CDnurse, thank you for sharing this. It's so important. It's so very true. I know first hand from trying to have my daughter treated. She suffered for 8 very long yr's, from 10-18 y/o with gallbladder disease, having the Dr's thinking it was an ulcer and being misdiagnosed because every time she went to the ER or Dr's office and was honest about her addictions, she wasn't treated in the correct way. After 10 days in the hospital and a very long 3 hr surg. she finally came out of it. I almost lost her then. Those who don't know about, or understand the whole concept that addictions aren't "that easy to over come and that they're not all in your head and you can stop IF you want to" are just plain crazy themselves, missing this very important "boat" completely! God help those who are addicted and living in that hell. God bless the parents, friends and families that loose their loved ones due to missed treatment of some kind. Thanks for being here!

I'm so glad you do! We could sure benefit sharing knowledge and our passion. I want soooo bad to be a "real" nurse. I have 32 yrs in the medical field doing all kinds of work. I wanted to get my PT license but was unable to write my stupid essay in the English part of the test on the spot...! damn it Janet! Anyways, I'm still in a little bit of a fog, but I want to go to nursing school. I think I'm gonna go to a voc school and do the 18 mo LVN program and then bridge into RN...I just can't do the 4 yr for RN right now... CNA is required here to be RN, but that's how I started out in the first place, I may be able to challenge it? Anyways.. thanks!

Thanks! I'm gonna keep on keeping on... I just found this:

Judge Gently

Pray, don't find fault with the man that limps
Or stumbles along the road.
Unless you have worn the shoes he wears
Or struggled beneath his load.

There may be tacks in his shoes that hurt
Though hidden away from view.
Or the burden he bears placed on your back
Might cause you to stumble too.

Don't sneer at the man who's down today
Unless you have felt the blow
That caused his fall or felt the shame
That only the fallen know.

You may be strong but still the blows
That was his if dealt to you
In the selfsame way, at the selfsame time
Might cause you to stagger too.

Don't be too harsh with the man that sins
Or pelt him with word or stone
Unless you are sure - yea, doubly sure -
That you have no sins of your own.

For you know, perhaps,
If the tempter's voice should whisper as soft to you
As it did to him when he went astray
It might cause you to falter too.

-- Author Unknown

qnvictory: I love this too. And I think being a CNA should be a requirement for any nursing school, LPN or RN. I was one first too. Here's one I really like: Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle. author unknown ( a little side note-when my youngest son was about 7 or 8, I was reading some poems to him one night and most of them were by" anonymous" . After reading several of them he said "boy! anonymous sure did write alot of poems" I've always thought that was so cute!)

I was diagnosed in the early 90's with chronic clinical depression. I hid it so well, no one at work had a clue what I was going through. In my personal life, I didn't do so well. My one older sister finally intervened after she couldn't get in touch with me for a few weeks. You see, once I got home, I completely shut down and off. I didn't answer the phone, I ignored messages. I didn't return calls. If I didn't go to the market before I got home on friday, I didn't have food in the house for the weekend. I simply didn't eat. I would walk in the door of my haven, and just drop whatever I was carrying by the door, creating a path to the living room where I curled up with my dogs for hours on end, mostly mindlessly staring into space, sleeping, or pretending to watch tv.

I never received any support, understanding or kindness from my peers, including surgeons. Comments were made about the crazy charge nurse, if things didn't go the way someone wanted it. If I happened to raise my voice to be heard, watch out she's going to lose it. If I took a sick day, comments were made about me going off the deep end. I hung on as the afternoon OR charge for five long years after my diagnosis. Finally I set myself free, and left. Wherever I worked after this, I was very careful to never mention my battle with depression.

dmazment: I am so sorry that you had to go through that. There is nothing worse than going through depression. Sometimes those that are well meaning will say things like "It is time for you to get over it" If I can find it again I will re-post some items on depression that I had up here a few months ago.

I understand why you would be cautious with who you disclose to. Working in medical you would think that we would be kinder to each other wouldn't you?.

Yes group hug. I was in a deep dark hole in my 20s. Early 20s fro women is a very common time to suffer from depression. I will never forget what that was like. Never want to go there again

it does seem like the medical community is less tolerant with each other than with the patients we care for. And we are a caring group of people. I wonder why that is. No none wants to admit their weaknesses. Maybe because then we might become the one being care for instead of being the one caring for others?

dmazement: you are so right about the medical community not stepping up. We are very intolerant of each other even with physical illness. I had a charge nurse who would not let me go home even though I had the flu and a fever because it was New Year's Eve. The only reason I didn't call in sick was because I would have been fired for calling off on a holiday. I begged her to let me go home, but she refused. I had to take a full patient load in the ER for 8 hours before she relented and let me work in triage where I could at least sit down. It took me weeks to recover, and made me very depressed. My manager refused to support me, and I finally quit to escape the stress.

I can't imagine going what you went through for five years.

Wow, this is a heavy topic, and I commend you guys for talking about it and sharing your experiences with it. I can't even remember a time in my whole life that I haven't been depressed. I'm a survivor of a hellish childhood..from just about every abuse suffered. Today, I have a wonderful therapist and a great Dr. Ive tried a lot of meds over the yr's, but I've found Wellbutrin,Lexapro and prn Klonopin...helps in a lot of ways.
The really cool thing is even after treating me for a few yrs and helping me go through all the crap and a few break downs, my Dr paid me the highest compliment ever.....He told me when I'm ready to go back to work to talk to him about a job in his office! I ask him ....omg, you want this crazy lady to work for you? He said, I'd be an asset to his pt's because I have been there and survived and I could help so many people!!! Wow......That really brightened my days to have some one believe in me like that! (I don't think I'd work for my Dr....but I sure appreciated the offer) It's nice not to suffer the anxiety and panic every min of every day.... thinking I'm crazy.

gentlenurse said:

Whats the difference between bi-polar depression, manic depression or just being down in the dumps?

dmazement: this one's for you! The Virginian Pilot Feb.15 2008 by Asra Q. Nomani It's impossible for me to find any entertainment value in the public harassment of Britney Spears, who was released from the psychiatric word of UCLA Medical Center last week. And as a journalist, I doubt there is news value in it either. Mental illness doesn't always elicit compassion. It's hard to see, so it's hard to understand. Perhaps in the wake of Spears' breakdown, California mental health advocates will lobby to change the state's involuntary commitment laws so that those who are sick get treatment. In the meantime, all of us should reflect on the fact that we wouldn't be so cruel to somebody diagnosed with another disease. Would we make a sideshow of someone with a brain tumor?

Hello. Been working and just saw the post with questions re the difference between bipolar, depression. etc. Give me a minute to get something typed up and on here. So happy to see the interest.

Thank you all for sharing. I don't feel as alone now. I sometimes feel like a monster and can't even stand myself when I experience a low. I have been denied health insurance because my health records show I was prescribed Prozac. I too experienced a very hellish childhood and my marriage of eighteen years has had it's share of trouble. When I'm feeling down in the dumps I'm often asked "have you taken your happy pills?"