Sarah, Health Educator

hi em - that must have been horrifying for you! sounds like a manic episode or post traumatic stress disorder due to the loss of his job. goofy is so right, make sure there is a plan in place and YOU have someone to call right away if you have to. has he done this kind of thing before? tell the doctors everything you know, cause he probably will not. hang in there em, you're in crisis mode and need to sleep, eat, and be as calm as you can be to get through this as easily as possible. not that any of this is easy. we know, my grandpa in the throes of alzheimers used to run out of his house naked into the road. our brains are funny, squishy weird things sometimes and they run approx 150lbs of muscle and bone around. it's scary, sometimes i have this recurring dream that we are all zombies in a way, being controlled - not by voodoo but our own brains!

em, I can tell you somethings from personal experience. I don't know how closely they will relate. I went thru a simliar episode to your husbands. At the hospital, some of my focus returned, because it was a place I did not want to be. When I got to the hospital my main focus shifted from the problems I was having to concentrating on doing whatever I had to do to get home. I will admit that i did recognize that I needed help then and did honestly make a effort to be truthful in the group and individual counseling sessions, but I can tell you, if they had told me that I had to stand on my head and bark like a dog, I would have done it to get out of there. I know the people are there to help you,but when I was there the only thing I could think of was how much I wanted to go home. Now I can't say if that is the reason you see such a drastic change or not, it's just my personal experience from being there.I will keep you both in my prayers.

Thanks for replying!  I guess I will have to be patient and trust that things will improve.  Trust the professionals will do their job, that they will know when he is better.

Hi em

You seem to have been through a rough time! I don't know what I would have done under the same circumstances. This is a great place for advice and often people can relate to what you are going through. I honestly don't think there is a quick fix for that kind of depression, especially if there was a suicide attempt. My mother also attempted suicide numerous times and sometimes she'd get up the next day and carry on like nothing happened, being her normal self. But we always waited for the next episode. I am afraid I am not really the one to give you advice, but I am thinking of you and there is always support here. Hang in there.....

I am here looking for answers, support, advice, help!  My husband lost his job three months ago and has had a "nervous breakdown".  he has been inconsistantly taking antidepressants and recently started seroquel.  He doesn't think he needs medication, just a job.  He thinks it is stress not depression.  EVERY day has been torture!  By the time I come home from work he looks like he has been on a battlefield, fighting for his life.  His depression is more anxious than boo-hoo I'm sad.  I knew this was more than we could handle outpatient and told him he had to go into the hospital.  he was in total denial and was scared of going inpatient.  He did not want to go, and I  have tried to talk  him into this many times over the past couple months and he flat out refused.  We had to get on the highway to get to the hospital and he was freaking out the whole time.  I agreed to take him to his mother's house instead of the hospital but planned to call 911 once we were out of the car.  On the way to her house we passed another hospital and without saying anything I pulled in, he again grabbed the wheel and we were swerving all over the parking lot.  I threw it in park, pulled the keys out and jumped out of the car and screamed for help.  An EMT came over and got him to go inside.  He was diagnosed with major depression, severe, single episode and after 9 hours was transported to a intensive observation unit at another hospital.  The crisis worker at the ER spent hours talking with us and by the time he was transported he had become calm, talkative, his sense of humor returned, he was smiling, joking, he had a postive attitude, it was like he was back!  What happend?  Can someone snap out of it just like that?  They did not give him any medication.  I saw him today and talked to him several times on the phone, he is bored and overly anxious to come home, but not crazy!  Is he faking so he can get out of the hospital? Is this going to wear off?  They only plan on keeping him for 3 to 5 days, it that enough time to get stabilized?  He is very focused on getting out of there and I am afraid that he will return to the way he was.