Topic : Coping with Stress

Number of Replies: 348
New Messages This Week: 0
Last Reply On:
Created on : Thursday, July 07, 2005, 08:52:50 am
Author : dataimport
Is stress ruining your life? Have you discovered great coping strategies or ways to reduce the anxiety of living? Don't be stressed, kick off your shoes and talk with others!

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April 20, 2006, 3:11 pm PDT

Coping with Stress

Just when we thought it was safe to go back in the water, bam! My employer, without prior notice after depositing my disability  payment into my checking account suddenly and without notice reversed this deposit.  So far, Payroll is aware of this and states that:  

  • I should have been notified ahead of time.
  • That someone on the local level failed to fill out appropriate documentation.
  • They have denied me three times to return to work, the first time six weeks after surgery, the second time about 3 months after surgery and the third time about six months after surgery.

Dr Phil, anybody, help me.  According to HR I am still employed, but no checks.  It was bad enough to lose the two houses because I didn't have the strength, energy, resources or all of the help that was promised to me, and I am cancelling all of my doctor's appointments.  My left index finger was cut on the table saw the first day I attempted to  resume any kind of activity in my delapodated shop, requiring ten stitches from the tip to just below the fingernail.    

   

I will just continue taking care of this and remove the stitches on my own.  Three have already busted.  I have a pile of wood I took out of the houses now sitting in the rain, ruining because I could not get the buildings to store them in.    

   

All three vehicles are falling apart.  My sons' car is broke down.  My wife's car needs attention quick before it breaks another belt.  It needs new seals, bearings, altenator, on and on.  My car looks like S%#@, and the transmission is making all kinds of noise and I have to push it up hills, or almost.  My wife's car needs a clutch and transmission work.  I am unemployeable at a normal job and have been begging and begging from government sites, etc for assistance.    

   

I am just so sick and tired of it all.  Tags are expired which I cannot buy.  And the money they spent to dispose of those houses, they could have spent half to have them dragged across my property line and allowed me to pay them back.    

   

Bad luck Me.  Somebody.  I still have taxes to file for two years. I am falling fast, and the hopes of the "Vagus Nerve Stimulation" is out of the question.  I need to call to see if my insurance is in affect, if not I will owe the hospital a couple of grand for surgery on my finger.  When  a knife cuts skin, usually stitches are all required.  But when a 1/4" of meat is sawed out of the finger, it involves severed nerves etc.  Only about 30 minutes, but I am sure a couple of grand.  

   

If I can't get feeling better, and do better, God help me......... I can't take this any longer.   

That's all folks.  

 

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April 24, 2006, 12:11 pm PDT

Coping with Stress

I am in severe pain daily.  It feels like knives are stabbing in my spine, up and down.  The pain meds don't relieve this, not enough to make a difference.  I sometimes take 3 or 4 Ultram when I wake up still with no relief, also with the Duragsic Pain patch, Oxycodone, Neurontin and Tylenol.  

  

My employer has robbed me of my livelihood, my life, my hopes and dreams, and have lied to me, and will not return my calls.  They discontinued my benefits without warning, and after promising they would not.  I do not know my employment status, they will not tell me.  

  

They denied me permission to return to work on three different occasions with a release from my doctor each time.  I have contacted the local Untied Way, attempting to get some guidance, they advised me to call the consumer credit counseling service which is closed until Thursday.  

  

I have been receiving suspicious phone calls.  I have had people watching me.  For instance, recently someone in a suburban pulled into my driveway up about 100' from the road and about 30' from my house and was taking pictures.  When I walked out the front door to confront him, the man immediately jumped in his vehicle. backed down this long narrow gravel driveway hauling a@*.  Before I could grab my cam-corder to zoom in and capture his tag number and the vehicle, he had backed out onto a major highway giving no thought to this hill that is too steep to see over if traffic is coming, and raced North spinning tires and all.  And all I did was walk out the door.  

  

The almost exact thing happened on three or four different occasions when I was at the back of the property, and was in the vicinity of the road that is perpendicular to the major highway.   This person was in a Mustang, super fast because each time I spotted him he was looking directly at me, and as before, before I could get a tag number, he hauled asp burning rubber.  

  

The individual who promised me that the company would not discontinue my benefits is now denying this, he just finally contacted me.  He passed the buck back to HR and he said he had nothing to with it.  But he is the one who refused to allow me to return to work.  

