Now class, simmer down, it's time for something a little more serious. Within reason. I offer the following as just a few things one might consider when travelling with depression (or, broadly, other mental illnesses). As usual, I'm not remotely an expert in this beyond my own experiences, but hopefully nothing in here is contentious enough that I'll be pelted with rotten fruit for being a charlatan. 1. Make sure you bring enough tabletsBring enough medication; pretty obvious. It's not exactly a life-hack but bear with me k? Getting a big ol' prescription before you leave is one thing, but maybe bear in mind that in some places it's possible to get top ups if you need them. Some countries have reciprocal healthcare agreements that mean you might pay less, but it'll probably depend on your nationality and destination (as well as the tablets). There's also a good chance you'll need to meet a doctor too. In my case a Kiwi doctor was happy enough to top me up after a chat and looking at my UK prescriptions, but it set me back a good few hundred dollars... In any case get your Googling fingers on. If in doubt, bring more. Man I wish the doctor had been an actual Kiwi bird. Or fruit. 2. Check that you can bring your tabletsAlright you've got eleventy billion packs of Brainfixipan stuffed in your bag, and you rock up at customs and BAM.... before you know it, you've got a friendly border agent named Big Steve putting on his favourite rubber glove. At one point during my furious internet searching I got confused about what was allowed across the border in Aus, and I actually emailed customs to ask if my regime was all fine. They got back promptly and were very friendly, so that's good right? It'll vary country to country, but at absolute minimum it's best to print off a doctor's note if you can get it, bring a copy of your prescriptions, and for goodness' sake declare your tablets at customs. You're not going to be deported for being upfront about important medication but if you try to be a smart-ass you'll probably end up a sore-ass. 3. Have a backup plan This one works on a bunch of levels. Depending on your plans it might be about where you'll stop or where you'll stay given how well you're holding up. Not feeling great? Maybe ease off for a few days and postpone that trip to a backwoods cabin with no toilet. The same goes on a day by day level. If you've planned a night getting wasted and can't face up to it, come up with something else. There's tons of sites (Wikitravel is a favourite) which'll give you different activities and let you substitute something mental and exciting for something solitary and relaxed. And if it really gets too much.... 4. Check your insuranceThis is a boring one so I'll be brief: check if your travel insurance covers preexisting conditions. It might not. I ended up going with a company that specialised in this area and it was about 15% more than if I'd foregone it, but it's totally worth it if you end up with cover that means you can recoup some costs if you suffer a significant relapse and have to cancel your plans. 5. Accept that you will feel down sometimesThis is one that took me a long time to come to terms with (as is probably obvious from some of my previous posts). Having spent your entire life savings and endured a 38 hour flight crushed between a sweaty sumo wrestler and a howling newborn, you might feel under pressure to enjoy yourself. But unless your specific mental ailment is a dopamine overdose you'll invariably get sad sometimes. My specific experience was feeling selfish for being in amazing locations and not surfing a constant wave of joyousness. Unfortunately I don't know that I could recommend a solution here. It's a bit better now I'm sort of in one place, but I can't offer a magic bullet or I wouldn't be writing this. I'd be skipping through some flowers or whatever. 6. Enjoy the good timesTo close on something positive, I've found that depression has actually affected my experience somewhat less than expected. For all the miserablism, it's been amazing fleeing my home and everything familiar and I'd recommend it to anybody no matter their mental affliction. Take care of yourself, bring your tablets, chill if you need it, but when you can just wallow in the positive emotions as you get them. Here's a Doctor Who quote to see me out: The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don’t always soften the bad things, but vice versa, the bad things don’t always spoil the good things and make them unimportant.
2 Comments
Haze
28/6/2017 08:48:14 pm
Great tips, thanks for posting. Especially the 'boring' insurance one :o)
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Bryan
30/6/2017 02:58:26 pm
Thanks. Unselfish and cathartic. Even tho' you're far away you're still useful. Feel Good!
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Author28 year old computer scientist/physicist with major depressive disorder, a need to write, and a deep-rooted mistrust of beetroot. Categories
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