Need some advice: Dorothy Hamil's Book?

Hi guys!

I'm thinking of getting this book fo my sister, who knows who she is and enjoyed her skating when she was younger. But my pimary reason for thinking of this as a gift idea is because my sister also suffers from depression, and I thought the book could help her out in some way. She's had a LOT of problems over the past few years. She not only suffes from depression, she is also bipolar and that has impacted her life and the lives of those around he significantly. I thought that, even though I haven't read this book yet, that it could help he somehow.

Would anyone care to open up about this, give me straightforward advice? Could this book help her at all?

Thanks a lot guys. This was my first choice to get her because of all she's been through.

Try going to lowselfhelpsystem.org. It is Recovery, Inc. I went there and it is a good system. It is not for alcohol recovery, but depression. They have meetings and books. You can buy them online. I don't know how much. I have D Hamil book but can't remember if it would be any help. (I don't have a remember any more. LOL) They give you methods to help. Hope this helps.

Depression is a terrible affliction to deal with - for both the sufferer and those around them. I know because, I have suffered through it most of my life. My advice would be for your sister to seek medical advice through her family dr. Anti-depressants do help through the rough patches, also cognitive therapy helps.

Reading accounts such as Dorothy Hamill's book may help your sister realize that she is not alone. It is great that you are able to help your sister. There is much more information about depresson and understanding how to cope with it available now. I hope this helps.

Actually, Ladskater is correct. Try to get her to see a Dr. But, they should get her to a Psychologist. The one I went to was really bad but I think most of them are quite good. He was the one that sent me to Recovery. So, that part was good. The people there were all just plain ordinary people in the same boat. Not weirdos. You do have to see a Psychiatrist first for the medication.

anya_angie:

Good for your to care about your sister. I'm impressed with good advice and wisdom imparted in this thread. I do have a few questions though.

1. Has she been to therapy, on medication, both, or neither?

A lot depend on the question above. If she has never been in treatment, a self-help organization such as lowselfhelpsystem.org. at Recovery, Inc. is an excellent place to start.

2. Giving a book is a nice idea to convey that you care. But if, for some reason your sister feels unworthy or inferior in relation to you (not uncommon feelings among depressed persons), you might attend self-help meeting "together" as part of your present to your sister. That way, you can convey the idea that you want to "understand" her world, rather than "help" her. The latter can be construed by your sister that she is a burden whereas the former imply that you want to spend time "with" your sister - implying an equality. Equality helps maintains a person's dignity while burden implies inferiority so some.

My best wishes and prayer for you and your sister.

Hi everyone!
It's so nice to see all these comments here. I will answer some questions and further explain things.

My sister is 11 years older than me (she's 38). She's known she has depression for a long time, several yeas. She does see (or used to see) a psycfhiatrist (she does take medication still). She was diagnosed with bipola as well as depression. About 3 years ago she was in a terrible motorcycle accident with a family friend. That seemed to make her mental state worse because our friend died, and his family talkedsomuch about her, laying the blame at her feet when it wasn't he fault that she actually had to move from this town to a city about a half hour away. She's with a boyfriend of a few yeas who abuses her, yet he keeps an eye on he meds because she's addicted to them. It's hard for her to get any prescriptions because her doctors know that she is. My mm worries about her ending up dead in a similar fashion to Heath Ledger and Michael Jackson someday. My sister has also attempted suicide more than once. We've tried to institutionalize her or put her in rehab but for some reason we can't force her to go. She has days where she will forget what she did or said or planned before. This past Wednesday she talked to me and I reminded her she was supposed to go Christmas shopping with mom on Saturday, and it took her a moment to remember that they had planned that. She has days, I don't know if it's related to her bipolar or depression or addiction, where she just sounds "out of it" compared to how she nomally is.

I think the self-help idea is a great one. She knows she needs help with all these issues, including her addiction. She even regrets being with her boyfriend.

Thanks again everyone. I eally appreciate all the comments so far.

Once again, sorry for your sister's conditions. Your mother's fear that your sister might be dead some day is unfortunately well founded, given her addition and suicidal attempts. Now that you explained your sister more, I can see why you are concerned. I'll see if I can clarify some of your concerns.

1. Your sister being 38 year old, no one can force her to commit herself to a hospital other than herself. Exceptions are when she poses danger to herself and/or to others. Nowadays, this danger has to be "imminent" for a hospital to admit her. And imminent danger is a pretty high standards to meet - part of the reason being psychiatric hospitalization is very expensive, and the trend is to reduce available beds in psych. hospitals nationwide. You usually call 911 or bring the person to an emergency hospital, where either psychologist or psychiatrist evaluate the potential patient for an admission. Many persons are sent back home without admission.

2. Is she addicted to pain-killer? I'm asking this because bi-polar medications usually you have to take it forever. So managing potential cross-effects between unti-depressant, bi-polar drug(s), and whatever substance she is addicted has to be very, very, critical.

Typically psychiatrist sees his/her patient at around every 6 weeks to monitor the effects of medication. Human body builds tolerance to any medications; it means whatever drug that was initially effective at some point become less effective with the same dosage. You have to either increase dosage or change medication to derive continuous effectiveness - one of the many reasons why it is so important that your sister being carefully monitored.

3. As to your sister sometimes being lucid and sometimes being out: There are several explanations. a. When her depression or depressive bi-polar episode is severe enough, she may reach psychotic depressive level - meaning that she loses touch with reality such as losing sense of time. b. It could be the effect of whatever medications she is addicted. c. Or the combination of a & b. d. Or some other unknown reasons for you and I. The best way to handle is that you address your concerns to your sister and knowledgeable expert with your sister's consent.

4. Finally, and most importantly, I urge you to take care of yourself. When a family member has addition and/or chronic mental issues like your sister, you are powerfully impacted, where you are aware or not. For that reason I urge to seek your own support system. Norcotic anonymus has many chapters for family and friends of person with addiction. You may want to attend some meetings to start healing yourself as well as to learn how not to enable your sister's addiction and issues.

I know I'm on a shaky ground without knowing details about your sister's condition. Please be sure to take that I wrote with skeptical eyes, for I can only speak in generality rather than specifically tailored to your sister's.

CARA said:

4. Finally, and most importantly, I urge you to take care of yourself. When a family member has addition and/or chronic mental issues like your sister, you are powerfully impacted, where you are aware or not. For that reason I urge to seek your own support system. Norcotic anonymus has many chapters for family and friends of person with addiction. You may want to attend some meetings to start healing yourself as well as to learn how not to enable your sister's addiction and issues.

Click to expand...

I agree you need to take care of yourself. You're not alone in this matter, there are several people who have family members in the same situation.

I will keep you & your family in my thoughts & prayers.

Grgranny said:

Actually, Ladskater is correct. Try to get her to see a Dr. But, they should get her to a Psychologist. The one I went to was really bad but I think most of them are quite good. He was the one that sent me to Recovery. So, that part was good. The people there were all just plain ordinary people in the same boat. Not weirdos. You do have to see a Psychiatrist first for the medication.

Click to expand...

Psychologists and Psychiatrists do have their role in treating depression, but I found it was care from my family, patient friends and plain old determination to never give up on my part was what got me better. Sometimes it's a matter of too little serotonin in the brain that causes the problem in the first place - which was in my case. Talking is good, a psychologist can help in that area.

I also found getting back on my skates really helped me. Excercise is a key to recovery.