Depression?

[Galaxia]

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[Laurestine]

Oh, I am so sorry to hear you are not doing well :hugz: :hugz:

If you are depressed, you feel like everything is very, very exhausting to do... You feel there is nothing you would like to do, or nothing you could do, and feel only like crying, or very numb. Helpless. Concentrating, or even caring with things that you know were once your interests is very hard and feels like an almost impossible burden, which only makes you feel more useless. It is like all the pleasure and joy is being swallowed by darkness, that there is no hope, no light, and that it will just go on, go on, and on, and only ever get worse; knowing you are a failure, and feeling more dead than alive.

It is... like drowning, isolated and alone, and you just want to give up fighting and give in.

That is what it feels like for me, if that makes any sense? I hope it helps.

:hugz: If you ever want to talk, please... don't hesitate, okay? You know how to reach me, and I am always here. :) Please do not bottle it up... it will only make it worse. :hugz:

[BrigidMoon]

Have you thought that it may be SAD? Seasonal Affective Disorder? Just a bout of depression that usually hits around this time of year due to lack of sunlight?

[brighid's child]

:ahhhh: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, go back to the shrink! If you fit the checklist, yes it means something. You're not crazy, there's nothing "wrong" with you. Trust your gut. If you think there is a problem, then there is. Feel free to PM me:chatty:

[Brenda]

:hugz: :hugz:
The best thing you can do is go to a doc and talk about it.
It could be many things, depression is just one of the things, maybe you're feeling down because of some memories, or having a lack of energy.
Only one way to find that out.
Some people don't feel comfortable talking to a psychologist, but if you ever need to talk, just pm me.

[Galaxia]

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[AineDanu]

Hugggs Galaxia, I know it can be difficult to open up to some doctor just because they are "qualified" to help you but sometimes that is the only way to find out what is really going on and get the help you need. If you do not feel comfortable "dumping" everything on"Dan" then there are plenty of people here you can talk to, myself included. BUT getting professional help is still the best thing to do. Going by the length of time you are describing having these feelings it is not just seasonal and if you keep feeling this way without getting things resolved it can get worse. I would not want to see you making yourself physically ill as well as making your emotional state more vulnerable.

I would try talking to a new therapist, if your insurance allows try a couple of different ones until you find someone who you do feel comfortable with. It is going to feel awkward the first couple times but if it makes you better in the long run isnt it worth it??

[IrishDancer]

Ok, unpopular answer coming up here. Please don't bite my head off; I don't mean it to be rude or anything negative, just giving you my honest and most educated opinion.

In regard to your question


How do you know if you really are depressed?

If you don't know, you aren't depressed.

I think that's kind of like being sad and crying, and then asking, "But how do I know if I'm really sad?"

It's as easy as this. If you're feeling depressed, see a doctor or a therapist. If you're feeling depressed, that's how you know you really are depressed....

[savestheday7284]

If you are depressed you aren't abnormal. Depression is the "common cold" of mental illnesses. I am depressed. I live a normal life have as much as i can going for me. I go to my university's free clinic and I love my counselor. Just find someone who you are comfortable talking to. Just tell them as much as u can.....you dont have to cry or say anything you dont want to. Its nice to tell someone all the little things that drive you crazy about the people around you....because they dont know them and will never meet them. If you're worried because most doctors go to medicine first, just tell your doctor you would like to use it as a last resort....thats what my decision was. The counselors will respect your initiative to get help and never judge you for anything you say. I hope you seek help from whoever you can comfortably get it from and that you feel better soon!!!

[MysticWitch]

If you feel really gloomy most days, it could mean you have depression.

[Kudzu]

Write a letter to the psychologist. Show her that image, and the checklists. If your state of mind is ruining your life, then it means you have a problem. If not, then you don't.

[SSanf]

Isn't being depressed and down in the dumps from time to time pretty much a normal part of the human experience?

If you were never feeling blue, how would you know when you are feeling happy?

[DuchessofAngels]

How do you know if you really are depressed? I've looked at the checklists and such and I sadly match most of the items listed... but does it really mean anything? I'm too scared to ask anyone IRL... I'm already enough of an outcast as it is.
_inabox_
I even went to a psychologist a few months ago but I couldn't bring myself to admit anything to her. (It was free through the university... their satellite office is across the street from where I live). I guess I can best be summed up as confused and the whole deal (image is the best description of my feelings...)

http://fs4.deviantart.com/i/2004/232/a/2/Eternal_Bliss.jpg by polooo2 (http://www.deviantart.com/view/9935437/)

Here's how I knew. One minute I had a so-called life/interests & the next I quit everything/rarely came out of my own room & bawled all the time.

Here's another question. Is it simply inherited/a chemical embalance of the brain...or is it life? Seriously folks think about...who all do you know who's not depressed/on drugs for something? Families...ha. Relationships...double ha. Nobody trust ANYBODY anymore.

ALL my grandparents were poor to begin with & when the depression came...they were dirt poor. They believed in God/went to church every Sunday & worked their asses off...yet they were still poor??? My mom's parents might've made it up to middle income eventually...after 7 of their 9 kids left home. A month before my mom's dad was to retire he died of cancer (never smoked in his life). My mom died at 62/never saw retirement either.

We force people to be so old when they retire they couldn't possibly enjoy the money they paid in all those years anyway. Why? Cuz we're giving tax breaks to companies like Exon/Mobil who made how many billions last year? The RICH are getting tax breaks. Foreigners like the one who totalled my first brand new car ever then walked away from the scene before the cops could get there are getting tax breaks. How many of our anscestors who actually built this country got tax breaks? My grandpa fought in WWII for this country...he didn't get no tax breaks. Some of my anscestors were Indians/this was their country first & they don't get no tax breaks.

Then there's all these peeps with "mental disorders" getting SSI. Peeps like "skulz" who's supposedly bipolar...& that will likely be his excuse as to why he choked the life out of a girl less than half his age (17 year old Taylor Behl). How many years have the hard workers in this country taken care of that bastard while he sat at home buying cameras to take nakie pics of young girls to post on his sites? How many more years will the hard workers in this country have to take care of him while he rots away in prison? He needs to be taken out into the woods (where he dumped Taylor's body) & shot right between the eyes. Leave him there in a dent in the ground for wild animals to carry parts of him off just like they did parts of Taylor's body.

Somebody around here posted...what do you want from us? Nobody can fix your life/actually help you. All we can offer you is well wishes. And I might take 'em as well wishes if they weren't so damned sarcastic. I've helped people all my life...I've even saved a few. I've let abused women move in with me (most were abused by foreigners getting tax breaks). I've let neglected children move in with me. Now here me & mine sit - can't get help from a soul in this whole world. Is a pill gonna fix it?

Honey don't pay any attention to those checklists. According to tests I've got 5 out of 10 personality disorders. Do I sound crazy to you? Or do I make sense & nobody knows how to handle it...the bold faced truth? The truth is this could be any one of you next...& chances are no one will help you either. You gonna be so sarcastic then?