Depression

condra

Any of you cats got depression?

Just curious

Doctor DooM

womoma wrote: »

Any of you cats got depression?

Just curious

Nope, quite happy.


Although I much prefer dogs

Aisling(",)

but of an intimiate question to be asking i think.

and ehh not really

HalloweenJack

I go up and down a lot.

Latchy

Same here , not really although i think a lot of people can go through a mild form of depression,just the ups and downs of every day life .But nothing that floors them or requires them to take anti -depressents

condra

Yeah I suppose it is quite an intimate question to be asking. Then again, nobody is being forced to reply.

Jack- Up and down a lot? Ever see a doc about it?

HalloweenJack

womoma wrote: »

Jack- Up and down a lot? Ever see a doc about it?

Meh. I'm able to deal with it on my own.

Steve

womoma wrote: »

Any of you cats got depression?

Just curious

No, not me.

Why are you asking - curious.

condra

I'm mostly just curious about peoples experiences with depression and anxiety. It runs deep in the veins of my family, on both sides.

I've a few health problems of my own, and sometimes I worry about my mental health. no big deal though really. Anyway, I was thinking about insomnia, addiction, drugs, messed up sleeping patterns, shift work, and all those other weird reasons different people might develop nocturnal vampirism like us here, (edit- I originally poste this in the nocturnal forum) and I pretty much just assumed a fair proportion of people from this forum would suffer from depression, or at the very least, SAD or anxiety.

I'm more interested in peoples general experiences with depression, as anything close to medical advice would result in the thread getting f****d.

Aisling(",)

whats sad?
that the one where changing seasons make you sad or am i like up a wrong tree?

Latchy

Welll i for one dont like the winter months and might fall into one of those people who have SAD (seasonal adjustment disorder, not enough winter daylight ) and i have had occasional anxiety .I think my ablity to distract myself (like posting here ) or loosing myself in a good book helps ,like stimulation for the brain so i can relate a bit to depression .Some people due to their genetic family tree ,such as you mentioned will suffer more and i suppose our chemical make up might also play a part (more with some than others ) As long as we dont go into the medical advice mode then just talking about it helps for sure

DenMan

latchyco wrote: »

Welll i for one dont like the winter months and might fall into one of those people who have SAD (seasonal adjustment disorder, not enough winter daylight ) and i have had occasional anxiety .I think my ablity to distract myself (like posting here ) or loosing myself in a good book helps ,like stimulation for the brain so i can relate a bit to depression .Some people due to their genetic family tree ,such as you mentioned will suffer more and i suppose our chemical make up might also play a part (more with some than others ) As long as we dont go into the medical advice mode then just talking about it helps for sure

It's amazing that you mention not liking the winter months latchyco. I am the opposite. For some reason I find the darker, colder months to be more less distracting. I tend to get a lot more done, things I put off during the year. Writing, reading etc. I have suffered from depression in the past (and being honest still do a lesser extent) I find the evenings to be very comforting and because it gets darker earlier I do get a lot more done.

SmileyPaul

womoma wrote: »

Any of you cats got depression?

Just curious

I used to a couple of years back but as my name suggests I got over it and learned how to cope with most stuff that happens...

jtsuited

i've posted a few times here about this. Thankfully I'm fully recovered and whatnot.

I suffered pretty severe depression for a good few years. Not the sort of feeling down, etc. stuff. Much worse, with the physical symptoms of not sleeping (at all for days), lost weight, chronic anxiety, depersonalisation, derealisation, panic attacks, a complete inability to function and a whole load of other stuff including drink/drugs/workaholism/perfectionism etc.

It runs on both sides of my family so the genetic vulnerability was always there I guess.
I think the problem with depression is the term. Clinical Depression is an illness proper, that can be treated with drugs. There are many factors involved, but is not just someone feeling a bit under the weather. That's merely one of the many many symptoms.

Unfortunately, there is still a lot of stigma out there about depression, but I've lost enough people to suicide, to know that talking openly about it is the only way to help people.

Most people (even my closest friends) were shocked when I told them I was recovering from depression, and a few even told me they had gone through some terrible episodes before.

The drug treatments out there are remarkably successful, although the first month or so on an antidepressant is really really tough. Hence the high suicide incidence during that period.

