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Re: Depression and Mentally Challenging Work » SadWren

Posted by Emme on September 16, 2004, at 12:11:19

In reply to Depression and Mentally Challenging Work, posted by SadWren on September 16, 2004, at 11:33:31

Hi there.

I think this thread will probably get sent over to "social". But I'll give you a bit of a start with a few random ideas.

First of all, this site can be a great source of support and information, but don't be discouraged by negative experiences you read. The people who have terrific success don't usually post on the internet. And if Effexor doesn't do it for you, it's quite possible that the next one will.

While you're working on meds, I think your goal should be to do things that break down the work into small discrete chunks.

Are you in the sciences? Can you write the methods sections of papers or your dissertation as these require a little less higher thought than the discussion sections? Collect any graphs or photos you might need? How 'bout typing in those endless references? If you need to, just spend a little time getting your notes hyper-organized since depression scrambles your thinking.

> motivate myself to do anything

Chances are one of your colleagues is a little low on motivation too. Maybe you can do the writing equivalent of a gym buddy.

> Because the writing requires pretty intense focus for 3-4 hour periods,

Try 1 hour.

> I find it impossible (reading has also been problematic).

Keep a laptop in front of you and type in important notes or ideas as you read. Even if you're not digesting as well as you should, you'll have "cliff's notes" to look at until you're up to speed.

Give yourself credit for whatever you are able to do and make sure you're not hard on yourself if you can't. You can do this, even if it takes you longer than it would have otherwise.

> I am on Effexor 150mg, but it hasn't changed anything yet (only 4 weeks in). I was wondering if anybody had any non-medication suggestions for working on cognitively taxing projects during depression. I am ok having lower productivity but having none at all is not sustainable and I am not sure how long I will be feeling this way (and from some posts, I am not sure I will get my motivation/concentration back while on this medication). Really don't want to give up the work, God knows I can't handle the real world (been there and learned that having people boss me around is very irritating).
>
> Any advice appreciated.
>
> Wren

 

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URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040915/msgs/391502.html