I’m extremely tired.
I’ve been taking my meds on schedule but for some reason I can’t get my body to calm down. I fall asleep for a few minutes and then jerk awake in a struggle to get free of imaginary restraints. This happens over and over.
I’ve had about enough of it.
Here’s the article that inspired this comment: Reliability and Validity in a Web 2.0 World. Go and read it, and then come back and talk to me about how you decide whether or not to trust information you find online.
Or just reassure me that there IS useful and valid information on the web for consumers to find, if we know how to look for it. My depression and PTSD make it easy for me to be suspicious and critical of everything. I value rational skepticism, but I don’t want to let myself slide into that bitter and faithless state of mind… you know the place. It’s so dark and boring down there, and there’s never anything to giggle about. There’s no joy.
I came across a pretty cool chart of various medications that can be effective in treating the following anxiety disorders: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Panic Disorder (PD), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD; not to be confused with Seasonal Affective Disorder).
It’s nice to know there are so many options… or is it? It strikes me that these conditions are all quite different from one another. The ruminations and compulsive rituals of OCD don’t look much at all like the flashbacks, nightmares, and existential despair of PTSD. (Note: some people do suffer from both OCD and PTSD. However, OCD often begins in childhood and seems to have a strong genetic component; in contrast, PTSD is not inherited and its diagnosis relies on a history of psychological trauma). The symptoms of SAD sometimes overlap with those of PD, GAD, and/or PTSD, but it also has interesting associations with avoidant personality disorder and body dysmorphic disorder… sheesh, I think my brain’s gonna explode.
Anyway. The point is, I’m not sure it makes much sense to group these disorders together. However, the SSRI antidepressants have had good results with all of them, so what do I know.
Other classes of medications commonly used to treat anxiety disorders include the benzodiazepines (short-acting tranquilizers, also called anxiolytics or sedative-hypnotics), BuSpar (an anxiolytic), Anafranil (a tricyclic antidepressant shown to be effective for OCD), newer atypical antidepressants like Effexor and Cymbalta, beta blockers Catapres and Tenex, and the anticonvulsant/mood stabilizer Topamax for PTSD.
The chart (cool as it is) doesn’t mention Topamax as an effective treatment for PTSD symptoms. I have taken Topamax on and off since I was diagnosed with PTSD in (um… I suck at remembering dates…) 2004. (Ok so I pulled that date out of my a$$, but I know I have had the diagnosis for at least four years.) It definitely helps with my nightmares and flashbacks, but hasn’t made so much as a dent in my fatalistic outlook or my sarcastic conversation style. Look how shocked I am. How dare that drug fail to erase my past and make everything all shiny-happy forever and ever.
