Hello doctor, My problem does not concern me, but it does concern my father, who has suffered from a rare disease last year, which left him paralyzed from the waist below for a month. Since then, a year ago, he has slowly been recovering, but the problem is that he is depressed and turning towards alcohol for pain release. He will not admit he has either of those problems to anyone, not even my mom, and now he has started talking about leaving us because it is the best for us. I want to help him but do not know how.
Hello. According to your father, he is doing the right thing. He is 54 years old. He had suffered from a rare disease last year, and it is taking time for his recovery. He is paralyzed waist below. He has nothing to do when he is alone. He is just laying down throughout the 24 hours, which makes him more and more depressed. Naturally, he (anyone for that matter) drifts himself into negative cognitive territories. Another thing you should understand here is that this kind of depression not neuro-chemical related. This is a deep disappointment. Anyone experiences deep depression in their life due to adverse life events should follow such a course. Motivation and support are key to your father. He will be missing many things. Understanding him, identifying those missing aspects, getting him creative things to do at his bed, getting maximum out of him and motivating him to do all the above, these are the things we should concentrate on. Not psychiatric drugs, but psychological motivation and change of lifestyle and support are the three things that should support your father at this juncture.