Posted by S. Howard on November 1, 2000, at 17:35:24
In reply to prozac withdrawl and feelings of failure, posted by Mary Beth on October 30, 2000, at 21:44:58
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> I have noticed and increase in feelings of failure the last week. I have been off prozac for about three weeks now. Is this a phase or is this what I should come to expect. I am ok part of the day but I notice that when an idea of mine is not accepted or someone appears to cut me down. I quickly feel a sense of failure, no one likes me, I am so stupid, I am an idiot. Does anyone have any suggestions, the whole exercising at 10:30 at night when I feel this way won't work. It may also have some realtionship to being tired, bedtime. Any advice?Maybe it's paxil time. Your self-esteem seems really unsteady and I can relate. If you're determined to stay away from medication (or not), I recommend the best self-help book I've ever read- "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living" by Dale Carnigie. It's a classic because it works.
Occasionally I re-read it to put my life back in perspective.
My second suggestion is to do something that changes your life so completely, you don't have time to focus on your misery. In my late teens, I was consumed by depression and anger. I was so combative and destructive that my parents threw me out. Not having anywhere to go, I joined the Army and left for basic training almost immediately (if I wasn't a good daughter, at least I was a recruiter's dream). Voila - all the earth-shaking problems I'd been having with my parents, my friends, my boyfriend, my school, my life - became trivial in the terrible heat at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. I was not athletic, I had never made my bed, I wasn't good at following orders and I didn't care for guns. Sorry...weapons. It was the hardest thing I've ever done, particularly since I was singled out for my "attitude", but I graduated with my company. My parents didn't attend the ceremony and I didn't expect them to, although they could have easily afforded the plane trip. Just the same I was really proud of myself, maybe for the first time in my life. I was a different person.I'm not suggesting that you join the Army (join the Air Force if you must), I'm simply giving an example of a drastic life change. You don't have to be especially young to do this. My husband went through the Fire Academy in his mid-30s and although he endured some teasing about being the "old man", he now loves his job. His previous job was torture for him and he was so unhappy, it was hard to be around him. He's a different person.
Good luck with your search - SGH
poster:S. Howard
thread:5505
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20001022/msgs/47947.html