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Coping with anxiety, depression and stress
I think you’d be hard pressed to find someone in the world who doesn’t have some experience – either personally or via someone close to them – with anxiety, depression and/or stress. Many people with Parkinson’s also report experiencing these mental health challenges, and this is the subject of a recent column by Lori DePorter. You can listen to the column as a flash briefing here.
What did you think of what Lori shared? How has PD affected your mental health and capacity for stress? What do you find helps you take care of your mental health and manage stress?
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16 Replies
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Is there a description of advanced PD? Do they become immobile, incontinent, unable to feed themselves or by meds and other treatments, few if any patients ever reach such a state? Does cocaine or cannabis help?
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Fakhiuddin Ahmed, I found this to be helpful when learning about the advanced stages of Parkinson’s: https://www.parkinson.org/Understanding-Parkinsons/What-is-Parkinsons/Stages-of-Parkinsons
As for cocaine and cannabis, I think that it could be helpful to ask a healthcare practitioner about their impacts on Parkinson’s. They’ll be better equipped to answer.
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People with Parkinson’s disease often report that excessive stress and anxiety make their symptoms worse, such as bruising, dyskinesia, and tremors. People with PD also recognize that chronic stress seems to exacerbate non-motor symptoms, especially anxiety and depression.
Well, anxiety in Parkinson’s patients can be treated by following steps.
Behavioral psychotherapy
Psychotherapy
Relaxation techniques-
My dad has identified this, as well. He seems to think that his tremors are worse when he’s feeling stressed out or anxious.
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Giving this topic a bump, as many of us are heading toward winter, which can exacerbate mental health challenges like anxiety and depression. Does anyone have any advice for staving off seasonal affective disorder/the winter blues?
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I think the first thing to do is to take a blood test to find out if you have a vitamin D deficiency, and if you do, then you need to make it up. In my case, what works best is cognitive-behavioral therapy, which has completely changed my life. My therapist has made me as close to normal as I can ever hope to be. Happy that thanks to telehealth, I can see her even after I move (highly recommend Medvidi). I also have a light therapy lamp, but I’m not sure it helps me much 🙂
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This past week has been interesting. Â I continue to have high blood pressure even with a BP patch. Â Then I see my Parkinson doctor and she explained I was having high anxiety. Â My breathing was not normal, and I was a mess.
I am going in to my heart doctor’s tomorrow to see what is going on.  I had to start the anxiety medicine with tiny pieces, as I have issues w/a lot of drugs.  Not sure if I am better as my breathing is still not quite right but some better.
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What is cognitive behavior therapy?
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Paulette, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is basically retraining your thoughts and behaviors so that your negative thought patterns and your negative behavioral responses to circumstances become more positive or neutral, allowing less emotional and physical stress and reduction of depression and anxiety.
one example: you ask your supervisor a question and they respond in an agitated manner.  Negative thought pattern—they don’t like me—I can never do anything right—I’m a failure and the behavioral response is to withdraw, avoid, get angry and slam the door behind you…Or the thought pattern can be they seem stressed today must be having a hard day—behavior not self critical
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Hi Ally,
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Mental Health sure can be an issue for Parkinson’s folks. I think it is partially the result of sitting around. So I am especially grateful for Fraya purposing we walk this morning. We have both had colds so that made it easy to give me an excuse not to exercise which helps so much. I have got to attack my condition.