  

The stigma of depression...that's what it is.  This is the man, who had the nerve to ask me if I was having sexual relations with a former employee.  He had no cause for this.  She never filed a complaint or I would have known.  She did file a complaint against someone in upper management, and I backed her up on this about sexual harassment.  I had to convince her that her job was safe if she did file the complaint.  Nothing was done but a slap on the wrist and an apology (admission) by the manager.  She later left on her own.    

  

I emailed the CEO and V/P out of France, the home base for this company prior to my medical leave expressing my concerns about this very thing.  I emailed him last Friday and have not heard back from him.  I still have not heard from HR.  She is avoiding me.  She led me to believe that I would continue receiving benefits, but at a lower rate last week, and that I would have my answer by Friday 5:00 pm EDT.  She has not returned any of my calls.  I called the Atlanta area office and left a message, they told me she would be there by noon EDT, and they would give her the message to call me as soon as she walked in the door.    

  

No matter who I contact, I cannot get any kind of immediate assistance.  

  

What do I need?  

  • A doctor who can find the source of my pains and treat them effectively.
  • The Vagus Nerve Stimulator implant procedure.
  • A way to stay a float financially while these are being done.
  • A job with a company that is honest and humane, and built on trust, with an income comparable to what I was making with the benefits or
  • The means to start my own business, as I have mentioned I have some tools, a dilapidated shop, a few pieces of lumber.  I just need advice and a push getting it going.  Or
  • Any kind of home based business, computer related would be great.  Dealing with people would be great. 
  • If I could feel better and see a brighter future I would have the will to quit smoking and to exercise and eat healthier.
  • And if I could get to this point I will push my campaign for the fight against child abuse.

This is physical and mental and emotional TORTURE  And years of this is just too much.  There has to be a way out, some answers, a glimmer of hope somewhere.  I just need some help getting there.  I did not choose to be in this situation.  

  

It is a know fact that animals and people prey on those weaker than them.  And although Depression is not a personal weakness, it appears that way to others and they take advantage.  I can get a list of people who will tell you how hateful, mean and selfish my supervisor has been.  Even from years past.   

  

It just feels hopeless when I feel I have contacted everyone in the book, and I am still no closer than I was a year ago to having a normal life.  

  

Can some one please, please help me?  

  

Just imagine going through every day with the feeling of knives jabbed in your spine, up and down. And people just walking all over you because you cannot defend yourself.  Not just employers, but all kinds of people.  

  

Imagine being so depressed that you just cry and cry, feel guilt, anxieties, pressure in your head like it's going to explode.  

  

I have been to numerous doctors, and here I am, still sitting here in this sinking boat without a life raft and no land in sight.   

  

No, I do not intend to commit suicide, I would not do that to my family, but it doesn't stop the thought from crossing my mind almost every day for 16+ years.  Imagine feeling that worthless as a human being.  That defeated, and I have so much I could offer to this world, to our society and to my community, if I could just have my life back.  

  

Losing this home, again, only a 100,000.00 dollar home. That's one hundred thousand dollar home.  This is very modest with ten acres of land, so that I can, if and when I am well enough, walk into the woods and talk to GOD.  That's what I did when I was young.    

  

It's like I am asking too much out of life.  And had it not been for my illnesses and mistreatment by my employer(s), my life would be fantastic!  

  

  

 

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April 28, 2006, 3:34 pm PDT

What's wrong with drivers today

Why is it so dangerous to drive anymore? I can't believe how bad it's gotten.  It's like people have put on a blindfold and they just go out there and drive any way they want, not caring and not respecting other people on the road.  When you drive the speed limit they get pissed off, and either drive on your bumper or swerve around you and cut you off, almost hitting you on purpose.  It is so sad.  There is no consideration anymore.  No wonder people have road rage.  And they also don't have any consideration for pedestrians.  Forget about crossing the road in a crosswalk, they'll hit you, even if you have the green light, again on purpose.  It makes me sick!   

 
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Depressed

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May 7, 2006, 9:55 am PDT

Stress

Stress, 

            There used to be a time when my mind was free. I had a good memory. Now sometimes I can't even remember my own Dr.s name. I can't remember anything good from my childhood. Even high school is all but a blurr. Is this a condition of depression/ stress. I have a very additive personality and get stuck on things or people like movie stars. I also have my rituals that I do. I convinced myself I am better because I fixed some over time. I used to wash my hands until they were raw. I do not now. I worry so much about all kinds of stuff that does not really matter to getting physically sick , and I get so stressed my chest and stomach feel like they will burst. I worry that I hurt my organs with a couple overdoses on pills many years ago. I hope to oneday know what normal is. 

                  deppstruck 

 

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May 8, 2006, 9:12 pm PDT

How do you cope with a forgetful senior family member?

