Tony An suffered from depression?

[ryoflame.livejournal.com]

Tony An recently revealed that he was depressed and took medication for 4 years.

Tony An appeared on MBC’s Golden Fishery on October 6th, and confessed that in the 2 years before he joined the army, he suffered depression. He said, ‘After JTL, I was obsessed with receiving success as a solo artist. One day I suddenly got a headache. Even though I didn’t know how to express it, it was very exhausting. People advised that I get treatment for my head, and then I was diagnosed with depression, bipolar disorder, social phobia and 8 other disorders. The doctor said that I was very lonely.‘

While working on his solo activities, Tony An challenged the profession of an entrepreneur and a CEO. Tony An expressed, ‘I did the things I was supposed to, but my heart always felt so lonely. At the time I realized that success and wealth were not connected to happiness in life as I previously thought.‘

Tony An continued with yet another shocking confession. The reason that he was able to go on X-Man and Sang Sang Plus back in 2006 was that he took antidepressants. His confession that, ‘Without medication, life was unbearably painful‘ shocked the MCs.

At the time, Tony An not only took medication, but he also drank heavily. ‘[One day] When I woke up in the morning, the bed was covered with blood. The back of my head was ripped open. The next day, the security officer told me that my head was bleeding from the elevator mirror.‘

For the next 2 years, Tony An went to the army, until he was released last September. Tony An said, ‘10 months after entering the military, I stopped taking medication. I received a lot of strength from life in the military, and conquered my illness.‘

With a painful history such as Tony An’s, it is no wonder he missed the army.

Source: Allkpop

Poor baby D: c'mere I'll make sure you're not lonely anymore.

Comments

OP...

[jeonggam.livejournal.com]

YOU ARE SO DEDICATED (LOL) ILU.

Re: OP...

[g-aria.livejournal.com]

DEDICATED TO HOT (.net)
/plug

8D

Re: OP...

[jeonggam.livejournal.com]

REPRESENT, GURL. ;)

Re: OP...

[ryoflame.livejournal.com]

Wow, what a first comment... XD;

Someone's got to keep posting about these boys ;~;

Re: OP...

[jeonggam.livejournal.com]

Right place, right time, bb.

<333

[xmellorinex.livejournal.com]

not gonna lie, i nearly cried.

[jaerotic.livejournal.com]

me too. ;_;

[ramunerain.livejournal.com]

;__; i'm glad he overcame his depression.

The back of my head was ripped open. The next day, the security officer told me that my head was bleeding from the elevator mirror. ow ow ow ow.

[sleepy-sheep137.livejournal.com]

DDDDDDDD: This is so incredibly sad. Brb, hugging Tony forever~

[angel-of-blue.livejournal.com]

This is so shocking. I'm completely speechless. I used to watch X-man and I love him there. I didn't know he was having such serious problems. This makes me worry about other idols' depressions. They may show the cheerful side on screen but God knows what they are suffering. Especially group members.

[fuuyu-hsj.livejournal.com]

Well, what you say there just applies to everyone living in this world. You don't know what's behind their smile. If you see it like that you should've to worry about everyone. But you're right, who knows how many of the groups we listen to have members with depression or something similar and yet they still entertain us and make us laugh :/

[honeebs.livejournal.com]

Hope he's still getting continued care you don't cure bipolar... or any of them really.
Very nice and brave of him to come out and shed light he's dealing with some heavy stuff.

[deerlike.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I mean it is very moving to read about, but I definitely went "hrmmm" at 10 months after entering the military, I stopped taking medication. I received a lot of strength from life in the military, and conquered my illness.

I know if I stopped taking my meds I'd be off the fucking rails.

[honeebs.livejournal.com]

yes
and you have good days months and then meds or not it's just too much.
So i really hope he has a good support family. U2

[deerlike.livejournal.com]

Exactly! You never know when you can relapse.

I mean, I absolutely understand the stance against overmedication, but that doesn't negate the fact that sometimes medication is very necessary, because depression isn't just psychological but physical as well. That's why people typically combine therapy with medication.

[ebbin-glow.livejournal.com]

stay strong girl. its not just the pills, surely theres something within u holding u back too.

[jooannee.livejournal.com]

so sweet! (:

[deerlike.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :) I admit I'm lucky to have a few close friends, which always helps keep things in perspective.

[jongina.livejournal.com]

I was diagnosed with depression, bipolar disorder, social phobia and 8 other disorders.

I'm really sorry for him, but is that even possible? Genuinely curious here. I know co-morbidity is possible but ten different disorders were diagnosed? Maybe he meant that it was just a differential diagnosis...? :S

[fuuyu-hsj.livejournal.com]

Hm, I guess you can have smyptoms of a lot of different disorders, so that none fully applies to you. Maybe it's meant that way? I'm not sure about having 10 disorders.

[jongina.livejournal.com]

But then there should be at least a single disorder that is more applicable than the others. I get what you're saying though. Other symptoms might have also manifested in that single symptom.

