Depresion? What is it realy?

I'm pretty sure I suffer from depression. I have no idea what to make of any of this, though...the happy pills and the counseling and all the bullshit and what have you. I think depression may be a result of something someone's experienced that has been traumatic to them...whether it happened over a short period of time or gradually throughout months, years... Man...it's not fair. my advice is...go to therapy. I'm not sure what therapy is though. it depends on what your deal is...if it's drugs, family, whatever. Or, you should call LoveLine because Dr. Drew is an absolute psychological genius when it comes to the typical american. good luck getting through though.

that probably didn't make much sense. well, i'm just as lost as you.

 

Depression is a state of mind. Its when /whoever/ thinks negatively. You tend to create that 'negative reality' where you think the worst about the world and about yourself (like i'm worthless etc). From my experience I read into the smallest thing and let my mind come to the most obsured negative conclusions. Depression isn't fun at all and the worst is when you feel tapped and have no where to go.

Happy pills, therapy, od'ing, cutting.. all those in my opinion are just substitutes to finding the underlying issue of why your not feeling happy. When I was going through hell I kept telling myself "I'll get through this" and "Don't give up" and it worked. But thats how I delt with it, it might be different for you. If you believe you need help, then by all means take the step to do it!

But keep in mind that life has ups and downs and you're just in a longer 'down' period... but guess what? That means that you'll have a longer 'up' period. I'm not even joking.

Another thing that helps is whenever you start 'thinking' negative, don't try to get rid of it by replacing it with a happy though, instead watch the thought and figure out where its coming from and you can "fix" the problem. (Hope that made sense)

I had something else I wanted to say but forgot lol

And THAI, most people are lost, just some people don't know it

Good luck to ya guys! +++ Karma your way.

 

I was diagnosed as manic depressive a while back. And have attempted suicide, so it's real depression, not just having a "down day".

Therapy is stupid (at least in my opinion). You sit there and talk to a shrink about how much your life sucks (which can make you even more depressed). They - in return- sit there and nod, and say things like "mhmm... ok... and why do you think you feel this way?" Basically, you pay them bank to tell you what you already know - that you're depressed.

They then go to write you a Rx for drugs that turn you into a monotonous zombie. They figure that a "balanced" mood is better than extremes, so they give you pills that keep you from getting really happy or really depressed... So you're always stuck in the middle. Not quite happy, not quite depressed. Just... Neutral.

After a few trips to my shrinks, I got fed up with being told what I already know and not having them listen to me... So I stopped going, and stopped taking my drugs. I still struggle somewhat with it, but I've learned to deal with my downs as best I can.

I can't tell you how to deal with your downs - as what works for me may not work for you. For me, I just learned to accept it. I make a conscience effort to make the best out of any situation, and when I feel all miserable and whatnot, I try to occupy my time so I can't really think too much about what's bothering me. The more I think about it, the worse it gets, so the more I have to keep me busy, the less time I have to think about how depressed I may be feeling that day.

I will say this though... If you need someone to talk to who won't judge you - therapy might not be a bad option. I, personally, don't like telling people what's bothering me (one of the reasons I hated therapy)... But this can really help some people, and if you think it can help you - check it out. If it's not for you, it's not for you... But it never hurts to try.

 

Well, I was diagnosed with several different things such as bi-polar syndrom, and whopping list of other things, but in reality it took 4 weeks at a mental instution, and three weeks of rehab after to realize that a doctor, is not much help, so i just started to look into myself through meditation, and my illness started to drift away.

p.s. the pills they gave me( mainly lexapron) did not help one bit.

 

I read last week something amazing. People who are depressed focus on their negative thoughts, or they try to suppress their negative thoughts by thinking about other thoughts. A huge key to life that I am just starting to learn and may help you as well is to let ALL THOUGHT FLOW! When the thought "that girl thinks I'm a loser" crosses your mind, look at it, feel it, but realize that it is just a thought and at that very moment you are also thinking other thoughts like..."why are oranges orange?" Does this make sense? Those sad thoughts floating thru your mind are accompanied with normal thoughts as well... dont bug out about what you are thinking, just let your mind think. You will start to feel relaxed and comfortable letting all thoughts flow, instead of fearing certain thoughts entering your head.

 

[quote name='Natural Mystic']Depression is a state of mind. Its when /whoever/ thinks negatively. You tend to create that 'negative reality' where you think the worst about the world and about yourself (like i'm worthless etc). From my experience I read into the smallest thing and let my mind come to the most obsured negative conclusions. Depression isn't fun at all and the worst is when you feel tapped and have no where to go.


i have been diagnosed with depression, and i know it is not a state of mind. it runs in the family. thinking negatively doesn't cause depression, depression causes negative thoughts.

 

Good post i think everyone goes thru depression or ups and downs thats life its a bitch, but you have to make the best of it you know? I mean honestly who can wake up happy everyday knowing that they have to wake up early pay bills which is depressing in itself go work a 12 hour day to only come home and fix dinner and clean shit up before you go and do it again the next day. i think people who dont really do anything and just sit around and think about their life get more depressed then others if you always think about things of course your eventually gonna get a lil depressed you just need to put your mind on roaming and find things to keep your mind off of it. I used to get lost in drugs and now i just try to get lost in girls and weed and i started growing weed and kept my mind off negative things and i feel much better you just have to "Let things go".
- Question kinda related to topic more so then if i made my own...
-Q. Do you think positive things happen to positive people?

 

Depression can be a lot of things. In some people, it's just the chemicals in their brain being unbalanced. Other people, it's just a natural cycle that everyone goes through. I agree with Cotton on some things, like that sometimes you have to consciously try to make the best of every situation, even though it's hard. But, with the therapy thing, I disagree with Cotton. All therapists are different (obviously) and you may have to search around to find the right one for you. I got lucky, and I found a guy I could talk to. I never told him any personal things. In fact, he talked most of the time, I could just sit there and not talk, which is what I like to do. It helped me pretty much. Sometimes, people get depressed because they don't know what they're feeling. The human intelligence has evolved to feel so many different things, and not all of them have names. Some people can't physically feel these feelings, and sometimes those people are the ones you look to for answers. It's hard to explain what I'm trying to explain.

 

that's very interesting, I myself am not depressed whatsoever but if I was I think that that method would be very helpful.

Maybe I'm wrong but I cannot understand how depression is a disease or an imbalance in chemicals leading to sadness. If that is true and it does run in the family then is it just coincidence that the people who are depressed usually are suffering from a loss or addiction etc. and are not leading extremely positive lives. Not to say that you can't turn your life around which I would think would end depression.

I feel that depression as an idea is very negative, if you tell yourself that the reason you're sad is because you have a disease then you have given yourself an excuse (a very good one) to be sad and to not work on improving from your state of mind. I would think that if you have a disease it would naturally get worse through a self-fufilling prophecy.

Also the pills you are given are shit, don't ever rely on a drug to stay happy.

I hope I didn't offend anyone that suffers from depression, but that is just my opinion.

peace-