h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

How awful. Willem, is it just you? Surely other people have to have a doctor, especially if they have families, young or old?

How do you get your medication then, if you don't have a doctor?


Websailor

Websailor, the system changed. We used to have a family doctor. But then a few years ago that set-up stopped ... I don't know exactly what happened. But the new system is that there's a medical clinic in the centre of the town and there's a whole bunch of doctors there. So when you have a problem you go to the clinic, report your problem to the receptionists, and then whatever doctor is available will help you. But this means the entire relationship you had with your family doctor was lost. And with my problems this is a pretty important thing. With my family doctor who knew me I could talk about my problems. It's different with a doctor who you're seeing on a case-by-case basis and who doesn't know you at all. And it's also for me a big problem just getting into my car and driving into town to the clinic. So there's a stumbling block I need to overcome just to get to the doctor. I can do that when there's an actual medical emergency and I need to get to a doctor pronto or something awful will happen immediately. But with my mental illness, there's a vague and general chance that something awful might happen but I don't know exactly when it's gonna happen ...

I get medication from a local pharmacy. I know the folks there pretty well. My sister writes prescriptions for me. She's in Pretoria and knows nothing about psychiatrists here. But also she doesn't seem to believe in psychiatry, or mental illness for that matter ...

Hi,
I've been travelling and off h2g2 for a while, but found your thread now.
I have read somewhere about others with extreme sensitivity, so I know for sure that you are not alone. But I understand it must be exhausting, to learn to shut out and process all that input.

To some extent I am also sensitive, sometimes, in some areas, but not as deeply affected as you seem to be. Noises (visual and auditory) make me stressed and tired - which makes shopping something I don't enjoy. Too many bright colours, and different music in each store, especially in shopping centers, and people everywhere. I prefer the quiet at home. Sudden loud noises (gunshots) I have been spared, but trying to sleep with an air condition going is not so easy.

I think the fact that you are aware of what things upset/irritate/scare you is a good step. This allows you to avoid situations, and to process those you can't avoid, with your intelligence - even when that is hard work, it's probably better than to react in panic. It seems you have made big progress on all fronts, and you should be proud. It's interesting to read about how you experience the world, and although your reactions are stronger than mine, I can recognise most of what you describe.

The periodic reorganizations of the medical community do take some getting used to.

When I was a kid, doctors still made house calls and if you had a medical emergency in the home, they'd send out an intern.

Nowadays, one gets paramedics.

The doctors, with increasing population and commuting distances just don't have the time any more for the kind of personalized care that used to be the custom.

Oh, thank you for having the patience to explain that Willem, I understand your problem better now.

I have some sympathy with your sister on the subject of psychiatrists, but I am saddened that she doesn't understand mental illness. It is understandable with people who have never faced mental illness at all, as it is frightening, and people feel helpless, but it is a shame she doesn't as you have such problems.

it is strange that sometimes the person who should understand best shies away from the reality. It is also foolish as it is a problem that could face any of us, any time, either in connection with ourselves, relatives or friends of whatever age.

I hope you can pluck up the courage to make contact with a doctor.

It can happen with us in big practices with several doctors, although we can insist on seeing the same one, unless of course they move on. For normal problems it is sometimes useful to see a different doctor, as a fresh pair of eyes, mindset and thinking can uncover problems previously unnoticed.

Websailor

With regards to mental illness, there has been a tremendous increase in the United States. Part of the problem here is the habit of labeling 'normal' conditions as problems the other is the greedy pharmaceutical companies coming up with pills that cause more serious conditions as side effects.

http://www.salon.com/2013/07/31/living_in_america_will_drive_you_insane_literally_partner/?source=newsletter


Living in America will make you crazy and the weird conditions of South Africa are also contributing to their citizens having psychological problems as well. Neither country is facing up to their responsibilities in this area.

Hello everyone! Thanks for all the comments. I'm wondering ... is it acceptable for me to try and avoid noisy, confusing, over-stimulating situations or should I still try and get myself to be able to 'handle' them better? I don't really 'need' to go into such situations a lot ... the problem is those times are when my sister and her family visit, because they usually want to go see a movie or go to a restaurant and then instead of it being fun and relaxing it is very stressful to me. Now I do like movies but the malls where they show are noisy and confusing. So anyways ... when my family visit it is already stressful because there are three of them I have to pay attention to and worry about (AND I am worrying about my cat Poplap because she, too, doesn't enjoy a crowd being around), and then when we go to a busy mall it's worse, and at the end of the visit I'm often close to wigging out, or at the very least, very exhausted.

In this aspect it's also a problem to me that my sister seems in denial of my problems, so I can't tell her their visits are a huge strain on me and if we could perhaps do things that are more quiet and relaxed.

Anyways ... Elektra, I happened to find this article, a very interesting read and relevant not just to America:

http://www.salon.com/2013/07/31/living_in_america_will_drive_you_insane_literally_partner/

South Africa is in my estimation one of the craziest countries in the world.

Hi Willem

Back tracking a bit I think it worthwhile to take some steps to get a doctor for some independent advice on how you could manage your health. This is absolutely *not* any slight to your sister it is just that rule of thumb having a close relative as your only health care provider can be a little complicated and it is good to have a certain distance in a patient - practitioner relationship.

I am not saying either that you shouldn't take onboard her advice, and she can still prescribe for you just that I think an 'outside' opinion would be valuable and perhaps getting connected into the health care services might have other advantages in terms of services and getting you someone you could see on a regular basis.

I was wondering if there was some helplines out there that could you where to start and give you some guidance.

With your sister can you suggest other activities that you might be more comfortable with, a visit to the bird sanctuary or something. Or even perhaps going out for a meal somewhere quieter?

