My husband suddenly started experiencing severe panic attacks with no past experience of mental health troubles. We tried traditional medications (antidepressants/anxiolytics), but everything seemed to make his symptoms worse. He was unable to function and began sinking into a deep depression with suicidal ideation.
Depression is my Achilles heel while the “black dog” has been at my heel for the whole of my life. The daughter of someone with Bipolar 1, I grew up recurrently visiting my father in a mental hospital after his numerous manic episodes, for which the treatment was to bring him down with one chemical cosh after another, with doses extreme enough to floor an elephant. Nothing worked. At 51 he lost his battle with this appalling illness and frankly given his circumstances this was a blessed release for him from his turmoil. Conventional treatments available through the NHS had undoubtedly led to his early demise- causing huge weight gain and blood clots which caused him to have a heart attack.
I have had a complex mental health condition for over 10 years, and over the last 5 years, I have been diagnosed with a few different mental health conditions by the various doctors I have sought advice from. These include major depressive disorder, rapid cycling bipolar depression, generalised anxiety disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.