nurses with anxiety and depression

[Akercat]

I'm a student nurse, but in my classes I'm learning that a nurse with anxiety/depression can be detrimental to the patient and that some of the tell-tale signs are making errors constantly, mood swings, lethargic. Is this true? Can this be prevented? Are there any nurses out there that suffer from this and are able to perform their job well??

[Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP]

Mine started out as postpartum depression - and it has just never gone away. I have OCD as well. I take 100mg Zoloft (recently upped from 50) and it is one of the best things I have ever done for myself. I don't know that I will willingly go off it, ever. I have days when I think I don't like to depend on a pill for my happiness, but then I remember what pre-Zoloft days were like and get over it. :)

Also, making sure you drink enough water and get exercise/sunshine and eat right, that helps.

[whodunit]

I know most of my co-workers and other nsg friends deal with depression and anxiety on an on-going basis.Most all of us take medication of some kind or the other and to me its no different than taking meds for HTN.Just because you have high blood pressure and take meds,does that mean you are not capable of providing proper care or are going to make mistakes or not give proper care?The only thing I wish for is a saltlick of Ativan when we are swamped,doing the job of 3, getting chewed out by docs and the on-coming shift and constantly worrying about whether they are going to close the unit down or make more demands on us because of the bad economy !

[laketrash]

Hey Whodunit,

I like your idea of a saltlick of Ativan, lol:lol2:

[CJsGirlRN]

I also have depression and anxiety. It comes and goes, not particularly for any reason. I just have gotten to know the signs and symptoms of when I start to not feel right. I recently have started to take Cymbalta. It has helped and is a pretty clean drug with not a whole lot of side effects. Also some places offer an employee assistance program, which I am looking into the one at my hospital. It offers 3 free sessions of counseling and its for not just work but for other concerns as well.

Depression and anxiety definitely can affect your behavior at work. I notice myself wanting to call out all the time. And my boss has already spoken to me about my callouts. Today I actually went in to talk to her about what I've been going through and she appreciated that I spoke to her about it.

You have to definitely treat yourself just like any other disease or disorder. You can't take care of other people when you can't take care of yourself. YOU come first.

[kambra]

See I feel that if you have a good boss they would want to know how their employee is doing? Especially if you feel it is affecting your work. But I have heard you should never tell your boss about your personal issues.

I am a very personable person so I would want to know how MY employees were, but I guess that is just me.

[SoundofMusic]

I've suffered from anxiety and depression in the past, mostly related to being a very overwhelmed new mom. I have remained off meds now for a good five years, but can feel the anxiety creeping up on me again. I always have the bottle of zoloft ready to reach for in my cabinet. It's a very gentle AD w/ little side effects. Does make me tired, though.

Last night my anxiety was getting the best of me -- horrid co-workers, patients, families and docs -- all of them as a whole just making me a WRECK. I hate to go back on anything, but I'm not sure how long I can go w/ anxiety increasing. My sleep is always the first thing to go and lately I've been doing the early a.m. waking thing -- always a SIGN.

But I feel it's the strong person who knows themselves well enough to know when they need help, either w/ meds or counseling, or both. To me, NOT getting help is a sign of weakness and stupidity, or both. I'm not sure where I'd be without zoloft - probably committed somewhere by now!

[VU RN BSN]

Depression and Anxiety have ruined my nursing career.

Several different clinicians have diagnosed me with dysthymia or dysthymic disorder. Technical term for chronic depression.

I've tried everything. Mental health counselors, medications, self-help books, etc. Nothing works in my case.

I am unemployeed and I have no health insurance and I worry that my life and my career is in ruins. I keep getting rejections following and during job interviews. This recession and economic meltdown has come at the very worst possible time.