Emotionally down

[[JR...]]

I feel like I am not same emotionally where I use to enjoy life on daily basis and with activities, excitements etc.  I get up in morning and start feeling like okay another day and now what's going to happen today. Trying to get things done and want to get it done and get over it before some bad symptoms hit me. Going out for fun, or any entertainment feels like a task and want to get over it and just sit back and pass the day....Anyone felt like this and would this get better and am I be back to full of life person...where enjoying life and looking positives for a day.... and excitement for new day to do things will be back...BTW is this depression ? I can't tell....

[[Br...]]

I'm sorry you're going through this.  I know it can feel discouraging when progress seems so slow. It's hard to sort out whether it's depression or withdrawal.  I wouldn't rule out withdrawal as a major factor. I know for me the pleasure in life started to come back gradually and sometimes I would be surprised to realize I actually felt good! 

So, yes, with time, as we heal we start to feel more and more like ourselves.

 

Try to keep yourself distracted with constructive activities and take good care of yourself.  You'll get there! 

[[di...]]

It's almost inevitable that we're going to experience depressive symptoms in withdrawal. We narrow our horizons and limit our activities because stress hurts us really badly. It changes the equation significantly. Standard treatments for depression are heavily slanted towards functioning. In CBT, it's about arming the patient with some coping strategies so that they can face doing things that they really don't want to do. "Fake it til you make it", basically. It works really well. In a matter of a few weeks, patients find they can do many things that they were paralysed to do before. It's a bit different in benzo withdrawal. I am sure that some benzo sufferers with pronounced depressive symptoms would find some benefit in increasing activity levels, however, there would be a definite ceiling to how far they can go with that. The real problem, it seems to me, is that the optimal level of activity for someone in benzo withdrawal is not nearly enough for a fulfilling life. For many people, myself included, getting through the withdrawal process emerges as basically the sole aim in life.

 

What I would say is that the way you describe it makes it sound like you're coping on the whole. It won't be like this forever and it wouldn't be normal if it didn't get you down from time to time. The best you can do is not punish yourself for something that can't be helped.

[[Ho...]]

It's almost inevitable that we're going to experience depressive symptoms in withdrawal. We narrow our horizons and limit our activities because stress hurts us really badly. It changes the equation significantly. Standard treatments for depression are heavily slanted towards functioning. In CBT, it's about arming the patient with some coping strategies so that they can face doing things that they really don't want to do. "Fake it til you make it", basically. It works really well. In a matter of a few weeks, patients find they can do many things that they were paralysed to do before. It's a bit different in benzo withdrawal. I am sure that some benzo sufferers with pronounced depressive symptoms would find some benefit in increasing activity levels, however, there would be a definite ceiling to how far they can go with that. The real problem, it seems to me, is that the optimal level of activity for someone in benzo withdrawal is not nearly enough for a fulfilling life. For many people, myself included, getting through the withdrawal process emerges as basically the sole aim in life.

 

What I would say is that the way you describe it makes it sound like you're coping on the whole. It won't be like this forever and it wouldn't be normal if it didn't get you down from time to time. The best you can do is not punish yourself for something that can't be helped.

 

Well said Diaz-e-Bam!

 

From my BWD / recovery experience this is very accurate.

 

Hang in there JRBenzo...This isn’t forever!

[[tr...]]

Diaz ..