# Mental Illness



## belfastboy (Aug 3, 2012)

*Stands up* Hello my name is Sean, and I suffer from depression! I had a mental breakdown two years ago, and am classified as a depressive. I function 'normally' from day to day but my mood is so up and down....I've never really shared this fact with many - but because of classical music I learned to adjust.....am I alone?


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Of course you are not. I'm married to someone who suffers from depression but now recognises and deals with it, my brother suffers from it and controls it with a combination of medication and cognitive behavioural therapy, I've experienced it both post- and pre-natally, my nephew went through a period of schizophrenia but is married, working and with a family now, and both my father and other brother had mental breakdowns due to business pressures and stress. There's a lot of crazy in my family but we're all surviving.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

belfastboy said:


> *Stands up* Hello my name is Sean, and I suffer from depression! I had a mental breakdown two years ago, and am classified as a depressive. I function 'normally' from day to day but my mood is so up and down....I've never really shared this fact with many - but because of classical music I learned to adjust.....am I alone?


No you're not alone. My brother suffered terribly with depression but refused to seek help. He chose alcohol instead which eventually killed him.

One of my best friends at work also suffers but controls it with medication.


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## Head_case (Feb 5, 2010)

> am I alone?


Probably not. There are about 265 users on the forum at the moment.

The Samaritans indicate that about 4% of men and 8% of women suffer from depression, and around 1:20 have it really bad, and in one's lifetime, the rates are probably around 1:4 people will become depressed.

Fear not - you're in depressed company!

Music certainly can help if you love the way it holds your emotions, and carries you to another world, if you're not too depressed to hit the play button, or too numbed into oblivion to care to pay the electricity bills; eat, sleep.

Otherwise ... loving something (spending time; devoted; mindful of, and caring of) can hold the wave of depression at bay. Maybe giving love in this way to someone, and receiving is more worthwhile. After all - wouldn't life be depressing, without love?


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

Everyone goes trough some depression now and then. Important to just know you will get past it, and that it will get better again


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## Jeremy Marchant (Mar 11, 2010)

Seán, isn't it odd? It takes courage to reveal that one suffers (if I may use that word) from depression, or some other mental illness. Yet people are only too willing to say they have a variety of physical illnesses.

You say "I had a mental breakdown two years ago, and am classified as a depressive". In that case, isn't the depression an entirely _natural _response to the crisis you went through? To call it "mental illness", as you do in the title to the thread, is a little harsh on yourself, surely.


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## belfastboy (Aug 3, 2012)

Hi, personally I don't see it as courageous....it is an illness, say like, Diabetes or Parkinson's. The difference is the 'stigma and labels ' surrounding it, which I think comes from fear and lack of acknowledgement of the number in the population who actually bare it. Historically the term mental illness was deemed more socially acceptable - mental: of the Psychological variety and illness: counter to wellness. Now days though the term appears to be swaying towards 'mental ill-health'. No matter what term you use to describe it, how you explain it, it still concludes the same way.


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## belfastboy (Aug 3, 2012)

Head_case said:


> Probably not. There are about 265 users on the forum at the moment.
> 
> The Samaritans indicate that about 4% of men and 8% of women suffer from depression, and around 1:20 have it really bad, and in one's lifetime, the rates are probably around 1:4 people will become depressed.
> 
> ...


I take comfort in the fact that a number of great composers experienced some sort of mental ill-health (Wagner, to name but a few)! Love conquers all, eh?!


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## belfastboy (Aug 3, 2012)

sospiro said:


> No you're not alone. My brother suffered terribly with depression but refused to seek help. He chose alcohol instead which eventually killed him.
> 
> One of my best friends at work also suffers but controls it with medication.


So sorry to hear bout your brother - hope me staring this thread did not cause you any unhappiness? I just feel that more awareness, extra policies and funding could raise awareness and hopefully prevent situations like what your brother experienced. In Belfast here we have had a run for months of younger people, male and female, taking their own lives. It's so so sad. Some initiatives have been introduced by the Executive to try and tackle the problem - it's a start.


