Does This Make Sense?

[Sandstone]

Or does it make me sound absolutely crazy?

I'm about to have to explain again that although I struggle with so much daily life life and end up inert, I'm not depressed, I'm overwhelmed.
I thought I might say
" Do you ever have to write a difficult report, one you need to concentrate on?"
" Do you ever have a long, tiring day?'
" Do you have a colleague or relative who nit-picks over trivial details?"

Next time you have one of those reports to write, do it in the last hour of the hard day and take it and that nitpicking person to an amusement arcade. That is what it is like for me when I try to cook the dinner. Everything is complicated, all the distractions are too much and I'm busy attacking myself for struggling with it. So if one of my family comes in and speaks to me, then that is just too much to deal with.

Or shall I just stick to my usual line of I'm not depressed, I'm distressed?

 

[Deleted member 28403]

Hmmm, I can relate with this a lot, I find myself feeling similar often.

I wish I knew how to deal with it though :hug:

 

[RussH]

Are you ADHD?

 

[Sandstone]

No, ADHD has never been suggested. I was never like this until the onset of PTSD. I used to be an IT Analyst and then a Project Manager, neither of which are ADHD type jobs, I believe

 

[Deleted member 28403]

Interesting, I'm mild ADHD

 

[Sandstone]

I wish I knew how to deal with it though

My only effective tactic is to break things into little segments, simplify and do them when I'm alone. So I can rarely cook when the family are around or at the end of the day. Instead I try to plan what will be needed, and get the ingredients out, then take a break and come back to it later to chop them, take another break and an hour or so later to put them in the oven

 

[Sandstone]

It looks as though this wouldn't be a good way to try to explain it - good thing I asked. I don't trust anything I think any more.

 

[BlueOrange]

I think that's a pretty good way of explaining what overwhelmed is, I really liked the imagery.

That said, people have never believed me when I said I wasn't depressed. What are you trying to achieve by explaining the distinction?

 

[Sandstone]

Although the psychiatrist and psychologist both believe I'm not depressed, the social worker who can unlock a support budget always hears my explanation as pointing to depression, and tells me I should ask to try another antidepressant. As 5 different ones have had only negative effects, that won't be happening. Then she wants to put in a support worker to help me "get going" with things like cooking, and can't understand that adding an extra person into an already overwhelming situation won't improve it. Its as though she is fixed on seeing the situation through one particular lens.

Then she sees my declining that form of support as me being unco-operative. I can feel the rising tide of panic and distress as I write that.

It's only a small chance that I will have to deal with it at all, but I wanted to be prepared. My therapist is pushing hard to get the social worker to act, as my last budget ran out last August and nothing has happened since. I owe several hundred pounds from the last budget to the support organisation, or I would just let it all slide

 

[RussH]

I think it is a good way to explain it; I also think you can use the example of the PTSD cup. You can show how your cup is already almost full, so the least little thing can overwhelm you.

 

[Deleted member 28403]

Agreeing @RussH I found that using that explaination works great as an aid in explaing stuff to people quickly, especially as majority didn't study much on PTSD

 

[Sandstone]

Yes, perhaps you are right. The stress cup would have the advantage of not being personal to me.