Depressed dad

[jamieh]

Hi there.

My names Jamie and i'm posting this message on here so i can gain some more information to help my dad.... About 3 years ago he had a mental breakdown, initially triggered by him and my mother moving to spain ( they're retired ), but as we worked out later on it was just a catalyst.... He had actually been depressed for years and finally 'snapped'.... Since then it's been a long 3 years... I actually brought him over for 6 months a year ago to stay with me to seek help in the uk where he was admitted to a psychiatric ward as they felt he was a threat to himself.... He was very low at the time and they sectioned him for a couple of months.... After that he was on a series of meds and cbt, and on top of that i has him working generally keeping him busy out and about which seemed to help a lot... He then moved back home to Spain and has now sunk again.... We have taken him to various psycho therapists and counsellors who are unable to find the true reason of my dads depression... His and old school guy who doesn't show emotions and had a very rough upbringing so is quite a closed book. He is very very low every day, has no motivation, has constant anxieties and fears of every day tasks. From what i've read a true classic case of someone with severe depression and he is getting worse.

Right now is a very hard time for the family and i'm trying to seek information from people who may have had a similar experience or are currently in one... Any help would be great of of anone who knows of suport groups in Spain. They live about 45mins from Alicante. Either that or a family related support group in London where i live that i could attend to source information and help.

Any information or help would be great.

Thanks,

Jamie,

 

[Dollit]

For yourself Jamie you may find some help if you click on Getting Help at the top of the page.

We do have a member here who lives in Spain but I'm not sure where (big country) but I'll pm them and ask if they have any suggestions.

 

[Sophie]

Hi

Hi jamieh ,
I have been asked if I can help you , I live in Spain ,about 2 hours from Alicante.I also suffer from clinical depression , and was also diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder .I really don't think that I can be any help .I do find the Doctors , psychiatrists and psychologists very good over here . Does your dad see a psychiatrist over here ?
Your dad needs to open up to these people , they are there to help him . I do know that once you do open up it can be very painful .My psychologists said that if things got that bad ,I had to go straight to the hospital . Sorry I have not been much help . If you want you can send me a PM .
Sophie

 

[nickh]

Hi Jamie,

From all you say it certainly sounds like classic depression (though we don't diagnose here!). I can't help with the Spain-end of things, but you should certainly be able to find a support group somewhere fairly near to you in London. The first avenue of approach would be to identify your local Mental Health Trust and see if they keep a list of support groups (they should do but that is probably no guarantee) . If that is no good, try Mind.

Let us know how you get on.

Nick.

 

[jamieh]

Hi

Thanks for the information and help, i'm currently looking into support groups locally to me in London. If anyone knows of a good one that is relevant to me in as a family member i would appreciate some info.

Moving forward i would love to hear some case stories of people who have learnt to deal with depression and how they done this. Motivation, daily practises, tasks, opening up, medication, family reaction etc?
I'm really clutching at straws here as the family is under serious strain, so any help would be great.

Thanks,

Jamie.

 

[Dollit]

If you want to see how people have coped (stories as opposed to "case" stories) then look around the forum and often people who write with a problem get an answer from someone saying how they coped.

Depression has many common factors but everyone tends to find their own way of coping.