Unable to make decisions

[Bob]

I am a 58 year old male that is unable to make decisions. I have been
professionally diagnosed by a psychiatrist as having depression, but
not any kind of panic disorder. I am anxious quite a bit of the
time. I am on 30mg of Lexapro a day along with Welbutrin and
Trazadone at night for sleep assistance. I have retired in the last
year and it has been a pretty rough transition since then. I think of
things that I may want to do (ie. go to law school), but can't execute
on much of anything.

When I buy a new car, it could take over a year. I recently bought a
new set of tires for my wife's car and it took months. I can't
imagine how much time I spent on the internet looking at tire ratings
along with prices. We then went almost every place in town to look
and compare prices. One of my great tricks is to find something in a
store that I want, but not buy it. I'll tell myself, that I'll look
some more and if I don't find anything better, I'll come back and buy
what I found. When I come back to the original store, the item is
gone. Then I'm really upset.

I usually go through something like 'what will I do if this is not the
right decision'. On a big purchase like a car, I always think about
what happens if I'm not able to pay for it. My wife wants to move
South to where more relatives are, I am scared to death to make a
decision like this.

Please help me...I think I'm going crazy.

[Doug Laidlaw]

Post by Bob
I am a 58 year old male that is unable to make decisions. I have been
professionally diagnosed by a psychiatrist as having depression, but
not any kind of panic disorder. I am anxious quite a bit of the
time. I am on 30mg of Lexapro a day along with Welbutrin and
Trazadone at night for sleep assistance. I have retired in the last
year and it has been a pretty rough transition since then. I think of
things that I may want to do (ie. go to law school), but can't execute
on much of anything.
When I buy a new car, it could take over a year. I recently bought a
new set of tires for my wife's car and it took months. I can't
imagine how much time I spent on the internet looking at tire ratings
along with prices. We then went almost every place in town to look
and compare prices. One of my great tricks is to find something in a
store that I want, but not buy it. I'll tell myself, that I'll look
some more and if I don't find anything better, I'll come back and buy
what I found. When I come back to the original store, the item is
gone. Then I'm really upset.
I usually go through something like 'what will I do if this is not the
right decision'. On a big purchase like a car, I always think about
what happens if I'm not able to pay for it. My wife wants to move
South to where more relatives are, I am scared to death to make a
decision like this.
Please help me...I think I'm going crazy.

You aren't going crazy. This is consistent with depression. There was an
Australian Judge who was refusing to come to a decision on any case. He
was diagnosed as suffering from depression resulting from an old automobile
accident, and after he received treatment, he regained his ability to
decide cases. (He was handling a class action, and eventually the
plaintiffs started complaining.) I found it hard to come to a decision,
and my daughter (who has inherited something of my depression) is also slow
to do anything. I was a lawyer, and things like assessing damages, which
is to a certain extent an art - there are no mathematical formulas - I was
hopeless at.

If you prefer there are newsgroups for depression under the
alt.support.depression hierarchy. One person there has written a book
about meds which is available from amazon.com or on line at
http://www.mentalmeds.org. It seems that you are under the care of a
psychiatrist. Here in Oz, we can't get medication any other way, but
perhaps you should ask your psychiatrist about this aspect of your illness.
A change of tablet may be all that you need.

HTH,

Doug.

[nanny]

You can be assured you're not going crazy, Bob! Having trouble making
decisions is a common trait with depression. And, such a big decision as a
major move is bound to cause you some anxiety. I wish I could move south;
I'm from Ohio, and I am so sick of winter weather! But, it doesn't look
like that opportunity will arise, at least not at this time.

Try not to spend so much time analyzing the "if's" and "wherefores" of
whether to move; think of the positive aspects, then make a decision and
stick to it. Besides, your wife will be at your side, and two are better
than one
:-) Nanny

Post by Bob
I am a 58 year old male that is unable to make decisions. I have been
professionally diagnosed by a psychiatrist as having depression, but
not any kind of panic disorder. I am anxious quite a bit of the
time. I am on 30mg of Lexapro a day along with Welbutrin and
Trazadone at night for sleep assistance. I have retired in the last
year and it has been a pretty rough transition since then. I think of
things that I may want to do (ie. go to law school), but can't execute
on much of anything.
When I buy a new car, it could take over a year. I recently bought a
new set of tires for my wife's car and it took months. I can't
imagine how much time I spent on the internet looking at tire ratings
along with prices. We then went almost every place in town to look
and compare prices. One of my great tricks is to find something in a
store that I want, but not buy it. I'll tell myself, that I'll look
some more and if I don't find anything better, I'll come back and buy
what I found. When I come back to the original store, the item is
gone. Then I'm really upset.
I usually go through something like 'what will I do if this is not the
right decision'. On a big purchase like a car, I always think about
what happens if I'm not able to pay for it. My wife wants to move
South to where more relatives are, I am scared to death to make a
decision like this.
Please help me...I think I'm going crazy.