Depression

[nimryas]

Does anyone else suffer with it? I suffered last year with it for a few months, I was on Fluoxetine, I was Skeptical at first that anti-depressants work but they do, well did for me :/ I've relapsed since in the last week and now I am back on them, it's gotten to the point where I really have no motivation for anything, lying on a bed 12 hours a day is no fun matter, I log into WoW occasionaly and realise ive wasted an hour or so doing nothing to do the same thing later on, im stuck at level 26 on Diablo 3, not that I dont like it, I just have lost interest in all the things I usually enjoy, I just cant seem to be happy

If I may ask, how old are you? Do you have a job/study to attend? And how is your social life, friends/family?

Treatment based on madication alone helps you on the short-term but does fuck all for long-term and doesnt prevent relapses, as you have just witnessed yourself. Everybody is unique so there's not a real universal therapy for everybody with an depression. Medication is supossed to have the greatest significant change, but maybe you could look into cognitive therapy. Cognitive therapy localizes your negative/maladaptive cognitions, explains them and then tries to change the way you think about certain aspects.

Another 'treatment' that is supossed effective for some people is simply running (or sporting in general). Releases your energy and most of all improves bloodstream to the brains, which could make you more active mentally after a good run. Another treatment that helps some people is acupuncture.

There's the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) which includes different kinds of depression. Also there's difference in episodic depression or a real disorder. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK64063/. Out the top of my had a minor depression requires 2 symptoms.

[Zao]

I've had one during my time at the uni (studying Psychology ironically). I always was (and still am) a melancholic type, but a serious breakup in addition with a lot of other stress in life triggered something in me and I spent nearly half a year at home or rather performing (doing? indulging in? not sure about the right verb to use here) escapism. I read thousands of pages of fantasy epics and spent hours upon hours in WoW or any other game I could get my hands on, emptying my savings.

My sister finally noticed and basically forced me to visit a psychiatrist who pretty much immediately gave me a perscription for an anti-depressant. Those things take a long time to actually do anything however (It took nearly a month for me) and even then it didn't suddenly make me a happy person. It was just supressing the symptoms. The actualy thearpy is what helped me through most of the time.
That and the fact that, through incredible luck, I got an apprenticeship at a company as a sys-tech. Giving me something to do was what helped me through my life and kept me sane.

Sadly it's not something that simply "goes away". There are still times, when there's a lot of emotional stress, where I feel the urge to simply crawl back into my hole and just shut everything out. My solution to that is a dry sarcasm, bordering on cynicism, where I basically just have a little voice commenting on my life (when I say it out loud it actually sounds kind of crazy) and if even that doesn't help I try to prevent myself from thinking too clearly by concentrating on something, anything, else.

But that's just for me personally. There are as many forms to depression as there are characters in humanity. There's no "solve it all" solution aside from getting professional help.

[vizzle]

I've been diagnosed with it, but I don't "take" anything, nor have I done anything stupid. I channel it into Microsoft Word... hopefully someday it'll be worth it.

[TJ]

Force yourself to do something, get out and do something that benefits you like going to the gym, going for a walk/jog, learning to drive if you can't already or learning to do something else.

[vizzle]

Force yourself to do something, get out and do something that benefits you like going to the gym, going for a walk/jog, learning to drive if you can't already or learning to do something else.

Depression isn't just being sad. It's a cynical way of looking at life. It's something you can't escape because that's just the way you are. Going to the gym and doing things eases it, but at the end of the day you're never as happy as a normal person; and the better advice is just telling depressed people to learn not to let it get too far, because there's no stopping it in the first place.

[TJ]

Depression isn't just being sad. It's a cynical way of looking at life. It's something you can't escape because that's just the way you are. Going to the gym and doing things eases it, but at the end of the day you're never as happy as a normal person; and the better advice is just telling depressed people to learn not to let it get too far, because there's no stopping it in the first place.

Not really, depends on how depressed you are. I felt depressed earlier in the year because I sat on my arse all day with nothing to do, now I can drive and have a car which I use to help my mum with the shopping, going to the gym and meeting a mate in town which I couldn't do before. I now feel a lot better and back to normal because I'm actually doing stuff rather than sitting around moping about it all day.