Clinical Depression is one bastard of an illness, that you wouldn't wish upon your worst enemy. It's a suffering many people kill themselves in order to escape from. It's that bad.

Womoma, I don't think it's a too personal question to ask at all. If we could discuss depression in the same way we talk about cancer (as in without stigma), there would be a lot more people living happy lives as opposed to suffering quietly or worse being dead as they could no longer take such a torturous existence.

Statistically, there's a good probability of someone reading this post who is in the depths of a depressive episode right now, but can't get help (depression ironically tells you not to get help).

I think the ability to speak openly about depression is the only way society is going to make a difference.

I posted something long about this before here so I'll try find the link.

If people think I'm somehow strange for having suffered depression etc., I couldn't care less. I know other brave souls talking openly about depression motivated me to get help, and make a full recovery (which was something I am amazed at everyday).

It's funny but everytime I've posted here about depression, somebody has pm'd me asking questions. Which sort of says something about how deeply effected a lot of us are by this. And how shy people feel about it.

wicklowgal

Yep,I suffer from depression and have done for over 2 years now.In recent months my main symptom has been anxiety.I also suffer from severe SAD and often don't get out of bed on bad days.SAD can often be mistaken for laziness but trust me,it's much more serious.

HalloweenJack

I worry greatly about succumbing to depression. I posted above that I go up and down quite a lot but I deal with it in my own ways. I've never had a depressive episode so heavy that I felt the need for treatment.

There is a history of depression and substance abuse in my family which has affected six members that I know of (five on my father's side).

I do have many problems at the moment. I've had no success getting a job for the summer, I've had a bit of trouble with my ex which has upset me greatly (and continues to), I'm bored until college starts again, I did have a repeat exam which stressed me out, I've fought with some of my friends over the summer and I feel lonely a lot of the time. Right now, I feel very vulnerable.

When I think about my past, it also worries me. Due to my father's alcoholism, my parents split up when I was two. Effectively, I grew up without a father (he was distant for years and only made an effort to get involved a few years ago when I was a teenager). In school, I was bullied at various times. I also have another brother who is mentally handicapped and this was never easy for me to deal with.

My relationships have been problematic. I've had two. The first has been on and off for many years and it's been very nasty at times (I mentioned it before) and at the moment it's causing me a lot of pain. The other relationship I had was great. I was mad about the girl but, unfortunately, she died during our relationship. We were both 18 at the time and I haven't been in a relationship since, that was two years ago.

Basically, the only thing that gets me out of bed in the mornings is knowing that I have college to go to and that in three years time, I'll be able to leave Ireland and start anew somewhere else.

I guess my overall point is: does this sound like someone who is depressed and should I be getting help?

Sorry for hijacking the thread, I just badly needed to vent.

condra

Go for it man.
It's good that you recognise the need to get things off your chest. Sounds like you've had a rough time of things.

I hope things start going your way soon.

haligh

yep, I do. they tell me I'm either dysthymic or have double depressions - dysthymia (constant chronic blahness with less devastating but longer-lasting physical/mental symptoms) with periods of major/clinical depression.

gotta love it.

haligh

jtsuited wrote: »

If we could discuss depression in the same way we talk about cancer (as in without stigma), there would be a lot more people living happy lives as opposed to suffering quietly or worse being dead as they could no longer take such a torturous existence.

couldn't have said it better myself.

jtsuited

HalloweenJack wrote: »

I do have many problems at the moment. I've had no success getting a job for the summer, I've had a bit of trouble with my ex which has upset me greatly (and continues to), I'm bored until college starts again, I did have a repeat exam which stressed me out, I've fought with some of my friends over the summer and I feel lonely a lot of the time. Right now, I feel very vulnerable.

.

that was exactly the position I was in when I went through my first depressive episode. Still the worst thing that I ever experienced by a million bajillion miles.

Meathgirl

Yes I do! And its all new to me.... in a kinda scary place at the mo!

condra

Hey Meathgirl. Sorry to hear that. Have you just recently started experiencing symptoms? or have they been there before and you have just recently been diagnosed?

Hang in there anyway, and feel free to have a good moan here. It's healthy to get things off ones chest.

Take care.