Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Beth's Depression

I got to talk to a 'family wellness consultant' through our connection with Head Start. They have a mental health clinician who works in the community who can make visits and phone calls with Head Start clients...

She talked to me about a couple things- the first is that overspending like what Beth did is a sign of serious depression. Like out of control eating or using drugs. Like when Jake was abandoned by his first wife, started driving recklessly, bought a motorcycle and took out a huge life insurance policy benefiting his mom. It wasn't until I talked to him about it when we first met that he put all those things together and realized it was a 'death wish' or suicidal thoughts...

I didn't know that reckless spending could be a symptom of serious depression.. I know that she tried to get caught, because she was using the card when I was with her. I asked her about it twice, and both times she said that she had gotten approval from my mom... I saw her overspending as just deciding she couldn't wait any longer for the things she wanted. It's not. It's a way of trying to fill the hole that depression can cause. I knew Beth's depression has been much worse lately. She has been cutting herself again. She has stopped doing some basic maintenance type things...

Another thing the consultant talked to me about was how suicide attempts bring out anger. That everybody in the family (close friends, too) probably will experience a deep anger towards the person who tried it... Well, I'm experiencing it. Not so bad today, but yesterday and the day before were pretty bad.

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