Ofc that was self inflicted and obviously mild, but that's who my post refers to, if you have a serious problem then I can't relate to that.

[~Mynta Swirl~]

Get professional help. Nobody on this forum is going to change the way you feel.

You do realize that there are people who've tried "professional" help, and that most anti-depressants are more likely to not work at all, or even make the depression worse? There are also many people who have, or do suffer from depression on these forums, who can offer advice that may actually help? There's even probably a handful of psychologists on here anyways.

[vep]

I just have lost interest in all the things I usually enjoy, I just cant seem to be happy

What you need to do is get up and find something you DO enjoy. There's no point in sitting at home. Go try out rock climbing, bungee jumping, parasailing, parachuting, cricket, soccer... I dunno, play freaking chess or something.
Point is, noone is going to find something you enjoy for you. You gotta get your ass off the chair and do what you want to do.

[Zao]

I'm talking about myself here of course, but my father and some of my friends told me that all the time "Oh go out, meet a nice girl. Go to the gym and work out. Go on vacation with your friends. etc." That did not help in the least.

People need to understand that a serious depression (as in diagnosed by a professional psychiatrist/psychologist) isn't simply feeling a bit down, even contemplating suicide isn't always an indicator of depression (although it is most of the time).
A serious depression leaves you unable to do ANYTHING. You don't want to get out and meet happy people. You don't want to go to the gym and watch other, fitter people stare at you trying to lift even the least heavy weights. Nevermind going out and hitting on a guy/girl while in that emotional state.
And telling people suffering from depression to do things like that can actually make things worse. Because you give them the feeling that they could do something about their state on their own and if they fail to do that it's their own fault for being so weak, which further strengthens your own feeling of worthlessness.

Now I'm not saying that it's impossible to get out of a depression on your own, I've seen and heard of plenty of cases where people did just that. But for some of us it's simply not possible and trying to convince us that we could is making things much worse.
If you want to help, do it differently.

Edit: I'm also not saying that these things can't help, but they should never be forced on somebody. They're a part of a solution. Not THE solution.

[Reeve]

I'm talking about myself here of course, but my father and some of my friends told me that all the time "Oh go out, meet a nice girl. Go to the gym and work out. Go on vacation with your friends. etc." That did not help in the least.

People need to understand that a serious depression (as in diagnosed by a professional psychiatrist/psychologist) isn't simply feeling a bit down, even contemplating suicide isn't always an indicator of depression (although it is most of the time).
A serious depression leaves you unable to do ANYTHING. You don't want to get out and meet happy people. You don't want to go to the gym and watch other, fitter people stare at you trying to lift even the least heavy weights. Nevermind going out and hitting on a guy/girl while in that emotional state.
And telling people suffering from depression to do things like that can actually make things worse. Because you give them the feeling that they could do something about their state on their own and if they fail to do that it's their own fault for being so weak, which further strengthens your own feeling of worthlessness.

Now I'm not saying that it's impossible to get out of a depression on your own, I've seen and heard of plenty of cases where people did just that. But for some of us it's simply not possible and trying to convince us that we could is making things much worse.
If you want to help, do it differently.

Edit: I'm also not saying that these things can't help, but they should never be forced on somebody. They're a part of a solution. Not THE solution.

Not saying I disagree with you, but I was saying in my earlier post that computer games probably aren't a good part of that solution because feelings of accomplishment in games, while fun and a good way to pass the time for healthy people, aren't grounded in reality. Even if you don't feel like you can go out and do things around other people, teaching yourself something at home can be really good for morale. Learn to play the guitar, write music, write poetry or books, learn computer programming, build something.

I'm not suggesting this is the only way to fixing depression, and I'm not a professional. Likely for people in deep depression they also need therapy and possibly drugs. But for a lot of people, moving away from a situation where you're spinning your wheels without moving to a situation where you're accomplishing something real can have a big effect on happiness.

