Number5 Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 I can totally relate to what he went thru and what Andrews is going thru.... http://www.gcobb.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1801&Itemid=1 Dawkins Had Battle With Depression Written by Garry Cobb Wednesday, 06 August 2008 The revelations from Brian Dawkins about his battle with depression early in his career created quite a stir. This will help form an atmosphere for Andrews that will help him when he gets back with the team. Dawkins is a team leader who is respected throughout the team and the organization. For Dawk to say he battled depression will provide Andrews with some shelter from verbal shots. Here's a short bit of what Dawkins had to say on Comcast Sportsnet. “I went through it my rookie year, my first two years, so I know what it's like. I did the doctor thing, but I leaned heavily on my pastor, I leaned heavily on men of God, my man Troy (Vincent) was here, Irving Fryar was here, Emmitt Thomas helped me out tremendously, so there were a lot of people that I had in my corner as well as prayer to help me out of that situation. "It's nothing to scoff at. The thing about it is we're held up as being these mighty people because we play this violent game, but at the end of the day, we have the same emotions as the average cat.” There are quite a few more players who I believe have bouts with depression and other mental problems but mask them with different types of drugs and behavior. It says quite a bit for Dawkins to publicly make these statements. Like myself, Dawk is a born-again Christian who trusts in the Lord on a daily basis. There's no question that he's an honorable man with humility. I'm sure he'll be a help to Andrews. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldskool Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 Good to see that Dawkins pulled though this. He's always been a hell of a player and I'm glad this didn't cut his career short. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Number5 Posted August 7, 2008 Author Share Posted August 7, 2008 Good to see that Dawkins pulled though this. He's always been a hell of a player and I'm glad this didn't cut his career short. I suffer from anixety and depression and I can tell you one thing....it sucks. All the meetings, meds, etc...it's crazy and I work for at&t. I could never imagine having the issues I have finally come to terms with and have to play football. It's like you are walking thru a fog and all you want to do is cry or sleep or sometimes, in certain occassions, you want to die like I did. May God bless us all and allow this to open peoples eyes to the seriousness of depression and anxiety. It's really no laughing matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldskool Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 I suffer from anixety and depression and I can tell you one thing....it sucks. All the meetings, meds, etc...it's crazy and I work for at&t. I could never imagine having the issues I have finally come to terms with and have to play football. It's like you are walking thru a fog and all you want to do is cry or sleep or sometimes, in certain occassions, you want to die like I did. May God bless us all and allow this to open peoples eyes to the seriousness of depression and anxiety. It's really no laughing matter. I'm on anxiety meds myself and hate it. I can't imagine the issues he has with his meds, working out, eating right and having the right mindset to play the game at that level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedskinDaddy Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 I bet this is a lot more prevalent than most people outside the league think it is. Not to thread-jack here, but didn't Barrett Robbins have a similar problem before the Raiders-Bucs SB? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Number5 Posted August 7, 2008 Author Share Posted August 7, 2008 I bet this is a lot more prevalent than most people outside the league think it is. Not to thread-jack here, but didn't Barrett Robbins have a similar problem before the Raiders-Bucs SB? I think so....but to add in with Oldskool the worst part about the meds is that you feel like crap when you take them, but you feel like crap X's 1000 when you don't! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brandymac27 Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 I think so....but to add in with Oldskool the worst part about the meds is that you feel like crap when you take them, but you feel like crap X's 1000 when you don't! Yeah, I take them too. Effexor and Xanax for anxiety and depression. It really does suck wether you take the med's or not. If you take them, you feel like crap, and if you don't take them (most of the time) I can't even function. Can't imagine playing pro ball and being in the spotlight having to deal with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dizzinator53 Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 What Dawkins did is what Andrews should do. Leave it at home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heisenberg Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 I bet this is a lot more prevalent than most people outside the league think it is. Not to thread-jack here, but didn't Barrett Robbins have a similar problem before the Raiders-Bucs SB? Robbins was bi-polar I'm pretty sure . . . which is a totally different can of worms. I feel sorry for anyone who has any of these conditions - I've had bouts with depression myself and to make it worse the meds I was given really ****ed my