I hope someone can help me with this problem . I've suffered with depression for a long time . Now with parkinsons , it's worse than ever , i start crying suddenly about pet rabbits who've died . My wife can't handle it and i've recently changed GPs and i think my old gp has now retired , so i can't talk to her . Any advice would be appreciated . Jonta

I get upset at the drop of a hat i used to lead from the front now i'm dragging along at the back everything seems hard i blame it on my Parkinson's but i suppose in some part i'm just getting old. Yes i am depressed i worked hard all my life leaving everything until retirement and here i am i didn't see this coming.

Sorry Jenta i know my post didn't help you but at least you know your not alone. Although sometimes i feel alone.

John E & Jonta,

Please know that you are not alone. pd is not an easy thing to deal with, either for the pwp or the people who care for them. The unpredictable nature of the thing - from day to day, hour to hour, the awareness that activities that you once enjoyed with relative ease are now too difficult to contemplate. Worry about the future.

Of course these things are not specific to pd. But, because it is such a difficult condition for others (and ourselves) to understand, a lot of us try to keep our depression hidden, so as not to cause upset.

The only advice I can offer, is to talk about it with somebody you trust, be it a partner, a friend, here on the forum. Some people find that joining a local pd group helps. And if you think that depression is affecting your quality of life, I would suggest that your first port of call might be your GP.? You will not be the first person to present with this problem, pd related or otherwise. There are medications that may help and other forms of intervention.

I wish you both well, and hope that the "glums" will lift

This may be the wrong place to put this but are we the sort of people that get Parkinson's http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/parkinsons-trait/parkinsons-trait

I am sorry if I sound somewhat cynical John E, but 50+ years of research to conclude that people who are more aggressive & competitive are more likely to have a heart attack that those with a calmer, more patient personalilty. Goodness me , such a suprise!.

I do not doubt that there are links between personality traits and ill-health, although, as is pointed out in your link, it is difficult to ascribe cause & effect.

It may well be that non-risk takers are more prone to develop pd, or that incipient pd makes them less inclined to take risks. I have also heard of studies that indicate that there is a correlation between who are "driven" (e.g artistically, musically, work-wise) and pd.

Who knows?

I have just read through this post of mine , and I truely hope that it does not come across as rude and arrogant as it seems to me . If it does, I apologise. It is just that these small sample studies, with no obvious clinical benefit do rather anny me.

Best wishes

I meant that they annoy me!

To suggest that a higher rate of PD occurrence may exist in those who are generally calmer and take less risks is baloney, and exactly the opposite of reality.

This piece of "research" is based on a very small patient sample, and just because a subject is asked whether or not they enjoy risk-taking doesn't necessarily mean that their response will be the truth. Egos aren't that simple!

Hello Ray. Good to see your name again.

im feelin rather low latley ,my pd is gettin worse and i findin things hard to deal with ,me moms been dx with brain tumer/cancereous and they carnt do nothin to help her,i feel helpless,i try to keep tellin me self ali push along like ive always done,but even thats seems to be lettin me down lalty ,im on adepresent tablets any way and gp has upped then recently,got another app with gop toorrow,sorry folks for wingin to ya,i no we all got our probs.