@Pretzel I'm afraid I can't do that .. I lose every time. It took a while for my Phyciatrist to find the right meds, but once dialied in, Lilthium has been a steady performer ... Moods not to high, not to low, and I manage what's in bewteen ...
This summer with over work, fatique, and the CONVID hanging over, I did wind up in a deep dark hole... Thanks to my cousin, she encouraged me to take a vacation with her, and that helped ...
Get established with a professional counselor, psychiatrist, or spiritual counselor. I mention spirital counselor in concert with the others because sometimes a moral or generational orientation is required to relate to your age and upbringing.
I say getting established because it may take a few tries to find someone you are comfortable with. When I say comfortable, a warning, you may be comfortable at first, but then the rigors of counseling will be intense at times.
In the long run, it will a relationship that will require counseling and medication, which has to be monitored by the psychiatrist.
Commit to the process. I started out ok, took my meds and then started feeling better, so I quit my meds and delayed counseling because I thought I was cured. Well I wasn't !!! I crashed and rebounded several times.
Finally my cousin, who also had battled with depression, advised me to get with the long term cure. She told me to start journaling not only how I felt, but how I was doing as to dealing with people. There are subtle changes often in your behavior that you don't notice, and they most often have to do with how you relate to people each day.
I've been seeing the same psychiatriast now for fiifteen years. The important thing now is that he knows me, which presents the next question. Are you honest enough with yourself and your prospective conselor to share you life.
In time, I finally confessed that I had a lot of issues coming from living with an abusive father. In time, we sorted these things out and I was able to deal with them, or at least confront them and resolve to not let them shadow my life.
please mail me if you have specific questions you don't want to discuss here ..
SW-User
You seem genuine in your quest to help others, which is refreshing here. I confess, I mulled over your "about me", and I was intrigued by all that you do for you and your community. I was a little exhausted, just thinking about it.lol I do admire folks like you though, and I just want to say, good on ya. I have watched depression like a river, wind and flow through my family, ripping and eroding the the steep banks along the way, and still...we manage to stay afloat, don't we? With help of course. It's nice to see someone like yourself, lending a hand, and possibly helping some of us from an almost certain drowning, if not for life preservers like yourself. Thanks to you and people like you, for all that you do.
Depression is a big challenge to cope with, my wife suffered for year only someone who has suffered can fully understand, wish you well with your recovery,
A lot of people on this site suffer from various kinds of depression. As you know, it can be debilitating to the point of paralysis, or even suicide. I hope you are able to help people here. Thanks for your willingness to try! 🙂
Is it still a battle if u dont fight back? I feel im a lost cause. The more i look back the more i notice...ive never been happy or satisfied with the things in my life. Depression is all i know. The quest for happiness has led me down a selfish lonely path with nothing to show for it. I try to pick myself up and keep going and things get good for 2 months tops-and by good i mean slightly less depressed than usual- but then life happens and i lose it all again. This vicous cycle is tiring and i dont know how much longer ill put up with it. Im getting tired...wish i could find the off button.
@TwistedTitus OK, you sound pretty sad.. Have you seen a counselor or phyciatrist that deals with these kinds of problems .. Just the drugs weren't enough I found .. but I got used to the counseling sessions , , , Too much self talk doesn't some people. An objective voice of a counselor. It tooke a while with me, I had baggage from my teens with my father abusing us and making the home a living hell. Finally, we escaped and started a new life. But in time, old hurts and problems came back to visit.
I like your positive attitude.....maybe u can just have someone close no matter what time he or she will always be there for you.....I think mostly adults are self centred and don't care much about others where there is like a handful of one's that really enjoy helping like you and I for example
I am much older than you, but have been involved with the treatment of people with depression, usually after they tried to hurt themselves. Depression can be destructive, luckily most can be handled with a combination of medication and psychotherapy.
@Texasisbestrobb That's a good point. Even at my lowest ebb, I find a brisk walk, a bicycle rid, or swimmming, help to relieve some of the stress and anxiety.
SW-User
It's so nice of you to offer help.it's wonderful to see a nice person like. It would be an honour to be your friend.
read your about me. God Bless You for your work with dogs. I take in cats. have a colony of ferals I feed and take feral kittens to domesticate and find good homes
I sadly know of people who regard it as weak mindedness, even now in the 21st century. Such people are pig ignorant and revel in being so. They regard themselves as superior because they get fed up too but they get on with life, in their stilted mindset. Those who can't are just weak and they have no time for them. Ignorance comes in many guises, and this is one of them. My worry is some doctors are little better.
@CathyUK "Pig Headed" is exactly right ... there is a still a cultural mind set of depression being brought by poor character or lack of in interest in life .. I was fortunate to find a very good doctor after tyring several. Some just want to "med" you up with pills and monitor your treatment.
@Midnightblu There is a brain chemistry problem in all of this I am sure, which is beyond the control of the person like any other physical imbalance, but the brain is so complex. I think anti depressants do help some people but I suspect it is only one part of the problem, which is still not really identified.
