First things first mate, give yourself a massive pat on the back, as step one is recognising that you need to talk about what’s going on and you’ve done that by coming on here.
Many many people find it easier to be open about their problems within the anonymity of a forum such as this - no one knows you, so there’s no feelings of letting people down or shame.
Moving onto shame and letting people down. Up until very recently, fellas were brought up to “ man up “ and hide their feelings. Thankfully that’s changed now, this thread is testimony to that.
I fully understand how hard it is to admit to your nearest and dearest that you aren’t well, but as others have said, do you think they’d want to help you, if they knew how bad things really were - answer, a big fat yes.
Look at things another way. You’re head can break, same as your leg, you just can’t see inside a broken head. So why should a broken head have any stigma attached to it, it’s an illness / injury same as any other ?
As others have said, you need to go back to your GP if your meds aren’t working and either got the dose upped or changed to another type.
The thing with meds for depression and anxiety, is that it’s not an exact science - what works for me, may not work for you, so it can be a bit hit and miss until they get it right.
Also you need to ask your GP about cognitive behavioural therapy ( CBT ) I know you won’t be able to see anyone face to face at the mo, but I know they’re doing stuff on the likes of Zoom and FaceTime etc.
Talking about things with a trained professional can really really help, as they’ll be able to teach you coping mechanisms and how recognise trigger points and how to avoid or deal with them.
Exercise is also wonderful for both depression and anxiety mate, as it releases natural feel good chemicals into your body.
I know you may be feeling like exercise is the last thing you want to do right now, especially with the weather, but try and drag yourself out at least once a day.
I found that completely cutting caffeine out and drinking in extreme moderation helped too mate, as the caffeine really ramped up the anxiety and the hangovers super charged it the following morning - the Irish call it “ the Fear “ which is a brilliant description of the feeling you get the morning after a session.
If you go back through this thread mate, there’s loads of people who came on here who where on their arses and thought things wouldn’t / couldn’t get any better and then slowly with support and help things got better for them.
It’s all about taking little steps mate and you’ve done that by coming on here.
Please keep posting, as there’s so many on here ( as you’ve seen already ) who will support you in anyway they can.
