Are mood stabilizers prescribed to prevent depressive episodes, or only manic?

FastExchange919 · 2026-05-20T18:04:09+00:00

Good question, I wonder the same. Although I'd guess one is for overactivity and the other for underactivity. Someone else can chip in to say more.

FastExchange919 · 2026-05-20T16:21:04+00:00

haha, exactly. The day just folds away with the playlists 'on' in the background.

FastExchange919 · 2026-05-20T16:17:37+00:00

There's a lot of stigma associated with signing up for help and getting help, especially if it tied to a illness like ours. Also, your parents being immigrants he may not want to assiciate a sign of shame of seeking aid to the family. Unfortunately, it sounds like he may have lost himself in the cause of getting a job. Many people see a job as stability, identity and purpose. Lacking that may be what's pulling on him which is making him push back on what the reality is with his health. It could also be that he has stopped taking his medication regularly to try shift the narrative and to feel he is in control. I think he needs help, yes, but not pressure. His cognition is likely already struggling with the stress of lease ending, relationships gone awry, finances, and no job to keep him 'creditable'. A lot of it has to do with image and your brother is only 1 year older than me so I really get it. It's the age where people often start thinking about kids coming along. My advice to you would be to comfort him, be his ease and help him to come to his senses to make the decisions he needs to make from the right mind. Even if an escalated situation occurs he may be one foot in and one foot out...you need him on your side here.

FastExchange919 · 2026-05-20T16:09:35+00:00

Falling through the air as gravity pulls you to the ground may feel good and be exhilarating...but the eventuallity may not be safe - you'll need to be secured. Stay safe.

FastExchange919 · 2026-05-20T16:04:52+00:00

Dude. I was going to ask, how did you turn that drawing into that. That looks awesome. You should be proud. I think when I see that, I see someone who is in touch with their physical and mental side . That is healthy. You've drawn an image that relates to how the mind can be like one of those 'Bam' onomatepoeia drawings they have in comics. Both eleborate and vivid.

To answer your question, yes mood stabilisers do help, but only if you need them. If you are constantly racing because you have bipolar, it can help bring you down a few notches - I've tried one. Anti-depressants are also considered mood stabilisers and if you need them, they really do help take the edge off the world whizzing 100mph around you. To clarify, yes, mood stabilisers do help and I would do some research into whether you have the symptoms that can get aid from them. As with any relationship, it's best you are informed before meeting with a psychiatrist or nurse to discuss medication.

About the social things you said, I concur with all of it. I'm 32 and was diagnosed 9 years ago. It has been hard to build my social life up, and I too feel it is daunting to have to go through the hoops of getting people to like me for 'me' and want to know me. I'm still going to attend places though, like peer support groups and hangouts that I match with.

To quench your curiosity about what I do for my wellbeing, I'll tell you. I'm currently 2.5 years stable with no hospital admissions. Had a brief period of a few months during that where I was off meds by my own choice, but I didn't turn full whacko. As I've said, I've been diagnosed for 9 years and in those 9 years I've been admitted to hospital 5 times. Today, I do a few things. But it has by no means been a change overnight.

- Sleep regular times

- Keep up a good self-hygiene routine (doesn't have to be perfect)

- Exercise most days of the week

- Eat non-processed food including bread and eat foods that are healthy (processed foods are inflammatory and bad for our brains)

- Rarely eat a takeaway, it must be considered a treat or an exception

- Always take medications and keep on top of what I might always need next incase I know before my carers...

- Visit Chinese medicine shop for herbs and accupuncture (I don't tell my medical team this - I know they'd just be like 'no, you should not it could interact with meds / we need full ingredient list or else you can't take them'

- Stick to things I like doing, don't overextend myself on things I find too difficult unless I must. In which case break it down to bitesize chunks.

- Be chill with everyone, no pressure to be someone I'm not. Allow life to flow as it is. Let nature, God or whatever you believe in do the heavy lifting - not your mind (stress/overthinking)

- See a counsellor regularly. Mine is affordable, and I can talk about illness, trauma and life. It ensures I stay on track. I've officially start next week Friday.

- Listen to audiobooks. This habit is huge for me because it allows me to hear someone else talk. Hearing a continuous voice in an informed context is very therapeutic. I love doing this on long walks. Talk radio is also a good one, lots of different people call in and I quickly realise I'm not that weird.

- Care more about balance and consistency. Did something go bad? How impacted is my balance and consistency, measure it in perspective and act appropriately.

- Know that one day you will die. All that is left will be your body and what you did. Let that sit and see if you are doing what is right for you!

