Wow denstar... Ok let me answer a couple of the things. Yes he is on medication, and is on the current legal maximum dose of anti depressants. Well what he can buy legally I suppose, that side of things never gets me. We have to buy the medication, at the moment because he literally has gotten to a point where he is just curled up day after day, night after night.
Sometimes it's hard to know if he is with us or not, by that I mean he acknowledges people but will take awhile to respond. It is not easy to watch, because we actually feel helpless. Can you elaborate more on the health plan, I am not sure I understand that? Nothing has been mentioned to us about that, what I do know is we have a list that we adhere to keep a vigil eye on him. You have given us a lot to take in here, so let me digest it:-) And I actually feel like a rat talking here, but I know how supportive you guys are. So I guess taking a small bit of abuse, would be beneficial if it helps me grip the situation some more. -----Original Message----- From: denstar [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, 28 September 2008 4:39 PM To: cf-community Subject: Re: Need some advice on serioulsy depressed friend On Fri, Sep 26, 2008 at 8:06 PM, CyberAngel wrote: > See that's part of the problem, the one thing he has left is his work. The > Dr's from what I am to understand have basically said that he is too sick > not to work, but he is too sick to work. He see's two dr's every 2 days, no > ifs no butts. If he's not eating well, and not sleeping well, it will probably get worse. He should look at his health-plan, if he's got one, and see what it provides for. Sometimes a couple weeks, maybe a month, are just what is needed. The company will cover the time in some mellow institution, or an institution, period. A break from all that outside pressure. > Now you talk about self committing? How would that go about friends, we have > felt that our last option is to put him out of harms way. I believe the > option has been mentioned between the dr's, but it is understood that he > isn't really eating and it will just make it worse. Friends/Support network is the key element to getting better. Theodore Huxley has some interesting thoughts about it, IIRC, in the doors of perception, but the concept is that it's pretty fucking crazy in a mental institution. You need non-crazies to help get you back on that plane most people call "sane". IMO. Those places can seriously fuck you up. The difference between committing oneself, and being committed, is that generally, it's easier to get out if you put yourself in there. That said, it's still scary, because without people to fight for you, on the "outside", it might not work that way. It's good to get any medical stuff taken care of ahead of time. If he trusts you, and you can hang with it, you could be his "advocate", and medical whatchamacallit. Basically, it would be up to you to research the drugs they want to put him on, and ask questions he might not be in the state of mind to ask. If he's not too far gone, he may be able to just take some time off, maybe go on some medication (is he on stuff already? Perhaps they need to adjust his dosage/medications), and get unwound a bit. "Work" may be just keeping his hands busy, and a fishing pole can do that too. A good friend to keep him company, and all better. :-) But if you're seriously fearing for his life, well... I wouldn't presume to tell someone what to do in those awful decision time-times, doing anything (doing nothing is something) could have some heavy consequences. I've called suicide lines, in the past, when I wasn't sure what to do, and, well... "Ask them frankly", is one thing they'll tell you. But, really, they'll urge you to save your friend's life. The answer to "how" isn't easy. Sometimes it takes doing something you'd really rather not, and feeling like a rat for it. Usually it doesn't, but sometimes it does, and if you guess wrong... well, think about the various outcomes, and make the call you think is needed. Whatever happens, well, it was meant to, anyways. We've still got free will tho. :-) Total bitch to have to think about the stuff. Not easy. Not fun. Depending on his problems tho, and available facilities, the nut-house ain't a half-bad solution. I'd want people to have my back tho, were I to go into one. And I'd want to go to a nice one. They can vary WIDELY, so research is a damn good idea. > Sorry for the questions this is all new to me. Hmmm. Finding out how this stuff works isn't a bad idea. There are some pretty good groups out there, and I'd contact your local whatchamacallit (Dana might know that acronym-- mental health advocates or similar, I think it's world-wide) to get the nity-gritty on what stuff is available in your area. Heavy thoughts. I feel for you, as well as your friend. If he does end up "in" someplace, it will do him wonders to have your support. Bringing "awesome" food, for instance, may help your friend keep eating, and encourage him. Committing someone is the last last resort, IMO, but it is better than death. IMO. Not that I've been dead, 'cept for maybe in this dream this one time... but logically, there's always time to experience it later. Let us see what else will happen, I say! -- Woohoo for unpredictability! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;207172674;29440083;f Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:271161 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
