This one is for knife makers only please!

Have you been diagnosed with a depression disorder?

  • yup

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  • nope

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when I first started making knives, Butch Beaver told me that I had to get a frontal lobotamy to be a true knifemaker! :confused:
 
Michael,
Thanks for starting this thread,and thanks to everyone that has replied. The timing could have not been better as far as I am concerned, it has been a huge help to me!!!
 
Originally posted by mike koller
Michael,
Thanks for starting this thread,and thanks to everyone that has replied. The timing could have not been better as far as I am concerned, it has been a huge help to me!!!
Click to expand...

Mike, it's a relief to to finally admit you're nuts, like the rest of us, huh?;) :D :eek:
Just kidding Mike, I know exactly what you mean.
 
Hey Y'all,

I've been diagnosed with depression for quite a while now due to constant, unrelenting pain. My pain gets so bad I can only work in the shop a couple of hours a day, usually broken down into half hour chunks so it is hard for me to get "in the zone". I take Prozac and that seems to help quite a bit for the depression, but not the pain. I've also been diagnosed with PTSD and have spent my share of time in a VA hospital psych ward. I was mid-career army when I was forced to retire because of Gulf War Syndrome. Being a soldier was the only thing I ever wanted to do since I was a kid. I loved it and when it was taken away from me I flipped out on top of all the physical problems that I have. I make knives now for therapy and to give me something to do in retirement, but the main reason I make knives is that I'm scared to have children with all thats wrong with me and I'm going downhill physically pretty fast and I really just want to leave some things behind that will last a long while and remind someone that I once walked the earth. I figured knives were a good long lasting artifact in that regard.

HillbillyChuck
 
thats how i manage, i work at the grinder for a hour tops, then stretch, throw the ball for my doggie, then come upstairs and get off my feet and surf the forums, order supplies, make customer up date calls, etc. then back down to the shop again. i have been on one kind or another of the prozac type med's for most of the past 15 years. they seem to work for a year or to and then fizzle out. so them move me to a differnt one. the creativity release in knife making is the best therapy to keep my sperits up. but i sure can relate to how being in chronic pain beats the snot out of you. i have a simple life these days, and i am so greatful i found knife making. :)
 
maybe I'm depressed?? I call myself burned out from the job I hated for years
razing two boys, I did what I had to, too do it.
I have two degenerating disk arthritis and bursitis the Doc said nothing can be done.
I think it happened while serving
the last part of nam but who's to say now??
now it's causing numbness in my left leg and some times pain in
the leg but it in my back most the time now. BUT heads up.
I consider myself
lucky compared to some of you guys with
it real bad. I can go 2-3 hours as long as I'm not bending over long.
it's a bummer knowing it's just going to get worst though with no recourse.
I think to myself there's a lot of people out there a lot worst off then I
so it helps..I love making and the time to do it....
 
"I really just want to leave some things behind that will last a long while and remind someone that I once walked the earth."

My thoughts exactly HC!!!
 
Chuck this is none of my business but please please please find a doctor who will take care of your pain! In this age there is no reason you have to suffer, there are many drugs available that will give you a life. The hard part is finding a doc who won't judge you as a junkie... Just set that aside. Often sports doctors understand pain best. Please, if you can at all give this a shot and take drugs to relieve your pain. And don't worry about addiction; a body in pain does not react to the drugs that way - you won't get high. The "high" will come from the relief of pain. Please! My wife has chronic pain and I know how awful it is. Please don't make yourself suffer any more.

Dave
 
Chronic pain is no fun that for sure. Chuck you have it way worse than I do. Get some pain meds if at all possible! I have Ankylosing Spondilytis (AS) a degenerative form of arthritis of the spine and it causes all kinds of hurt for me, but like most things I have my good days and my bad days. I can usually grit my teeth and keep working if I'm in the shop and it acts up. I've been told that the disease can often go into remission in your mid-forties. I'm hoping! Worse case scenario however is a completely fused spine that won't bend. I try not to think about that.

I've also had problems with depression, it runs in the family though, and manifested long before I started making knives. Depression is also a side effect of my arthritis medicine. My take on depression is that it's fairly normal human condition that comes and goes. It's just not an "accepted" behavior these days. Society tries to teach us that it's never o.k. to be down, that you should be "happy" all the time. Happiness means many different things to people and it's not always evident that I'm happy when I actually am. I'm happiest when I get to pursue something like working in the shop with no outside pressures. Raising kids and trying to make ends meet by working overtime doesn't leave much room for that. Hey, but that's life. I'm 40 years old now and at least I have a foundation laid in knifemaking, I hope to do much more in the next decade!
 
I kind of like the peace and quiet of the shop. I think it's relaxing to hit the shop and time sure passes in a hurry out there.
 
Hey y'all,

Nobody, and I mean nobody that I have talked with in the VA or private doctors will give a 35 y/o guy any serious pain meds. They always say you will get addicted to them and when you get older you will need much more of them so it is better to suffer now. I usually take about 8 BC powders every day (aspirin dulls the pain some and the caffiene gets me motivated)and I keep myself happy and healthy with various plants and herbs, a number of which are from chinese medicine. I learned a lot of chinese medicine and acupuncture from my first wife, she was from Korea.

Chuck
 
This thread is sort of off-topic (Except for the knife-making as therapy parts), so I wasn't going to jump in, even tho I have lots I'd like to hear and talk about with you all.

However, on this depression topic I just need to tell a little something that happened to me early this year. Besides, as mentioned we're all faceless friends and it's easy.