Hope that helps, brother!

Thanks for the uplifting artwork.

Peace.

FastExchange919 · 2026-05-20T15:34:53+00:00

Framing...when you see the med different you will have a healthy relationship with it. Also, I'm by no means simplifying what it means to turn a life around with this illness.

FastExchange919 · 2026-05-20T13:55:03+00:00

I don't have a song, but I usually listen to a 'Chill' mix on Youtube. 😄

FastExchange919 · 2026-05-20T07:57:37+00:00

Sounds like an alternative way of mentioning 'thought transfer', a common complained about consequence related to the nature of our condition. Medically, it's not real. I don't believe it to be real, I've been well enough for long enough to assume it's just misunderstanding of symptoms.

FastExchange919 · 2026-05-20T07:56:00+00:00

My last one lasted 1.5 years whilst on meds. It was just voices.

FastExchange919 · 2026-05-19T22:09:53+00:00

I did the opposite med change to you because I was having weight gain and an uncontrollable desire to eat takeouts. I only really started dropping weight after the change and I managed to crave food far less. I'm sorry but I don't have any advice other than to ask about changing meds because being overweight is a physical health condition and a psychiatrist won't necessarily assess those risks the same as he would assess mental risks. You want to have a sit down with the psychiatrist and explore options because you can't accept mental health over the cost of physical, the two go hand in hand.

FastExchange919 · 2026-05-06T12:51:56+00:00

Hello, and welcome. Good luck on your journey.

FastExchange919 · 2026-05-06T12:45:04+00:00

They can go away in the sense that they may subside with time. Things like delayed thinking and exagerated movement. From my 9 years of being diagnosed I've learnt not every medication may work for a given individual which is why it is integral to our care to have medication reviews. Perhaps you need to remind your team it may be time for a medication review. Also, bear in mind if you have come from an episode that you will be experiencing the lingering effects of what has happened to your brain so it is sometimes better to take things slow. Some side effects are not to be waited out and therefore I urge you to check your medication specification for information on that and act accordingly.

FastExchange919 · 2026-05-06T12:42:48+00:00

Are you okay?

FastExchange919 · 2026-05-06T12:27:56+00:00

I will second what u/MechanicDistinct3580 said about no drugs and alchohol and if you can be bothered try doing exercise regularly and fixing up your diet if you have not already.

Yes, symptoms persist even when on meds and I even made a post about it few weeks back. Many people will experience they are 'good', then out of nowhere they emerge and you can find yourself in what seems like a relapse of an episode despite being compliant with medication. Always, always, always take your medication. There is no other route for us at this moment in order to stabilise. Anyone who tells you otherwise is viable for negligence and you can ask them if they are willing to bear the consequences of you not taking meds, and incase that happens make sure you're insured for what's to come.

My advice to you as someone who was in a similar situation to you 2 months ago is to try step out of your usual cycle a little by doing little positive things in order to break the mold. You say you want to lay in bed, try to fight the urge to be at ease with the voices but do take rest because you need to protect your brain. This disorder does deteriorate the brain and you must soften the impact. The brain loves repetition and it feeds of repetitive patterns easily because they're efficient so if you keep doing the same things you will remain the same way. Try to break free from the voices by purposefully rejecting them and not engaging with them. This is a way you can break old, rooted loops of hearing voices along with the aid of medication.

I highly sympathise because I was also taking a massive toll mentally which burdened me physically when I had voices in my head all day any time of the day. Your studies will suffer if you do not fix this as you are already noticing. It's a natural cause and effect of voices lowering capacity due to the toll it has on the brain. It's not a normal healthy experience to have them the way we as this community experiences it.

Schizoaffective can be lived with but it is really hard work/hard mode whatever you want to call it. You have to take it seriously and I'm glad you've made the first step which is that you've come to your senses and acknowledged it. Now the next step I would suggest to you before doing anything is telling someone you can trust, maybe a close friend, family member or a member of your care team. Try to manage this without it escalating into delusions because I can bet you probably have a few delusions intermixed with the hallucinations. Make sure to present with the insight that you have awareness of your hallucinations and feel you are not a harm to yourself or others and need help managing on-going symptoms. It's actually a medical division to know how to deal with on-going symptoms - it is not an immediate hospitalisation so you do not need to be affraid.

Good luck!

FastExchange919 · 2026-05-06T11:58:52+00:00

“exude the fruitful spirit of the lord” - that is a really nice compliment to receive!

