first module I had to confront just how ingrained my low opinion of myself has become. In some ways this is daunting, as it shows I have a hard task ahead of me. On the other hand it was reassuring to know that this will at least have contributed to my depression, and with work I can end up happier and healthier.

I'll start the next module next week and let you know how I get on.

if it helps at all, I think you're a lovely person. [/sincerity]

In order for that to work, LJ, she has to believe you.

I took a look at the first round of mood gym, and I think it is a good idea. I got a lot out of The Feeling Good Handbook which is a similar thing, using cognitive therapy exercises to shape how you view yourself and the world.

she believes me[/beligerence] ;)

Ditto!

Actually, my image of you is a ray of sunshine!! :rainfro: (okay, emoticon gods, give me a smilie sun, pretty please)

This looks awesome. I'm starting right now. I work with people who have Post Adoption Depression (the parents, not the kids) and this might just be the ticket for many of them.

I also want to get hubby to participate. He can definitely use some cognitive therapy! :dedhorse:

I'll be here to encourage you, too, so let us know how it goes!!

Cheers all, I do appreciate the kind words.

At present I only believe that people can have a good opinion of me because they don't know me. So LJ is both right and wrong.... and UT is bang on the mark.

Living with self loathing is like going to Disneyland handcuffed to your worst enemy. I intend to work hard at changing this.

But, SG, you should believe LJ. He has spent a long time in a profession where he would only be successful if he was able to size people up very quickly. He has finely honed that ability, and as a result, he is successful.

He may not be accurate 100% of the time, but he has an enormous amount of data to work with... the sometimes-appalling general public. You are amongst tens of thousands of people he has briefly met and interacted with. I think if he says you're lovely, there's a very good chance that it's the case; and I think he would be honest about it, too.

indeed I would. i understand your point about taking it to heart, though. for instance, some people think i'm a dick and a half, but i'm really not. i just play one on tv.

That sums it up exactly!
(referring to the You Tube clip)
Unless you like yourself it might as well all be mehmehmeh.... I am looking forward to acting like a dick and a half if and when I feel like it in future. You can tell me when I've achieved it.

So, under national health they send you to a website instead of a psychiatrist.

You get any Prozac with that?

Actually it was a GP I work with, who suggested it as a second prong approach. The criteria is a motivated and computer literate patient, which means I fit the bill.

Current NHS guidelines promote CBT as the psychological treatment of choice, and CCBT (with the extra C being Computerised) was shown to be effective in a recent trial. The official programme is called "Beating the Blues" which includes a 15 minute video and a brief chat with a counsellor or pyschology assistant at the end of each 1 hour session on a practice computer (eight sessions in total). This costs the PCT £400 and isn't available at my practice.

Mood Gym I can do in my own time, at my own pace, and I should get the same out of it as attending a similar programme at the practice, i.e. as much as I'm prepared to put in.

Back in the Spring, when I was having trouble leaving my sofa even to go to the toilet, I was offered psychiatric help. The deal was that if there was no improvement two weeks after they upped my dose of Paroxetine (Fluoxetine had been tried already and it sent me loopy) then I would be referred. Luckily -I think -it didn't come to that.

Good for you for taking charge and doing something good for yourself!

I've looked at that site before SG. I'll be interested to know what you get out of it at the end. I hope it's good for you though. Every little bit helps.

I'd like to chip in and say that you, SG, are one of my very favorite posters here. You are very positive, engaging, expressive and open about yourself, your life, your hopes and fears...in short, you're an A-1 Cellarite in all respects, and the place is sunnier and more fun since you got here.

We think you're pretty keen at my house, we do.

What 'spode said!

My mood gym:

Ohh thanks for the link SG!!!!

Bri will tell you I have hit her PM box a few times of late :) maybe now I can leave her alone a little.

This has worked very, very well for me for quite some time now.

SG I'd like to chip in with the others and let you know how I admire you for keeping on keeping on tackling your depression, looking for as many ways around it as you can. Good on yer - the Midlands is a better place for you being there!

i wish the very best for you SG. i live with this too, and i make good use of Prozies by using them as they should be used : short term, time limited, deal with the issues, wean off slowly.
if something, whatever it is, works for somebody, it shouldnt be knocked by someone else .... except religion, of course! :p

I'm also on the Lexapro train, with better success than when I was on Zoloft. I'll have to check out the MG when I have a little more time (i.e. the boss is out for awhile). Thanks for sharing SG. I would have never guessed. I love your personality!!! Your one-liners leave me snorting in my tea all the time.

So what do these drugs like Zoloft and Lexapro do to you? I don't mean clinical jargon, I mean what actually happened to you from taking them?

Me?

Zoloft allowed me to come out of the weighted fog I was in for awhile, then quit working. Upping the dosage just made me numb without helping the depression at all. A woman with an ass like mine shouldn't be having suicidal thoughts. :D I knew Lexapro was working when I felt 'lighter', like it was even easier to breathe. No more thoughts of being useless and wanting to unhook my seatbelt and drive my car into an oncoming semi. I also find I can handle normal everyday annoyances without totally freaking out. We all spill stuff, we don't all totally freak out and throw a literal tantrum. My husband could tell you more what it's like when I'm getting into a funk, he sees it way before I do, and I have learned to trust him (finally).

Did Prozac for a couple years, nothing improved but I didn't give a shit.
Then the Doc yanked my script saying losers aren't supposed to be happy.

Clean for a few years and started Wellbutrin this week. :drool:

i'm astonished at the number of people on one kind of pill or another. no offense to anyone, but i'm genuinely surprised that so many take mood altering meds on a regular. i'm starting a poll. i wanna know more about this.