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## belfastboy (Aug 3, 2012)

mamascarlatti said:


> Of course you are not. I'm married to someone who suffers from depression but now recognises and deals with it, my brother suffers from it and controls it with a combination of medication and cognitive behavioural therapy, I've experienced it both post- and pre-natally, my nephew went through a period of schizophrenia but is married, working and with a family now, and both my father and other brother had mental breakdowns due to business pressures and stress. There's a lot of crazy in my family but we're all surviving.


_now recognises and deals with it, _I believe thats the key, the starting point. You certainly can say truly you have experienced it and understand.


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## cwarchc (Apr 28, 2012)

Hi Sean,
It's good to hear you can admit to it.
That's the biggest challenge.
I had a "breakdown" around 5 years ago - using alcohol to cope (it doesn't work)
Luckily I have some good support and counselling, I had help using NLP (it;s very much like CBT)
I have learned to recognise when I'm on a downward slide, and try to do something about it
Classical music and chatting on here certainly helps.
One of the biggest issues is the "stigma" this is a societial problem.
People don't know how to act, what to say - what not to say??
Education is what is required, to help everybody concerned


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

belfastboy said:


> So sorry to hear bout your brother - hope me starting this thread did not cause you any unhappiness?


Thank you for your kind words & talking about it helps so please don't worry.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

cwarchc said:


> Education is what is required, to help everybody concerned


We have an ongoing TV campaign about depression here using a well-known sports figure (of course, it's rugby crazy NZ here) who has suffered and suffers from depression. He talks about his own coping mechanisms and what other people around have done to help.


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## Head_case (Feb 5, 2010)

belfastboy said:


> I take comfort in the fact that a number of great composers experienced some sort of mental ill-health (Wagner, to name but a few)! Love conquers all, eh?!












Errrr....sometimes not lol.

As Shakespeare shows us...love is a Hamlet cigar.

In essence, love is only as good as the object it invests in. Poor Ophelia invests in a love carcinogenic Hamlet and confuses love proper [agape = sacrificial, spiritual love] for eros [erotic, or sexual]. Dandy Hamlet strings her on.

Maybe a slightly left ball interpretation of Shakespeare, but this is the essence of love: love reveals man's being, or 'essence' - which itself is constructed from the Latin verb "Esse" = 'To Be'.

To be, nor not to be? The existential question which Shakespeare famously riddled, left generations mad, and unable to decipher without trivialising or banalising. Love that reveals being (the person) ...is a constant striving.

Maybe that's why I'm inclined to think, in neat aphorisms, love does not conquer all....it creates more problems when we confuse love proper [Agape] for [Eros]. Ultimately, it's not love proper [Agape] which is problematic; it's the lack of love.


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

I used to be depressed; seriously, I think that listening to classical music cured it.


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

Ravndal said:


> Everyone goes trough some depression now and then. Important to just know you will get past it, and that it will get better again


I appreciate your positivity but I wish you wouldn't take it so lightly. What you're talking about is sadness, which is a commonplace and healthy emotion and definitely not a disorder. Depression is a prolonged crippling malaise which in my experience often brings with it self-loathing, inability to take care of oneself, inability to enjoy simple pleasures, extreme decrease or increase in appetite, lack of sleep or too much sleep, shifting sleep patterns, anxiety, fear, paranoia and a host of other problems. While this is not the case for everyone with depression, and we can all be thankful for that, in my case it is a prolonged relapsing and remitting condition that I am saddled with for the foreseeable future.


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

Crudblud said:


> I appreciate your positivity but I wish you wouldn't take it so lightly. What you're talking about is sadness, which is a commonplace and healthy emotion and definitely not a disorder. Depression is a prolonged crippling malaise which in my experience often brings with it self-loathing, inability to take care of oneself, inability to enjoy simple pleasures, extreme decrease or increase in appetite, lack of sleep or too much sleep, shifting sleep patterns, anxiety, fear, paranoia and a host of other problems. While this is not the case for everyone with depression, and we can all be thankful for that, in my case it is a prolonged relapsing and remitting condition that I am saddled with for the foreseeable future.


It's not my intention to take it lightly, I just didn't get deep in to the subject. I think that the most important thing about being depressed/having anxiety is acknowledging it, and know that you will get past it.  Or else you might not get past it?

