Posted by Karen44 on January 16, 2007, at 22:52:30
In reply to Re: Is ECT all that is left?/Job impact, posted by stargazer on January 16, 2007, at 10:39:58
> My depression always affected my job and this has been for more than 20 years and I'm still searching inthat situation. For me it's always a day by day struggle. I had a brief moment when I too contemplated ECT but eventually tried something that turned me around, but not for very long. I no longer would try ECT, I have too much experience with it, having worked in the field.
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> I have quit many jobs because of the depression...Sad but true my career has never been what it could have been but I am thankful I can still work when I feel better, but forget cimbing the career ladder, that is all behind me now. The depression has been a constant since my teens. Brief responses to MAO's showed me I did have the capacity for career success, but the deprssion always returned and made it impossible for me to excel in any positions I had.
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> I always regret the lost opportunities. I have come to realize I'll never be a superstar but understand once I get this under control again, I will be able to work. Never in a high level, stress ridden field, which tells me that is not where I belong anyway.
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> SG
StargazerSorry about your situation with jobs. My situation has been very different. I have excelled; I was one of four people accepted into a postdoctoral fellowship program in clinical psychology at Menninger's (then ranked number one in the county). They took four people each year from applicants from not just all over the u.s. but from all over the world. I am not meaning to brag but to make a point that I have exelled and have climbed the career ladder. The only job I ever quit was in 1980 and due to depression that resulted in hospitalization.
I have been researching like crazy about ECT and in the professional journals and looking hard at the data. I have stopped becuase enough is enough in that regard. I know what I would be willing to accept and not accept re ECT. I will be talking to a doctor who does ECT at U of C and one from a hospital closer to my home. I am also going to contact a psychiatrist in Topeka who I know from working at Menninger's and who I know personally as well. I learned by accident that he did or does ECT. I think he will be honest with me. I know I could mess up things with my job, but if something doesn't change, I won't have a job anyway. And, it would not be that easy for me to find another job in my field. Plus I am a few months shy of three years, and I will be retiring. So, yes I hope I don't have to go that route. My husband is a neuropsychologist and very upset that I even consider ECT. At the same time, he said he would not stand in my way.
VNS - I am not so sure it is so safe either any more than ECT.
poster:Karen44
thread:722043
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070113/msgs/723049.html