For those interested in evidence based meditation for treating mental illness, I suggest the following video and book.
The mindful way through depression: Zindel Segal at TEDxUTSC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A4w3W94ygA
The book that the talk is based on:
https://www.amazon.com/Mindful-Way-Through-Depression-Unhapp...
Please seek help if you have seriously considered taking your life.
I've dealt with this exact issue in my life before. Here's a few of my recommendations.
If homelessness is an issue, get any income you can. Whatever job you can get to get your bills paid, take out loans, credit cards do what you gotta do to take care of yourself. Every time you go to that job, no matter how you feel about it, tell yourself, this is the first step forward. This is me taking care of myself.
There are a lot of free resources in most cities. Sometimes talking to a social worker is completely free and can be very helpful. Talking to an external non bias source who has "no skin in the game" can be profound.
Somethings to consider:
How much sleep are you getting?
If it's on the low side (under 6 hours) this will greatly contribute to depressive thoughts or moods. Typically sleep can move you into better mental health than medication can.
How regular is your sleep? Are you falling asleep/waking up at the same time everyday?
If this is varying wildly it will throw your circadian rhythm off and your sleep will be of poorer quality, which will worsen your mood.
How much physical exercise are you getting?
Physical exercise has been shown to release a whole range of chemicals that will affect your mood. Try to get at least 20m of rigorous exercise a day no matter what. I prefer in the morning right after waking up. There's less resistance at that time and afterwards you can open yourself up to whatever you want to do with the rest of your day knowing you've taken care of yourself. I prefer yoga specifically this youtuber: https://www.youtube.com/user/yogawithadriene Her "TRUE" and "DEDICATE" series have helped me greatly both physically and mentally.
Have you considered medication?
Most people are very hesitant to go on an antidepressant or mood regulator. There's a lot of stigma that surrounds it. But at the worst you try one for a month and decide its not working and move on. The alternative (suicide) IS FAR WORSE and permanent. Please consider medication prior to any final step. There's a whole range that can be prescribed that can affect you differently, some can make you sleepy after taking them some can make you feel more awake. Talk to your primary care physician. They can typically administer a questionnaire and ask some supplemental questions that will help narrow down what will work for you. Don't let the medical cost be prohibitive. Typically this medication is cheap and can be prescribed after just an initial visit. Also request a full blood work up to check your Vitamin D and B and B12 levels, all these greatly contribute to depressed moods.
Finally I'll recommend a book that has helped me break away from the idea that I am what I feel/how I feel. https://www.amazon.com/Mindful-Way-Through-Depression-Unhapp...
I hope this helps. You're not alone. Many have been in your shoes. Take care of yourself friend.
Please call them, they're experimenting on you with an off label drug that has no scientific evidence to support what they're trying to do with it.
The brain-gut connection is real, but taking a mind-numbing drug to treat what is likely a gut flora issue (a lot of IBS cases are caused by dysbiosis, others candida, and other conditions). IBS is a catch all diagnosis, not a specific condition. If you can figure out what the exact cause of your IBS is, it might be possible manage it more effectively or even find a cure.
I can't speak to Lyrica, but there are other treatments for anxiety that are really effective like meditation, yoga, diet, and even cannabis. I've had anxiety issues most of my life, and I can tell you that there is no drug that can treat anxiety without side effects. Meditating for 20 minutes every day has helped more with my anxiety then any pill I've ever taken, and I've tried a lot of medications for both IBS and anxiety.
The beautiful, and scary thing about life is everything is constantly changing.
I'm right there with you about feel bored, tired, disinterested, etc. I've struggled with similar feelings most of my life.
I also have IBS, and get migraine like headaches (although mine are from TMJ issues).
College is bullshit, lesson learned. So now what are you going to do about it?
Since IBS is correlated with mental health thats probably the first place to start. Most IBS is caused by dysbiosis, essentially either from a pathogen, or bacterial imbalance in the gut. In my case I had SIBO which was caused by Candida which grew as a result of antibiotic use and consuming too much sugar.
I eventually went on a Specific Carbohydrate diet (http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info), and switched to all organic foods, and stopped eating out and learned how to cook. I'm still on this diet, and feeling so much better. It takes a long time to work, but when it does, its amazing. Restored my ability to digest fats and fibers properly using this diet, and reduced my symptoms by 90% after a year of the diet. Perhaps something to talk to a nutritionalist or naturopath about?
Improving your diet should improve your depression, moods, and energy levels as well.
Another thing to look into is meditation. It is an incredibly powerful tool to help you manage your moods, boredom, etc.
Start with meditation, improve your diet, and perhaps start a mood journal or use a mood tracking app so you can see the impact meditation and eating better has on your life. There's nothing more convincing then data from yourself to continue to motivate yourself to keep doing something.
Use your time more effectively to better yourself, study things on your own, you don't need a degree or to be in college to teach yourself new things. Let go of the past, and work towards a new you.
The mindful way through depression: Zindel Segal at TEDxUTSC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A4w3W94ygA The book that the talk is based on: https://www.amazon.com/Mindful-Way-Through-Depression-Unhapp...