So lately I have been taking the probiotic Neuralli made by Bened. I have taken it for 40 days now. It has helped my digestion, mood, and I am walking without a stick now. See for me I have got to keep up my exercise regime for my physical and mental health. Neuralli is not a cure but it has provided some symptom relief for me. Like I told my sister it gives me some hope. Blessings, Mike
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I really liked what she had to say.  I’ve dealt with depression off and on most of my life but I never considered myself to be an anxious person.  In January of 2021 I came down with COVID and returned to work about 3 weeks later still very fatigued and brain fog. Within a couple of months I still had my COVID symptoms but I also became very anxious, I started stuttering when talking with people under stress my speech was slow and my thought process very slow and my left hand and arm would tremor and get worse as stress elevated.  Long story short, after seeing a neurologist, receiving trial medication, having a Neuropsych exam, I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, depression and anxiety.  I wasn’t put on any meds for depression/anxiety at the time due to conflict with other meds but I did start seeing a psychologist for the recommended CBT therapy.  It was slow going at first but still helpful but when I changed therapist, due to change of insurance, my current therapist combined CBT and other styles of therapy that has really helped me so that I’m handling the depression and anxiety so much better and I am learning to communicate better and to read my body signals so I catch myself before I escalate.
‘Through therapy I’ve learned, and continue to learn, that we all have junk in our lives and if we don’t learn healthy ways to deal with it then emotions and negative thoughts build up.  For me, after  long-COVID and then being hit with diagnosis of PD my struggles with worth and value just sucked the air out of me as I thought of the hardship I’d bring on my family over time and I started comparing the abilities of the new me vs the old me. I am better now—as my therapist reminds me this is a practice  not a destination—at allowing myself the grace that I would so easily give to others and acceptance that I am still Me. My PD, anxiety/depression don’t define me but they are a part of me and when I become stressed my PD symptoms get worse so my relaxation techniques and my mindfulness  meditations help me to reduce the stress.  Therapy takes a lot of work and can be emotional as you dig deep but I would recommend to all who struggle!  I personally like zoom meetings with my therapist so that I don’t have to spend time getting to and from sessions and if the session is more emotional, I am already at home but I do know others who prefer in person therapy. The great part is we have a choice! -
For me, exercise has been a game-changer. It’s not always easy to muster the motivation, but that burst of endorphins afterwards feels like a sunshine ray breaking through the clouds. Meditation has also been helpful, teaching me to acknowledge those dark thoughts without letting them become the captain of the ship.
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Totally agree, Dave! Discipline has to trump motivation, which can be challenging some days, but it’s worth it. What’s your favourite form of exercise? Have you always been an active person?
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For me, exercise has been a game-changer. It’s not always easy to muster the motivation, but that burst of endorphins afterwards feels like a sunshine ray breaking through the clouds. Meditation has also been helpful, teaching me to acknowledge those dark thoughts without letting them become the captain of the ship.
Of course, there are days when self-help feels like chasing butterflies in a hurricane. If you find yourself in that kind of storm, don’t hesitate to reach out for professional help. Talking to a therapist can be a lifesaver, and there are even resources like https://mentalhealthhotline.org/ available 24/7.
mentalhealthhotline.org
National Mental Health Hotline | 866-903-3787
The Mental Health Hotline is a free, confidential 24-hour hotline for anyone struggling with depression, anxiety, or any mental health crisis. Call Free Now.
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An interesting post considering that yesterday was my wife’s 6 month check-in with her neurologist and we had a conversation concerning anxiety and depression (due to an increase in short term memory problems). She (our neurologist) reminded us that PD can cause this but is not the only source.
Having said that, she also reminded us that my wife’s dopamine levels are affected by the PD resulting in a reduced capacity to handle stress compared to a person w/o PD. The carbidopa/levodopa helps (my wife is on a low dose). Anticipating stressful situations and being proactive by a very slight and temporary increase in dosage before entering such a situation (we are both introverts) helps drastically.
However, the PD can (for some) cause anxiety and stress levels to run amuck. That is one of my wife’s symptoms. So she is on an EXTREMELY low dose of antidepressants, which has helped dramatically.
We both understand and practice mindfulness among other things ( we did before her diagnosis). It does help, but it is unable to compensate for the low dopamine levels on its own. Understanding this is important. Mindfulness and other coping mechanisms cannot overcome the low levels of dopamine, they can help, but just aren’t capable.
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Such a good and important reminder about the impact of PD on dopamine. Thank you.
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