It's a bit more complex for some people who really struggles with it. But for most people, it is important to know this. it helped me trough it at a time


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## ArthurBrain (Aug 19, 2012)

Ravndal said:


> It's not my intention to take it lightly, I just didn't get deep in to the subject. I think that the most important thing about being depressed/having anxiety is acknowledging it, and know that you will get past it.  Or else you might not get past it?
> 
> It's a bit more complex for some people who really struggles with it. But for most people, it is important to know this. it helped me trough it at a time


I can appreciate your positivity also, and depression certainly shouldn't be regarded as an ailment where recovery is impossible. That being said, (and I used to be guilty of this though not saying you are) there's sometimes a tendency to confuse feeling a bit low/down one day with actual depression. In essence you end up with no real choice _but_ to acknowledge it because of just how badly it can affect your life. There's different forms which are brought about by different reasons/factors but it can be absolutely debilitating as Crudblud described. Sleeping patterns shattered along with appetite, horrendous feelings of emptiness, nightmares,for others it can be other symptoms equally as affecting. Unfortunately there's no 'pat' cure for it either as medication and counselling can work for some but others little to no effect. The pills I used to be on might just as well have been sweets for all the good they did. Sometimes it can amount to doing as best you can to cope with it.

I'm not trying to sound totally negative as people recover or manage to control lives while still suffering with it.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

ArthurBrain said:


> I can appreciate your positivity also, and depression certainly shouldn't be regarded as an ailment where recovery is impossible. That being said, (and I used to be guilty of this though not saying you are) there's sometimes a tendency to confuse feeling a bit low/down one day with actual depression. In essence you end up with no real choice _but_ to acknowledge it because of just how badly it can affect your life. There's different forms which are brought about by different reasons/factors but it can be absolutely debilitating as Crudblud described. Sleeping patterns shattered along with appetite, horrendous feelings of emptiness, nightmares,for others it can be other symptoms equally as affecting. Unfortunately there's no 'pat' cure for it either as medication and counselling can work for some but others little to no effect. The pills I used to be on might just as well have been sweets for all the good they did. Sometimes it can amount to doing as best you can to cope with it.
> 
> I'm not trying to sound totally negative as people recover or manage to control lives while still suffering with it.


The causes & types of depression are so varied.

Some people suffer tragedy in their lives & never end up clinically depressed. My colleague (and good friend) has suffered with depression all his life & is currently off work with it & has been so since May. He had an idyllic childhood & although he hasn't got a partner at the moment, he's got three brothers and a sister who he gets on well with & who all quite close by. He has a well paid job and is respected by his colleagues and managers.

He has no idea why he's like this.


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## ArthurBrain (Aug 19, 2012)

sospiro said:


> The causes & types of depression are so varied.
> 
> Some people suffer tragedy in their lives & never end up clinically depressed. My colleague (and good friend) has suffered with depression all his life & is currently off work with it & has been so since May. He had an idyllic childhood & although he hasn't got a partner at the moment, he's got three brothers and a sister who he gets on well with & who all quite close by. He has a well paid job and is respected by his colleagues and managers.
> 
> He has no idea why he's like this.


That's the thing with depression. There's different varieties and in some cases there seems no rhyme or reason to it. Possibly chemical neuro imbalance in some cases but sometimes this is why it seems so hard to treat or diagnose. I know the reasons which led to my own - unfortunately I played a sizeable part in how it came about - but for others it can just come out of the blue with no discernible reason for it.


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## AlainB (Nov 20, 2011)

Xaltotun said:


> I used to be depressed; seriously, I think that listening to classical music cured it.


Even though it may sound strange to some, I think this happened to me as well.

I used to be very depressed as a consequence to heavy bullying at secondary school. And quite frankly, listening to black metal at the time didn't help my atmosphere either. However, when I started listening to classical/opera, it very much changed; I'm now very much looking forward to delving deeper into the world of music and it certainly gives me joy every single day. 

Music truly can be a cure.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

ArthurBrain said:


> ... I know the reasons which led to my own ... but for others it can just come out of the blue with no discernible reason for it.


Knowing the cause doesn't make it any easier to understand or treat.


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## ArthurBrain (Aug 19, 2012)

sospiro said:


> Knowing the cause doesn't make it any easier to understand or treat.