For now, I am talking in general, not visits, perhaps concentrating on the things that you really want to do but nevertheless cause you some anxiety would be more beneficial in the short term and by 'nailing' those, you would find going to the mall a more manageable experience.

Replying to post 27, we just had a visit from DG's youngest sister and her husband. They are about eight years younger than us and have had a family of four kids. They were only here one night and a day and had their own hotel room. But ---their energy levels were way on high spectrum and we are s in the sense we don't want to go out and shop or go to a gym or ... nearly anything and our two s were not thrilled by the changes in their routine.

And since their oldest son who is a professional chef lives with them ---they are into eating well. Fortunately a restaurant that we took them to was great to them and has substantially improved its GF choices.

>> is it acceptable for me to try and avoid noisy, confusing, over-stimulating situations or should I still try and get myself to be able to 'handle' them better? I don't really 'need' to go into such situations a lot ... the problem is those times are when my sister and her family visit, because they usually want to go see a movie or go to a restaurant and then instead of it being fun and relaxing it is very stressful to me. Now I do like movies but the malls where they show are noisy and confusing. <<


I suppose this is linked to your over sensitivity issue, which from your original post seems to be a real physical response.

One form of control presumably would be to take some form of sedation medication to reduce the over response of your senses. In the past some professional snooker or dart players took beta blockers or alcohol to dampen down sensitivity.

Another method perhaps would be to learn Zen Buddhism or something (ability to calm the senses through meditation techniques or through use of self hypnosis).

A psychologist would say this sensitivity would be due to some deeply buried childhood anxiety and would go about questioning you in an attempt to reveal the underlying "cause". For example they might ask what you find "confusing" about the situation you mentioned above - could this be associated with a need to be in some form of personal control (and understanding) of your surroundings? With many things "happening" around you, your "need for control (a superego effect I think)" would then be clashing with your ego's (the self) assessment of the reality (... can't control situation because too many things are happening) ... which leads to an internal tension and hence stress.

One would hope your sister and friends would realise by now your condition and would hence be understanding of your situation.

>> is it acceptable for me to try and avoid noisy, confusing, over-stimulating situations or should I still try and get myself to be able to 'handle' them better? <<

So my answer would be both ... try to understand and cope with the situation, but recognise that it is having a real effect on you, so take things one step at a time (i.e. don't overdo things but keep working at it).

>> is it acceptable for me to try and avoid noisy, confusing, over-stimulating situations or should I still try and get myself to be able to 'handle' them better? <<

Willem, I know someone who has just the same problems and I know how almost impossible it is to overcome.

With people who are merely shy and introverted the advice would be to get out more and get used to it, which is what I had to do many years ago, mainly for the sake of my children.

However, I do wonder just how possible that is with your problems, as with my friend. The problem go so deep I am not sure that the standard approach would work. He also has problems making people understand how he feels and how difficult it is.

Us do have that problem with younger generations full of vim and vigour and used to a frantic lifestyle and find it very tiring, much as you do.

Perhaps you should try for outings of a quieter nature with your family as they should appreciate a quieter pace of life for a while. Perhaps they think you need 'taking out of yourself' and should 'get a life' as the modern jargon goes, in which case they need educating

Websailor

Before they started me on beta blockers, I used to have serious problems with vertigo, especially when driving long distances in congested traffic, a serious problem considering its 20 miles/32km to the nearest supermarket and work was a minimum of 50 miles/80km and often over 300 miles/400km one way.



The problem virtually disappeared after I'd been on the beta blockers a few weeks.

All right and thanks again for the messages.

This sensitivity thing has nothing to do with childhood anxieties, or wanting to be in control - only in as far as I want to have some basic awareness of what is going on around me - or *need* to have it in many situations. When I am in loud, confusing places what happens is that the situation 'irritates' my senses - imagine nails scraping on a blackboard - and this makes it very unpleasant for me. When it gets worse, I might go into a 'flight or fight' style response, I might panic, I might get aggressive and want to fight people - in a bad case I might go into full-blown paranoid mode. OR I might lose the ability to register what my senses are receiving. I might no longer be able to recognize what I'm seeing, what is right in front of my eyes. I might 'tune out' the sensory inputs in various ways, such as retreating into an inner fantasy. Some of the most unpleasant sensory perceptions will make me 'disconnect' from reality so as to try and escape it. This is simply because of the profound unpleasantness of the experiences. And it is simply the way I'm wired. I've had some recent success with being able to tune down these responses but still they are there - I still have to actively work against them. They're just the way my senses and my mind work - this is an inbuilt feature of me - I am sure about that. It has nothing to do with my childhood - it is nature, not nurture. And there are *positive* aspects to it as well. Because of my heightened level of processing of sensory data I can extract an immense amount of things from sensory impressions *provided* I don't overload. This helps me as an artist and as an author *provided* I am in a stable and balanced mode and can handle it and can work on my impressions and ideas. In a quiet, relaxed environment I function very, very well.

I have some tranquilizers I can use but I save them for emergencies ... they make me very drowsy. Never heard of beta blockers being prescribed for my sort of problems ...

I do wish I could speak to a proper doctor or psychiatrist again.

I wish you could too Willem. Your problems are so complex I don't think any of us can really help,except by listening.

I had beta blockers for quite a long while but they slowed me down so much, and there were other side effects which I didn't like and I persuaded the to put me on something less debilitating and I have been fine since. Not long after they stopped prescribing them for new patients (for high blood pressure).

Take care,
Websailor

I would suggest if you decide to see a doctor, getting an evaluation for depression.

Hello again everyone! I have a possible new GP! I'll phone her tomorrow for an appointment and then we'll speak about psychiatrists. ITIWBS, I don't think I've depression, actually. Most of the time I'm very happy in fact. But I'll speak about that sort of stuff when I get to the point of seeing someone.