Also, I can't count. >__> What he said was supposed to be 11 disorders altogether. I hope he still takes his meds, and he gets therapy if it's all too much for him.

[jongina.livejournal.com]

Other symptoms might have also manifested in that single **disorder. Omg what is wrong with me. @__@

[remy-hahn.livejournal.com]

A lot of the disorders share similar symptoms. I don't think it's possible to be diagnosed to have 10 at the same time. o_O And if he really were bi-polar and suffering from clinical depression, taking anti-depressants would trigger manic or hypomanic episodes. All that would not help with his social phobia symptoms.

I really don't think a professional would diagnose you with so many things without narrowing it down to one or two. Especially since taking medication for each one would only clash with the other ones.

And drinking heavily does not help it either. ._. Sorry for all that babble. 8)

[shadowkeeper.livejournal.com]

(Psych major here)

Well, bipolar disorder includes a depression diagnosis since bipolar- aka manic depression usually manifests with many more episodes of depression than mania and requires an episode of depression in order to be diagnosed.

In his case, the social phobia could be an anxiety disorder which does occur sometimes with depression.

If he has generalized anxiety, the doctors could have been nit-picky and named specific anxieties.
Doctors don't usually diagnose depression and bipolar separately in a person since diagnosing bipolar definitely implies that depression is present.
So, the 11 is probably a way overstated number and he has more like 3-4 disorders but with multiple offshoots.

[remy-hahn.livejournal.com]

Psych major! :D Hi5.

But I guess at the same time, it also depends on how they diagnose their patients. Asia doesn't follow the DSM professionals follow in the U.S. Everyone seems to follow a different thing.

[shadowkeeper.livejournal.com]

Hello fellow (future) psychologist. :)

Every mental helth professional in the world except for the ones in the US are supposed to use the ICD (International Classification of Diseases). It's not too different from the DSM-IV when it classifies bipolar disorder, but it does seem to be a bit more specific about anxiety disorders. But, there still is the generalized umbrella of 'anxiety disorders' in the ICD, and they also have GAD, so I guess it depended on how specific the doctor wanted to be.

[fuuyu-hsj.livejournal.com]

Maybe the person sitting next to you in school/work is the same :/

[deerlike.livejournal.com]

Very true.

[jooannee.livejournal.com]

/worried for leeteuk.

[saintalecto.livejournal.com]

I don't like how the moral of the story seems to be, "Join the army! It cures depression!" It might have worked for him but that's not really a comprehensive solution for everyone.

[minyquai.livejournal.com]

No really, this breaks my heart :'(

[callmeliyah.livejournal.com]

:(

[paulaaaaa.livejournal.com]

Tony ):

[dead-lenore.livejournal.com]

I cried reading this, remembering how funy he looked back then on those shows, and he was actually very depressed.. ;_;

[jooannee.livejournal.com]

.. JTL. :'(

I'm glad Tony found strength in the army! It really does help some boys to grow up. I'm really really really glad it benefitted him! But argh.. JTL.

Our JYJ boys must not suffer in the same way! >(

[melonfucka.livejournal.com]

that's... awful. omg D:
at least he's better now, poor thing.

[royalantares.livejournal.com]

Wow scary. He could have died with a head wound like that. Glad he's feeling better.

[strawberry-efeu.livejournal.com]

I'm glad someone is speaking out about their mental disorders. Maybe if more celebrities are willing to do this it will become less of a taboo topic.

I hope Tony will continue to be okay :(

[shadowkeeper.livejournal.com]

(Just posted most of this as a response above, but re-commenting
I'm a psych major and I have taken classes looking at disorders.)

Bipolar disorder includes a depression diagnosis since bipolar- aka manic depression usually manifests with many more episodes of depression than mania and requires an episode of depression in order to be diagnosed.

In his case, the social phobia could be an anxiety disorder (I can't be absolutely sure since I don't know him, but it is the most likely case) which does occur sometimes with depression.

If he has generalized anxiety, the doctors could have been nit-picky and named specific anxieties which brought up the diagnosis count.
Doctors don't usually diagnose depression and bipolar separately in a person since diagnosing bipolar definitely implies that depression is present.
So, the 11 is probably a way overstated number and he has more like 3-4 disorders.

Also, it is possible that he can stop with the meds and be healthier now. Especially if he was drinking heavily when taking the medication.

Exercise and improved health can improve symptoms of anxiety and depression for some by helping balance neurotransmitters in the brain. The more strenuous excessive Tony did in military service, and probably the enormous decrease of stress relating to his career/business/public image was probably a great help.

[neumi.livejournal.com]

Old news, but sad, very sad. NOW WHERE'S MY SMASH????????????????????

[onerainysunday.livejournal.com]

oh wow

[aikosuru.livejournal.com]

drinking, faint, stress, lonely.., it's not like we haven't heard about this in his past years, but for him to suffer that much by himself.. just hearing how he's talking about it, pain went, but bit of it lingers somehow..

and really don't know how his fans take this news..