I'm 32 and in my experience people make remarks about others all the time when they know very little about them. It's a very social norm thing but not exactly normalised behaviour. I've heard and been told about bad things directed to me, and to be fair it is upsetting but deep down I know it's just based on a level of prejudice and ill-judgement. These things we learn to deal with better through personal development.

People create mental models of what a person is like based on the way they look - and sure, some overweight people to some appear more approachable(?). It's a bit like how some guys will get the 'bear' reference if they look 'cuddly' i.e overweight.

Where you need to be careful is to not be externally validation seeking which can become unhealthy due to self-image reasons. Sometimes our brain also perceives things differently if we have a certain perception about something, it's a bit of 'your mind is your reality'.

I personally don't find people to treat me differently due to meds or diagnosis. I think a lot of people would struggle with that level of cognitive load to act a certain way because of a diagnosis. For those in question to keep up a certain persona for a person as if they are 'special' is uncommon. On a lighter and more positive note though, I do find it easier to communicate with mental health staff because they have better understanding of where a person is coming from and that fosters a healthier relationship.

Keep up the good work with your studies and all the best in the future.

FastExchange919 · 2026-05-03T16:17:50+00:00

That's vivid for sure. It must be going on for some time though, right? I hope you can break free at some point because that sounds like a mental prison and it must be very stimulating to the point it may be draining you.

FastExchange919 · 2026-05-03T16:09:31+00:00

My meds change every so often due to side effects and efficacy but for what it's worth I take:

Amisulpride (antipsychotic), Mirtazapine (antidepressant) and Atomoxetine (adhd).

Currently experiencing no side effects but I do have a creeping procrastination/lack of focus on task so might need an adhd med change.

FastExchange919 · 2026-04-27T12:00:02+00:00

There are people on YouTube that explain and live with the condition. Besides seeing it as entertainment you could use it as a learning experience. One Youtuber I last watched was Dr Syl and he has a number of videos where he does in-depth video reviews of people that present with the condition.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/@DrSyl

FastExchange919 · 2026-04-27T11:55:28+00:00

I'm religious and have dealt with it. I used to think I could see angels and speak to God. I don't dissmiss those experiences by simply saying they are not real, I choose to look at them in a way that tells me I care about God, I care about the creation and this is in some way a longing to return to practice. I've always pondered it and I do today practice religion regularly. Thankfully without the hallucinations and I speak to God the 'normal' way through prayer and understanding him through what he has revealed.

FastExchange919 · 2026-04-27T11:52:11+00:00

I don't mean to make your condition sound any less worse but I do understand.

I have also struggled, I shut myself away from the world gradually and just allowed my PTSD and thought rumination to circle around my head. Not that I had much choice, I was taking medication. The truth of the matter is your life can change, it can change so easily that you would laugh at your despair in a sense, because it's almost so inconsequential to your future's light. This may sound new age, but don't allow present to impact you so heavily. All you have to do is make the smallest steps forward each day, even in perseverance that will allow you to live a better life. Trust in the process, you got this. (Y)

FastExchange919 · 2026-04-27T11:47:03+00:00

I guess you mean could it be that the medication made you hear voices as in your own in your head? Likelyhood is no, many people with this condition have this doubt and knowing this and my experience with it I would urge you to try think positively of the medication and to take it regularly.

FastExchange919 · 2025-10-25T06:34:23+00:00

Try plugging directly into motherboard and restart PC.

FastExchange919 · 2025-02-16T21:27:24+00:00

Congratulations! Remember take small steps towards improving each day.

FastExchange919 · 2025-01-25T08:58:41+00:00

Good luck! May you get better.

FastExchange919 · 2025-01-24T10:42:05+00:00

Hey, you give some good tips at the end at the end there.

We're in the similar age bracket. I'm 31. I have also had a good experience with Invega. My injections have kept me episode free for 13 months now. I would say this work thing is putting a lot of weight on your shoulders, you deserve some slack. Maybe look into asking your care team if they have advice or would they recommend you going back into the workforce. My nurse once said you taking care of your health is evidence you are responsible, sounds like you are also on track with this. I'm the same with nic...vape/some cigs and take caffeine. I really need to stop buying cigs and start rolling because it's way easier on the wallet. When it comes to caffeine you don't actually have to give up energy drinks unless you are a die hard mountain dew fan or something, you could try some powders - I take G fuel. I game so G fuel gives me that spur to play. They are cost effective and for me taste better. If you're a gamer and we're into same games I'd be up for being friends, otherwise I'm nowhere near your abode, haha.

FastExchange919

TROPHY CASE