[Animma]

It really is so different for everyone. I've had these kind of thoughts (and I still do) and at the time I had a friend who was going through something similar. For me, being able to talk to him and to spend time around other people always cheered me up, I figured the same would work for him so I would always try and push to get out of the house and out doing stuff for the both of us. October 2010 he's found dead in his room, clearly what worked for me didn't work for him. What I'm saying is you need to find out the little things that can make you happy. Something as simple as having someone around to chat to made a world of difference for me.

[Ynna]

You do realize that there are people who've tried "professional" help, and that most anti-depressants are more likely to not work at all, or even make the depression worse? There are also many people who have, or do suffer from depression on these forums, who can offer advice that may actually help? There's even probably a handful of psychologists on here anyways.

How is advice from someone who may or may not be psychologist better than professional help?
There's no way that this forum is going to help more than a professional trained psychologist or psychiatrist.

[~Mynta Swirl~]

How is advice from someone who may or may not be psychologist better than professional help?
There's no way that this forum is going to help more than a professional trained psychologist or psychiatrist.

I don't know about the psychologists over in Belgium, but they're bloody worthless over here in the United States. Advice from someone who is, or has battled depression is much more helpful than the advice somebody who has never actually been depressed.

[Evisiling]

Thank you everyone I do appreciate the comments, some people seem to think depression is a small thing that goes away, it's not, I just have a hard time dealing with certain aspects of life, I will admit I have had a lot of relationship problems and problems when it comes to girls, yes people say relationships or girls are not worth it but when they play with your head so much and you always get put into the same situation and get treated the same, its hard to deal with especially with the stress of work, my job includes having to meet deadline and in the state im in it just isnt possible so I lose time off work which furthers my problems as I have less money for the month. I just feel like crying and I force myself to just to try and feel better, my stomach is in bits and I feel sick as I haven't eaten properly for days, I feel an invaluable person and that im worthless to people, I have tried taking my own life once and have considered it again, I really need to sort myself out

[speehs]

I've dealt with it for 14 years. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean I know how to handle it any better than you do. It's pretty much trainwrecked me. Hell, I can't even go to someone for help because I feel they'd be wasting their time on me. So all I can say is that I know that feel, bro. Wish I could help more.

[Kasierith]

There are ways to find happiness in life even when depressed.... you just need to go through, different kinds of methods. I immerse myself in studies and other things, and have been able to find a way to manage myself without the need for medication most of the time.

[DeltrusDisc]

OP, I went through a 3 year long bout with depression and I can tell you, it's no joke. The best thing I found that honestly worked though? Is to just let time work at it, find things to occupy yourself with, go to school, get a job, hang out with friends consistently, find something you LOVE (not like) doing and DO IT!!!

Also, sunlight, it is actually very healthy for you and even just a half hour to an hour of it a day can make a big difference. I personally hardly feel depressed anymore, but my worst days are when I don't get any sunlight/do anything.

[Edison]

All I can say is that is was extremely depressed from the beginning of 2010 untill the end of 2011, then it kinda slowed down. I still have days where I feel like I just wanna "Give up" but it's not everyday. I didn't get no proffesional help or went on to using medication I just started writing music and found some new people to socialize with. So basicly what i've learned so far is hang in there cuz it'll get better with time even though it looks dark right now.

[Varabently]

Does anyone else suffer with it? I suffered last year with it for a few months, I was on Fluoxetine, I was Skeptical at first that anti-depressants work but they do, well did for me :/ I've relapsed since in the last week and now I am back on them, it's gotten to the point where I really have no motivation for anything, lying on a bed 12 hours a day is no fun matter, I log into WoW occasionaly and realise ive wasted an hour or so doing nothing to do the same thing later on, im stuck at level 26 on Diablo 3, not that I dont like it, I just have lost interest in all the things I usually enjoy, I just cant seem to be happy

One of the best ways to help with depression is to exercise. I know it's hard to get up when you have no energy, but it's a spiral downward. You have no energy, so you don't want to do anything. Then your body says well I'm not doing anything I'll just shut down so you sleep. Then you are groggy because you slept too much etc etc. Just get up and walk around the block a few times. Try to engage in something that you can master like playing the piano. Something physical though, not video games.