Posted by FredPotter on March 22, 2007, at 0:12:02
In reply to Re: Atypical depression vetted out of studies? » River1924, posted by Ines on March 21, 2007, at 13:53:13
Ines I know. I was in a desperate anxiety crisis and had been taken to hospital, where they left me writhing with akathisia and periodic vomitting.
After several hours of this, 2 very attractive nurses came to talk to me. I can't help it, it'chemistry. One in particular was gorgeous and whenever I looked her way she smiled at me and she made me smile back. (She wasn't doing much of the interrogation.)
Eventually I smiled and said, "you keep smiling at me" then went back to writhing and saying things like, "what do you want, blood!?" I just wanted some valium or something. It was just me on different levels.
A friend of mine years ago was dying of stomach cancer but even at the end when she was vomitting every 2 minutes, her humour was irrepressible. To the point where we round the bed were laughing instead of looking suitably grave. That didn't prove she hadn't got cancer. She died about 2 weeks later. I'll never forget her
I read a story in Time magazine where a man's head was stuffed full of lung cancer. It had destroyed the brain. The family said to the surgeon after he died (not the surgeon I don't mean) that he came out of his coma, sat up stroked everybody, smiling and then collapsed and was dead. Even though there really was no brain left. "And I believed them", said the surgeon. Obviously the whole thing hangs on these 4 words.
I give these examples to show that with the kind of mental illness that doesn't show psychotic features, people usually have to take your word for it, or sometimes they don't.
During a voluntary hospitalisation some years ago (I hoped they might actually help me - silly me to think that - they just ignored me) a young girl with schizophrenia said, "There's nothing wrong with YOU is there?" Hitherto she'd taken me for a staff-member. In those days (1980) mental illness WAS schizophrenia. One of the patients told me to eat my dinner as I'd never feel better. I was feeling too anxious and sick to eat.
In a way (I THINK but perhaps not) I was suffering more than them.
"Whitewashed tombs do worms enfold", to quote the Bard.
Fred
poster:FredPotter
thread:737405
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070320/msgs/743090.html