True. Sometimes there is no treatment, and in some cases medication can actually compound things.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

AlainB said:


> I used to be very depressed as a consequence to heavy bullying at secondary school. And quite frankly, listening to black metal at the time didn't help my atmosphere either. However, when I started listening to classical/opera, it very much changed; I'm now very much looking forward to delving deeper into the world of music and it certainly gives me joy every single day.
> 
> Music truly can be a cure.


What a great story. Thankfully I've never never suffered from depression but on days when I feel 'fed up' listening to opera always helps.


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## Ondine (Aug 24, 2012)

AlainB said:


> Music truly can be a cure.


Absolutely AlainB. I developed a kind of workshop for music appreciation in order to heal mood disorders that can include some kind of mild manageable depression with good results.

Some noteworthy results have been the recovery of life meanings and the survey, acknowledgment and structured elaboration of emotions between other things.

So, yes. This music -classical- really heals and embellishes our existence.


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## belfastboy (Aug 3, 2012)

Ondine said:


> Absolutely AlainB. I developed a kind of workshop for music appreciation in order to heal mood disorders that can include some kind of mild manageable depression with good results.
> 
> Some noteworthy results have been the recovery of life meanings and the survey, acknowledgment and structured elaboration of emotions between other things.
> 
> So, yes. This music -classical- really heals and embellishes our existence.


Was a far better drug / therapy than any conventional prescription. My love for an appreciation of classical music grew 10 fold during the illness.....


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

belfastboy said:


> Was a far better drug / therapy than any conventional prescription. My love for an appreciation of classical music grew 10 fold during the illness.....


Those are such lovely words to read.


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## Renaissance (Jul 10, 2012)

Classical music really cured me of many and big psychological problems. I was in a severe depression for years, social phobia, panic attacks, I also stuttered...well, my life was really horrible. I had no joy in my life except for some walks from time to time. Because of these things I missed my opportunity to study abroad at a serious university. But, son I discovered classical music. At first wasn't a big help because I mostly listened to modernists, dissonant music, and I hadn't really gotten ride of depressive rock/metal music during those times. Then I started to enjoy classical more and more, I was already enjoying baroque music after few months, just discovered the renaissance polyphonic music and I was in heaven. My depression was slowly fading away, as I felt so peaceful on Palestrina's vocal works. But I truly found peace within myself when I understood Beethoven's music, all of his drama, struggles, and how he really managed to be happy (or at least satisfied with himself) even in his precarious conditions. He wrote some of the moving music ever made when he was totally deaf, no secret in that. He never abandoned his ideals, his beliefs in humanity not even then. Beethoven's music really showed me that one can overcame his destiny, simply because there is no destiny, only your mind which finds in every thing an obstacle. There are no obstacles to happiness only the conditions that we put on ourselves. Only when I finally made peace with myself I was fine. In present I am still a very introverted guy, but I feel fine about this, I am really happy with what I am. Psychiatrists, drugs, therapy haven't done much for me.


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## belfastboy (Aug 3, 2012)

Renaissance said:


> Classical music really cured me of many and big psychological problems. I was in a severe depression for years, social phobia, panic attacks, I also stuttered...well, my life was really horrible. I had no joy in my life except for some walks from time to time. Because of these things I missed my opportunity to study abroad at a serious university. But, son I discovered classical music. At first wasn't a big help because I mostly listened to modernists, dissonant music, and I hadn't really gotten ride of depressive rock/metal music during those times. Then I started to enjoy classical more and more, I was already enjoying baroque music after few months, just discovered the renaissance polyphonic music and I was in heaven. My depression was slowly fading away, as I felt so peaceful on Palestrina's vocal works. But I truly found peace within myself when I understood Beethoven's music, all of his drama, struggles, and how he really managed to be happy (or at least satisfied with himself) even in his precarious conditions. He wrote some of the moving music ever made when he was totally deaf, no secret in that. He never abandoned his ideals, his beliefs in humanity not even then. Beethoven's music really showed me that one can overcame his destiny, simply because there is no destiny, only your mind which finds in every thing an obstacle. There are no obstacles to happiness only the conditions that we put on ourselves. Only when I finally made peace with myself I was fine. In present I am still a very introverted guy, but I feel fine about this, I am really happy with what I am. Psychiatrists, drugs, therapy haven't done much for me.


Hi - thanks for being so honest. Brave of you to share these facts with us, I admire your openness and salute you.


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