I was getting depressed. I've never really had that problem before and never understood what people went thru. Being the analytical sort, at times I would stand back from my situation and wonder at it. There was no real reason. 7 heathly kids, wonderful wife, hobbies, good job. God has blessed me sooo much it was embarrassing to even mention the problem to my wife. Yet it kept getting deeper, I don't want to mention the thoughts that plagued me.

In the middle of this, for unrelated reasons, I decided to cut back on the coffee. (As a software guy I drank a lot.) I do this once in a while with habits just to make sure I don't have a problem. Once went 1 year without a beer, just to make sure I don't have a drinking thing.

In any case after 2 days of only one cup a day, the fog lifted. I mean gone, completely. I don't think the depression simply ran its course. Nothing else changed. I am convinced that the years of caffine had a bad effect and somehow caught up. Maybe I started sleeping better - but I didn't feel different.

Now I stick with a small amount of caffine in the morning and then no more. It hasn't returned.

The one good thing that came from my weeks in hell was a true empathy for those suffering under it.

God Bless and I if there is anything I can do to help I will.

Steve

PS Please don't tell that if I buy a $1,500 knife from you, you'll be all better ;)
 
Hey Chuck, I'm 58, extreme chronic back/neck pain. the regular doctor won't prescribe me pain medication, and she flat addmitted that they are all afraid of the DEA. Find a good neurosurgeon, and familiarize them with the problem. If they can't fix it, they will medicate it. If you are taking narcotics for actual pain, you won't become addicted. If you find later that it's not doing any good, they can prescribe another type. There is a lot of stuff out there. Don't let the pain go untreated, it can lead to high blood pressure, depression(as you already know), etc. I hope you get some relief.:)
 
Mike thank you! You are so right. If you're in pain you do not metabolize meds the way an abuser would. You're also right that the docs just are avoiding the record keeping. Chuck find a pain doctor - there are doctors in this world who understand pain and will treat it. There are a million meds to use, you do not have to suffer. If your regular doctor tells you he won't treat your pain, find another. Don't waste any more time! You're hurting yourself, and your doctors are doing you harm too.

Dave
 
i've had two spine opertions to remove disc'c and treat compression of the spine. and i am diabetic with adds to the nerve damage. i go to the pain doctors at UCLA hospital and they priscribe class 111 pain meds. some days i dont need them so i don't take them because when you are in pain all they do is relive it. not get you high. besides even if i did need to take more in the furture. so what! i don't need to prove anything to anyone about how tough i am. i just want to be able to have a life and not be crippled with pain. also these meds are very easy on your body(the right ones) and do little if any damage to your liver etc. chuck getting the pain under control helps with the deppession alot!
 
Guess it's time for me to chime in here.

I felt bad that I had no shoes, until I saw all you guys with no feet.
Makes you realize alot.

About the only time I was ever depressed was when I tried to quit smoking a few years ago. I was on Wellbutrin (Zyban) and my family was drawing straws to see who was gonna shoot me :) I quit taking it, started smoking again, and it's been fine ever since.

I'll add some more to this later.
 
Originally posted by tom mayo
when I first started making knives, Butch Beaver told me that I had to get a frontal lobotamy to be a true knifemaker! :confused:
Click to expand...

How's that working out, Tom??? :D
 
OK, on a serious note...

About three years ago I had one of those herniated things in my back. I was out Christmas shopping with the family one Saturday evening and I sneezed and it brought me to my knees, literally. Anyone that has ever had a ruptured or herniated disk can relate. I had it "fixed" a couple of months later. Why I put up with it for THAT long has to be part of being of the male persuasion. We (guys) tend to wait until we can stand it no longer. The reflexes on my right knee and ankle are not nearly as responsive as on the left but the only time I use those reflexes is in the doctor's office when he checks them!:) And of course, I was diagnosed with digenerative disk disease which is a fancy smancy word for arthritis in my back. Big deal, we all get old.

Now, the back ain't really "fixed", they just fixed my pain, for the most part. The best thing I have found is to walk and stretch. (If only I would adhere to my own advice!) Sitting is bad. I can't work in the shop continuously but not many folks my age can either, bad back or not. I do what I do until I get tired. That is another thing with pain. It wears you down. You tend to tire more easily. Good shoes and those padded mats help. Just remember, when you are standing on one of those padded mats or have on thick soled shoes,expect to get zapped with static by your grinder or buffer when the humidity is down!

What I am trying to convey here folks is that attitude has a lot to do with how we view things. I try to maintain a positive attitude and you are right, I have not walked in your shoes but I do try to keep my chin up. There is a silver lining in every cloud and don't forget, there is always something good right around the corner.
We all have our times in the shadows but it can't rain all the time. The sun will ultimately come out. It always does.

C Wilkins



One other bit of advice on a more sobering note...
For those that are taking aspirin or NSAIDs (Non Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs such as Advil, Tylenol, Aleve, etc.) regularly for your pain, after a while, you will notice that you will start to have indigestion quite often then the acid reflux kicks in. What you are doing is tearing up you stomach and your esophogas. Just be aware of taking over the counter medication over a long period of time.
 
Here is what works for me: My back is in pretty tough shape. Morning was real tough trying to get moving again. Just by luck I noticed that when I took 50 mg of Benedryl when going to bed my back was not stiff. Every night when going to bed I take the Benedryl and it works. I beleive that it tames the inflamation in the tissues. Hope it works for others who whish to try it.
 
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