My (divorced) parents are both getting up in their years. Both of them are having a lot of problems with short term memory, especially my father. Dad (77) can forget things he was told or did, just minutes earlier and has started having trouble counting money. Mom (62) is pretty forgetful too but her problem may be more work-stress related than physiological. At this point, there is no danger to either. Mom is cognitively aware of her memory problem but she doesn't like to talk about it and often responds to the topic in denial and passive anger. Dad is usually not aware of his problem at all, although he catches himself once in a while and finds it amusing, failing and refusing to see the seriousness of it. If either of my parents could see themselves through my eyes and ears, they would be shocked and appalled at their conditions. I believe Mom would be willing to accept help for her condition, but I know my father would never seek or accept any help of any kind. He hates doctors and hasn't seen one in over thirty years. My parents are still a long way off from needing to go to a home or something like that, so I'm not even suggesting anything of the sort.

This problem is putting a lot of stress on me. I don't know how to cope with it. I become so frustrated and disgusted with their forgetfulness and absent-mindedness I just want to run to a hilltop somewhere and scream at the top of my lungs. Sometimes I can barely tolerate being around either of them. I know they can't help it. It's not their fault. It's really stressing me out though, and I don't how to deal with what it is doing to me.

My questions are: Do you have a senior family member with memory problems? If so, how do their memory problems effect YOU and how do YOU COPE with the mental and emotional strain it puts on you?    

 
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Relaxed

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May 10, 2006, 3:03 am PDT

Coping with Stress

Quote From: normalita

I have been surfing around the new boards.  I read a few of the posts here.  I have got major stress in my life.  What I have found is if I don't live it every day.  Things are really bad then.  For example.  Seems like everytime I do something I like to do or go somewhere and have fun, then I have to have something bad happen.  I will pay for having fun or being happy.  If I stay all stressed out all the time, then things are fine.  Crazy I know.  But I have been paying attention to this and it happens every time.  I have a day where I feel good and I am in a good mood.  Boom, I will get a letter from the IRS that they are going to audit me.  I take a day and play with my grandson, again, I get a phone call someone in my family has been hurt or injured.  So, I have just given up enjoying my self.  As long as I am in constant worry over something then things seem to stay on an even level.  When I do have time to think about myself, I sit and cry.  I can cry for and entire afternoon, because I am so heartbroken.  Another thing that has been happening to me is post traumatic stuff.  When my husband and I were first married and having children, life was less than perfect.  We had a lot of struggles and had some really bad times. We came so close to being homeless a coulple of times, it wasn't funny.  Bad part was we had family members going around in the background doing this to us.  We had absolutely no support or help.   We are fine now and the kids are all grown and gone, but I keep having flash backs.  Back to that time and it is almost like being shot with a gun.  It just stops me in my tracks.  I get very upset all over again and it doesn't even matter any more.  I just don't feel having a happy life is possible.

 

 

Hi Normalita - Madrig here.  I am new to message boards.  A thought struck me as I read your message:  What if, for every bad thing that happens, you are being paid with a good thing - like, for example, what if, a chance to play with your grandson, is payback for that bad thing(s) that happened yesterday?  Wish you well, Madrig.
 
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Stressed

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May 24, 2006, 7:59 am PDT

LIFE AFTER A HYSTERECTOMY

 Stress seems to be my middle name these days. 

At the age of 28 I had to have a complete hysterectomy. 

I am now 32 and year by year have felt huge impacts. 

While I do take hormons and dont have hot flashes now. 

Its the other stuff that is really getting to me.  I am tired 

all the time and often find I dont have the energy or desire 

to do the simple things that I am required to do. I have 

four children ages 12 , 11, 8, 7, and I feel guilty for not 

having the get up and go. I have tried vitamins of all kinds. 

It seems the longer time goes by the worse I get. I am 

now starting to experiance extreem back pain and weight  

gain which is leading to depression.  I have tired talking 

to my doctor and he just doesnt seem to listen. Is there 

any  one out there with advice.  IS THERE LIFE AFTER A 

HYSTERECTOMY? 

 
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May 30, 2006, 8:33 pm PDT

Coping with Stress

Quote From: inspiredis

 Stress seems to be my middle name these days. 

At the age of 28 I had to have a complete hysterectomy. 

I am now 32 and year by year have felt huge impacts. 

While I do take hormons and dont have hot flashes now. 

Its the other stuff that is really getting to me.  I am tired 

all the time and often find I dont have the energy or desire 

to do the simple things that I am required to do. I have 

four children ages 12 , 11, 8, 7, and I feel guilty for not 

having the get up and go. I have tried vitamins of all kinds. 