head up. Bi-polar disorder like Robbins had can be 100x worse though, unfortunately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSUHeckler Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 I think so....but to add in with Oldskool the worst part about the meds is that you feel like crap when you take them, but you feel like crap X's 1000 when you don't! How do they make you feel like 'crap'? I'm assuming you feel less or no depression and anxiety, so are there other side affects? Like mood swings or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedskinDaddy Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 I'm on anxiety meds myself and hate it. I can't imagine the issues he has with his meds, working out, eating right and having the right mindset to play the game at that level. I think so....but to add in with Oldskool the worst part about the meds is that you feel like crap when you take them, but you feel like crap X's 1000 when you don't! Yeah, I take them too. Effexor and Xanax for anxiety and depression. It really does suck wether you take the med's or not. If you take them, you feel like crap, and if you don't take them (most of the time) I can't even function.Can't imagine playing pro ball and being in the spotlight having to deal with it. Help me out here, guys. If this is too personal, forgive me and ignore this but how does one end up diagnosed with depresssion and/or anxiety? I ask because my life decisions have at times landed me in some pretty ******-up spots for absolutely no rational reasons. Makes me wonder if I have some sort of chemical imbalance myself. Again, my apologies if this is not the proper arena for this question - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OWUeagleMD Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 How do they make you feel like 'crap'? I'm assuming you feel less or no depression and anxiety, so are there other side affects? Like mood swings or something? From the times I spent with a depressed ex-girlfriend, I understand they make you feel a bit numb. The numbness beats depression, but it's sure no substitute for genuine happiness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koolblue13 Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 Living in Philly will do that to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dockeryfan Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 From the times I spent with a depressed ex-girlfriend, I understand they make you feel a bit numb. The numbness beats depression, but it's sure no substitute for genuine happiness. Someone told me that when he was on prozac, he was in a constant state of mild happy. He said someone could have come up and robbed him at gunpoint, and he would have been just fine with it. That scared me a little. There are a lot of side effects to the different meds. Sweating, lack of sleep, headache are the common ones that I hear. The big problem is coming off the meds. Brain chemistry is changed to such a degree that coming off these drugs quickly can be devastating. Severe depression, anxiety, insomnia, fatigue, psychosis. It's all very well documented. The worst stories I have heard were from paxil, in terms of severe depression not wanting to leave the house or do anything at all.. People would tell me about the feeling that their brain was zapping them, electrical shock sensationa with dizziness and nausea. Yay brain zaps. Seriously, you could not pay me enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OWUeagleMD Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 The worst stories I have heard were from paxil, in terms of severe depression not wanting to leave the house or do anything at all.. People would tell me about the feeling that their brain was zapping them, electrical shock sensationa with dizziness and nausea. Yay brain zaps. Seriously, you could not pay me enough. That's a pretty disturbing thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Number5 Posted August 7, 2008 Author Share Posted August 7, 2008 Help me out here, guys. If this is too personal, forgive me and ignore this but how does one end up diagnosed with depresssion and/or anxiety? I ask because my life decisions have at times landed me in some pretty ******-up spots for absolutely no rational reasons. Makes me wonder if I have some sort of chemical imbalance myself. Again, my apologies if this is not the proper arena for this question - For me it started out as a series of panic attacks around March. For like the last 4 years, I would have them every so often, but in March they felt like heart attacks. I started taking Alprazolam 3 times a day to help combat the attacks. They started happening frequently when I was out in public, so my doctors suggested I take time off from work. After meeting with a shrink and a therapist, they diagonsed me with high anxiety so they added Lexapro and some other stuff to my meds. I ended up being out for two months. When I took the meds, I would feel so down and out of it, that i would smoke weed to balance myself...BAD IDEA. I ended up losing 30 libs because I didn't want to eat, all I did was drink water because I was so thristy all the time. I ended up stopping the meds all together because I was tired of feeling like a zombie....BAD IDEA #2. I faked my way back into being allowed to go back to work, but then the attacks came back, but this time, they were worse. Around June, I stopped sleeping pretty much all together. There were days when I would just sit up all night and just think about death and past decisions letting them eat me up alive. I tried to start taking