I've dealt with this exact issue in my life before. Here's a few of my recommendations.
If homelessness is an issue, get any income you can. Whatever job you can get to get your bills paid, take out loans, credit cards do what you gotta do to take care of yourself. Every time you go to that job, no matter how you feel about it, tell yourself, this is the first step forward. This is me taking care of myself.
There are a lot of free resources in most cities. Sometimes talking to a social worker is completely free and can be very helpful. Talking to an external non bias source who has "no skin in the game" can be profound.
Somethings to consider:
How much sleep are you getting? If it's on the low side (under 6 hours) this will greatly contribute to depressive thoughts or moods. Typically sleep can move you into better mental health than medication can.
How regular is your sleep? Are you falling asleep/waking up at the same time everyday? If this is varying wildly it will throw your circadian rhythm off and your sleep will be of poorer quality, which will worsen your mood.
How much physical exercise are you getting? Physical exercise has been shown to release a whole range of chemicals that will affect your mood. Try to get at least 20m of rigorous exercise a day no matter what. I prefer in the morning right after waking up. There's less resistance at that time and afterwards you can open yourself up to whatever you want to do with the rest of your day knowing you've taken care of yourself. I prefer yoga specifically this youtuber: https://www.youtube.com/user/yogawithadriene Her "TRUE" and "DEDICATE" series have helped me greatly both physically and mentally.
Have you considered medication? Most people are very hesitant to go on an antidepressant or mood regulator. There's a lot of stigma that surrounds it. But at the worst you try one for a month and decide its not working and move on. The alternative (suicide) IS FAR WORSE and permanent. Please consider medication prior to any final step. There's a whole range that can be prescribed that can affect you differently, some can make you sleepy after taking them some can make you feel more awake. Talk to your primary care physician. They can typically administer a questionnaire and ask some supplemental questions that will help narrow down what will work for you. Don't let the medical cost be prohibitive. Typically this medication is cheap and can be prescribed after just an initial visit. Also request a full blood work up to check your Vitamin D and B and B12 levels, all these greatly contribute to depressed moods.
Finally I'll recommend a book that has helped me break away from the idea that I am what I feel/how I feel. https://www.amazon.com/Mindful-Way-Through-Depression-Unhapp...
I hope this helps. You're not alone. Many have been in your shoes. Take care of yourself friend.
Please call them, they're experimenting on you with an off label drug that has no scientific evidence to support what they're trying to do with it.
The brain-gut connection is real, but taking a mind-numbing drug to treat what is likely a gut flora issue (a lot of IBS cases are caused by dysbiosis, others candida, and other conditions). IBS is a catch all diagnosis, not a specific condition. If you can figure out what the exact cause of your IBS is, it might be possible manage it more effectively or even find a cure.
I can't speak to Lyrica, but there are other treatments for anxiety that are really effective like meditation, yoga, diet, and even cannabis. I've had anxiety issues most of my life, and I can tell you that there is no drug that can treat anxiety without side effects. Meditating for 20 minutes every day has helped more with my anxiety then any pill I've ever taken, and I've tried a lot of medications for both IBS and anxiety.
Check out https://toptalkedbooks.com/amzn/1593851286
Even though its about depression in the title, it absolutely applies to anxiety.
Have you looked into other alternatives?
Check out mindfulness based CBT. This book has been great for me. https://toptalkedbooks.com/amzn/1593851286 There are also some ted talks by the authors which I don't have time to link now. :)
The beautiful, and scary thing about life is everything is constantly changing.
I'm right there with you about feel bored, tired, disinterested, etc. I've struggled with similar feelings most of my life.
I also have IBS, and get migraine like headaches (although mine are from TMJ issues).
College is bullshit, lesson learned. So now what are you going to do about it?
Since IBS is correlated with mental health thats probably the first place to start. Most IBS is caused by dysbiosis, essentially either from a pathogen, or bacterial imbalance in the gut. In my case I had SIBO which was caused by Candida which grew as a result of antibiotic use and consuming too much sugar.
I eventually went on a Specific Carbohydrate diet (http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info), and switched to all organic foods, and stopped eating out and learned how to cook. I'm still on this diet, and feeling so much better. It takes a long time to work, but when it does, its amazing. Restored my ability to digest fats and fibers properly using this diet, and reduced my symptoms by 90% after a year of the diet. Perhaps something to talk to a nutritionalist or naturopath about?
Improving your diet should improve your depression, moods, and energy levels as well.
Another thing to look into is meditation. It is an incredibly powerful tool to help you manage your moods, boredom, etc.
Here's a place to start:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A4w3W94ygA https://toptalkedbooks.com/amzn/1593851286
I use the app Headspace as well on a daily basis.
Start with meditation, improve your diet, and perhaps start a mood journal or use a mood tracking app so you can see the impact meditation and eating better has on your life. There's nothing more convincing then data from yourself to continue to motivate yourself to keep doing something.
Use your time more effectively to better yourself, study things on your own, you don't need a degree or to be in college to teach yourself new things. Let go of the past, and work towards a new you.