Be Honest: How long have you gone without

Most of you live with your families, right? How do your spouse/kids react to your self-neglect? Do they get concerned? Do they call your t/pdoc? In the case of the spouse, offer to bathe you?

I'd be very worried if someone I loved was so sick that they couldn't shower.

As I mentioned earlier, I shower daily even when ill. However, I should confess that I sometimes forget to brush my teeth when depressed. And I don't shave in the winter, even when well. No once can see the hair anyway; it's covered up. ;p And if men are allowed to have hairy legs and armpits, why can't I? Lol

Whenever I quit showing for a few days, I tell my husband that I really have to take one, and he often asks how long it's been, and when I tell him, he doesn't look to pleased, but I just cannot get into the shower some days.

I dont shave in the winter either, i asked my husband if he minds and he says no. I figure if girls were not meant to have hair on thier legs and armpits well we wouldn't have been made to have it!

I get away with not shaving my face for 2 days, then my wife complains that I prickle too much. No hugs & kisses for a short fuzzy face for me, so the incentive is very powerful. LOL

I MUST shower every day or I die. It is my cleansing, healing time. I HAVE to wear clean clothes, sometimes changing several times a day if I get sweaty.

BUT I cannot be OCD because shaving my legs is the lowest thing on my agenda. I started wearing shorts this week because we finally got some warm summer days (a little late, but better than never!) and I got the razor out and did the job.

Water therapy is what I call my showers. It washes off the trials and tribulations of the day. Can't stand getting into bed dirty. But then, mostly not depressed, just hypomanic.

TRIGGER WARNING: mentions thoughts of dying

3-4 days, I think?

Sophia, I get what you mean by "water therapy" as I feel a little like that when I shower for the first time after coming out of a depression - like it's cleansing. One of my problems is that our flat has a serious damp problem so sometimes showering doesn't help, because I am fixated on how dirty the bathroom is (because of the damp, not because it doesn't get cleaned!) and feeling like I'm not getting any cleaner because of it. So I have mixed feelings towards it when I'm not quite 'right' - either I feel cleansed by the water, or I feel like it's making me filthier.

I also had an odd episode where I was in bed in the night panicking and felt like I was dying, suffocating in the heat (though it wasn't particularly warm). I considered running around outside with no clothes on, and the thing that stopped me WASN'T the concept that public nudity is frowned upon, but the terrifying thought that anyone else might be out and about on the streets, forcing me to interact. So I opted for a shower instead, hoping that it would cool me down and make me feel a bit calmer. Initially I instead felt like I was suffocating even more (probably the humidity) and thought I was going to have a panic attack in there - I ended up slumped in a corner of the shower cubicle - at which point my feelings about it switched again and I found it cleansing, refreshing and soothing. I thought about simply falling asleep there with the water running over my head, briefly wondered if maybe I would drown in my sleep, and found the thought comforting. I must have been in there for a couple of hours. Strange times. But when I got out, I felt calm enough to go and lie back in bed...

Went slightly off-topic there, sorry! Has anyone else had any weird shower-related 'incidents'?

I just came out of my mixed state and took a shower. It had been 2 weeks for me.

I am always afraid of falling in the shower and I am not even an old lady so when we got our bathroom re-done, I made them put two handles in the shower so I could grab them if I got disorientated, or if I was about to fall. I am always afraid that something will happen to me when I am showering.

I am sorry you went through that lm222.

The five days I was in the hospital is the longest I've ever gone

The longest I have ever gone when in a severely depressed state is just under a month, something that I am not particularly proud of!

I have gone a month before...I even started to get rashes and lesions

That's what gets me under water on the most difficult of days - the discomfort and sometimes a fear of having maggots creeping under my skin.

7 days no shower. I can't remember if I brushed my teeth.

When I was working at the State Hospital I saw alot of that.

When depressed I often would not shower or change clothes for days at a time. But then my hubby would make me shower and get changed into clean pjs or trackies

During the summer its normal for me not to shower for 3 days. >>; (Not proud of this)

During the year I try to keep it to 2 days at most. I don't always shower because I want to, just feel that it wouldn't be right for me not to. o_O; weird logic

From bipolar, I don't know. But I once went 5 days after I'd had surgery and couldn't shower. Blech.

I think the longest I've gone is 3 days, maybe 4. I was depressed enough that my OCD just didn't get in the way.

i've gone days withouts showering before. when i'm really down, i can go days without eating or drinking anything as well. i haven't shaved in like 2 or 3 weeks now... i've lost track. i haven't had a problem with showering lately. i just can't bring myself to do other things like excerise or shave or even wash my hair. i think i've been rapid cycling for the past month.

Im in a rapid cycle hell to be honest ,,, I see my Therapist every week the most ill go is 2 days without a shower or bath.. But i can see how if i slide into a bad depression bathing would slide down the list of must dos very easily ... I think in the past when i was very depressed id go a few days then at least do a wash up at the sink due to things itching etc ..

The longest I've been without a shower has been a week, I usually try to force myself to take one every 2 days, however today makes 3 days still no shower, but I've got to somehow make myself take one, I have an appointment today with my pdoc and t.

When I have been SEVERELY DEPRESSED I have gone 3 days yes 3 days. I always say, it feels like going and bathing feels like going to another country. That is how difficult it feels and is when I go into that depression.

I've gone 5 days... without showers, brushing my hair, or burshing my teeth.

few days.

but I admit i go quite regularly sleep "on piggy". But that comes from living in dorms with shared showers. Social anxiety, plus laziness, plus a roomie who does not think it is problem when we go sleep on piggy for that night...

Eesh. About a week.

I try not to let things get so bad I don't take care of myself, and I try to have some pride in my appearance. I like to take long baths and play music to relax... But, when the depression is really bad I just can't be bothered. I've even topped up makeup from the day before, rather than washing and re-applying. Bad, right? But I can't NOT wear makeup at all. Washing my hair becomes a bother, so I probably use more dry shampoo than anyone should!