It seems the longer time goes by the worse I get. I am 

now starting to experiance extreem back pain and weight  

gain which is leading to depression.  I have tired talking 

to my doctor and he just doesnt seem to listen. Is there 

any  one out there with advice.  IS THERE LIFE AFTER A 

HYSTERECTOMY? 

I had an complete hysterectomy in 1989 so I was 35 when I had mine! 

  

Actually considering how I was feeling before I had the surgery after I'd healed from the surgery I felt great!   

  

What was hard and depressing were the mood swings, going through menopause forever....I still have hot flashes and contending with my own sexuality!  Which for me the hysterectomy cut my sex drive to almost zero even with hormones!  Getting all those things settled took more than a few years for me!  Yes I did start gaining weight after my hysterectomy! 

  

But to me, your exhaustion could be many things....but my first thought is it could be depression as well as some form of sleep disorder!  The pain in your back could be from lack of sleep or be causing you to not get enough sleep!  As well being unrested can cause you to be more stressed and more apt to depression!   

  

4 children is a large responsibility and stressful too....so you have alot on your plate1 

  

Let me give you a suggestion!  I have a pain syndrome which interupts my sleep....so I am pretty much exhausted all the time! 

  

Try this....make sure you are doing everything right as far as getting to bed at a decent time so you are getting at least 7 hours of sleep!  Limit your caffiene to the morning...caffeine can cause sleep disturbances..  

Now...try taking a benedryl/diphenhydramine about an hour to hour and a half before bedtime. ...Or you may want to try a tylenol pm tablet to help with your back and get you into a deeper sleep! 

  

Also limit your sugar/carbohydrate intake...you know sweets....as you may be crashing during the day with blood sugar dropping out on you! 

  

Also do take a Vitamin B stress tab twice daily.... 

  

Your metabolism has slowed and has changed since your hysterectomy!  Now is the time to watch your diet, get adequate rest, fluids, etc....take care of yourself now....and try to set up something fun to look forward to everyday with your family... 

  

Assign each child a day during the week to come up with a joke...include yourself! 

Have a game night! 

A movie night! 

A dress up day! 

Tea party night 

Let your children think of fun things to do! 

A cleaning race, etc. 

  

Everyday can feel like everyday...but you have to choose to enjoy the eveyday! 

  

I sure hope I have given you some ideas here! 

  

But try the sleep thing....and if none of this doesn't work...make sure you go to your doctor and get checked out! 

 
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Good

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June 1, 2006, 8:11 am PDT

stress

i believe stress is a problem with everyone it seems..we have very busy schedules,and we dont seem to take care of ourselves. we seem to always want to take care of everyone else and not give ourselves any time to feel good about ourselves.i do believe that if we smile and laugh more we can make our lives better..it does seem easier to frown and cry instead,when things arent going good.everyone seems to want to carry old baggage and not let things go.sometimes thats easier said then done too...i think we just cant be happy with what we got and make the best of it. we seem to always think that the grass is always greener on the other side..but,in the real world it realy isnt. ive decided in my life that i only get one chance so i want to make the best out of my life and in the process i hope to leave people with joy and hopefully not sorrow............we are human and do make mistakes....thats just enevitable..........IVE DECIDE TO LIVE,LOVE ,LAUGH,AND MOST OF ALL KEEP ON KEEPING ON....................JEANNIE  

 
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Stressed

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June 3, 2006, 5:40 am PDT

Stress of an upcoming operation

I'm hoping someone will read or read and maybe even have some kind words... 

  

  

This thursday i have to go in for an operation to get skin cancers removed which are all on my face. I was born with a syndrome where even if i spend all day, EVERY day inside i will still get skin cancers, going out in the sun will only make them worse. Through-out my life (i'm 23) i've had countless operations and have had to deal with a whole new physical me everytime i wake up.  

  

From that i've grown a deep, DEEP fear of needles, hospitals, hospital beds and scars...  it only ever seems to get worse. I haven't had an operation in a few years, i decided to play the ignorant card and avoid the check-ups only for it to get much worse. Now knowing i have to go through the whole procedure again this week, i'm terrified. It's all i think about because it's all that i fear. I'm so stressed i've been getting rashes, i'm extremely tired and i'm always panicked... 

  

i don't know how to calm myself down.... i really don't want to make the doctors job harder than it already is but i know once i'm on that bed i'll be a crumbling and bawling mess. and how do i deal with a newly scarred up face again when i've just accepted the one i've got after 5 years? 

  

I'm crying just typing this. 

 

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