the meds again, but I was over doing it to try and make up for missing out, but all it did was have me attempt suicide in a "high" rage and end up 302'd in the local hospital for 3 days. This is when they diagnosed me with a depression disorder. I got a lot of issues that I put on the back burner and basically ran from and they finally caught up with me, thus triggering the panic attacks from before. The weed only made things worse because on top of the meds, it heighten my adreline(sp) rush to the point that I could have run full speed into a moving car and swore that the car would be more damaged than me. I read up here that the first thing that a person must do to try and over come this is to admit it. It's true, very true because you spend so much time saying, "I'll get help later," or "This will pass" that you don't realize that you are really really sick. It's like you can't tell the difference between what's real and what's fake because everything seems to be moving in slow motion. You look up and its 9pm and you are just getting out of bed. When you don't take your meds, you are liable to not even get out of bed at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Number5 Posted August 7, 2008 Author Share Posted August 7, 2008 How do they make you feel like 'crap'? I'm assuming you feel less or no depression and anxiety, so are there other side affects? Like mood swings or something? Aww man....mood swings, no appetite, no desire to get up, no SEX DRIVE AT ALL...and the constant sweating....always sweating...even in the shower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedskinDaddy Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 Damn, #5. Thanks for sharing amigo. That sounds rough, you have my sympathies. The past catching up to you resonates with me, I have a LOT of regrets in my life that I can't seem to stop looking back on, at least not for good. They come and go depending on how well my life is at any particular point in time. Stress kills, so they say. Problem is it does so slowly, and painfully more often than not. Hope you are getting better my man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brandymac27 Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 I started out having really bad panic attacks too. They got so bad, I didn't leave the house for 4 months-not to go to school, work, grocery store, or check the mail. I was a complete hermit! Then, the depression kicked in b/c I couldn't go anywhere or do anything without having a panic attack. One day, after 4 months, my husband dragged me to the doctors and they put me on meds. It took almost 3 years to find med's that actually worked, that didn't make me feel like total crap. The side effects are so bad for some drugs, that it was worse when I took them. The side effects ranged from no sex drive, either sleeping all day and all night or staying up for 2-3 days at a time with no sleep (really bad insomnia), sweating, little appetite, increased anxiety for the first couple of months that I took them, mood swings, etc. As I said, it took a while, but I finally found med's that worked for me AFTER my regular doctor sent me to a shrink and he diagnosed me with bipolar disorder II. He said that instead of a typical manic or hypo manic episode that most people have w/ bipolar disorder, I get extreme anxiety instead. Yes! Lucky for me! At leats when your manic you feel GREAT!!! But not me, I feel like I'm having a heart attack every time I have a panic attack, or like I'm gonna hyperventilate and pass out cold somewhere. This has happened while I was driving too. Anyway, I take effexor, xanax, and depakote and so far, I'm doing good. Been a while since I've had any major attacks. Best thing for anyone who thinks they have a problem is to go get help. If it's just depression you suffer from, it can be easily treated. I wasted so much time by thinking "this will all go away". My nsuggestion is dont waste any of your time like I did. Help is out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedskinDaddy Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 Thank you also brandy, for sharing your story. I'm honestly not sure I'm there yet -- I haven't suffered the anxiety/panic attacks that you and 5 mentioned. Good to have an idea in advance if that stuff does start happening though. I hope you continue to feel better. HTTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dockeryfan Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 Thank you also brandy, for sharing your story. I'm honestly not sure I'm there yet -- I haven't suffered the anxiety/panic attacks that you and 5 mentioned. Good to have an idea in advance if that stuff does start happening though. I hope you continue to feel better.HTTR If you want to go the drug free route, I have known a few people to do well with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Very much a technique that is dependent on the providers skill level, though. You'll want to find someone who specializes in this specifically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedskinDaddy Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 If you want to go the drug free route, I have known a few people to do well with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Very much a technique that is dependent on the providers skill level, though. You'll want to find someone who specializes in this specifically. Thanks for the heads-up my friend. I will keep that in mind and look into it, that's for sure. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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