Depression anyone?

245

Replies

  • vingogly
    vingogly Posts: 1,785 Member
    edited October 2016
    Your depression sounds like it's mostly situational. Medications are a fix for the symptoms, but don't address the whatever existential issues are feeding your depression. Often there are negative beliefs and self talk that contribute (for example, you commented "when I get close to someone I second guess everything") -- and a therapist who uses a cognitive behavioral approach can be a great help in dealing with depression. He/she can help you learn techniques for dealing with it when it rears its ugly head, responding to negative self talk and replacing destructive messages you're sending yourself with more realistic ones.

    You might find support resources that are helpful on David Burns' site (his "Feeling Good" is a self help classic for dealing with depression and anxiety):

    https://feelinggood.com
  • 888Butterfly888
    888Butterfly888 Posts: 3,203 Member
    I have depression too.
  • inkedShimewaza
    inkedShimewaza Posts: 536 Member
    LiftingLady5 wrote: »
    Wrong. Burnout and depression amongst social workers is a growing problem.

    Agreed. Also, the whole notion of "helping someone who has it worse" may be applicable if a person has situational depression. For chronic depression caused by brain chemistry, it is completely unrelated and does not have much if any impact. Chronic depression has nothing to do with "having it bad" or "thinking you have it bad".
    That is a misconception/stereotype that gets me insanely angry when I hear it.

  • 888Butterfly888
    888Butterfly888 Posts: 3,203 Member
    Yes, I have heard burnout and depression amongst social workers is a growing problem.
  • dldrucker
    dldrucker Posts: 90 Member
    I struggle with depression, attributable to both genetic and environmental factors. One of the things that always gets to me is how people who have never experienced clinic depression think they know what it is about. For me, there are some physical and cognitive factors. I find it hard to move, and I can't concentrate, and I find this more difficult than just being sad. I also crave carbs, which makes sense since carbs help produce serotonin. I find music helps a great deal and, to the extent possible, doing something that keeps my mind engaged. Oddly, I get more of a lift from interacting with people I don't know or don't know well - like ordering a coffee and sitting a few minutes at a coffee shop - than being with friends when I'm depressed. Perhaps the "acting as if" helps elevate my mood, even if I'm faking it.
  • llaurenmarie
    llaurenmarie Posts: 1,260 Member
    Manic Depression/Bipolar

    I'm really not good at managing it yet but I find I have much less "swinging" when I try to manage sugars and/or stick to fruit only. Any sugar alcohols or substitutes are not my friends /: It sucks but I am happy to find some relief and know that it does help, even if I slip and binge=can almost positively recognize what triggered it.

    When Halo Top was first introduced I was ecstatic that it was so "low cal", then a month later I couldn't understand why my moods were so unpredictable/bouts of hopeless and suicidal thoughts. As soon as I stopped eating it my emotions leveled out. Whether it's correlated or not... I am just way more aware now.
  • 888Butterfly888
    888Butterfly888 Posts: 3,203 Member
    For me therapy and medication help my depression.
  • 888Butterfly888
    888Butterfly888 Posts: 3,203 Member
    vingogly wrote: »
    888Butterfly888 wrote: »
    Yes, I have heard burnout and depression amongst social workers is a growing problem.

    It's called compassion fatigue, and it can affect anyone who works with victims of trauma:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compassion_fatigue

    Good to know.
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,841 Member
    llaurenmarie wrote: »
    Manic Depression/Bipolar

    I'm really not good at managing it yet but I find I have much less "swinging" when I try to manage sugars and/or stick to fruit only. Any sugar alcohols or substitutes are not my friends /: It sucks but I am happy to find some relief and know that it does help, even if I slip and binge=can almost positively recognize what triggered it.

    Same here. Moderate sugar and, unfortunately, caffeine too. Both cause issues for me. And again, exercise really helps me moderate things.

    Cheers.

  • PowerMan40
    PowerMan40 Posts: 766 Member
    sure Ill take a scoop or two more than I already have. thanks
  • indiecupcake89
    indiecupcake89 Posts: 26 Member

    Wrong. Burnout and depression amongst social workers is a growing problem. [/quote]

    Speaking as a licensed SW I will agree with this statement
  • ashlepersuasion
    ashlepersuasion Posts: 51 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    It comes on and off for me.. Started 18 years ago. It seems that anything can set me off and I wonder if I'm bipolar sometimes... It makes friendships really difficult because I've been so hurt before and worried that people won't like me once they get to know me... (I lost all my friends when it started). Even when I get close to someone I second guess everything.

    Can anyone relate? Losing weight hasn't changed anything.

    Hello :smile:

    I have Depression (MDD) too. I also struggle with GAD and EDNOS.
    Anti-anxiety medications and therapy have helped me a lot.
  • Evamutt
    Evamutt Posts: 2,310 Member
    now a days i get tempted to get depressed as i fight depressing thoughts alot, but I have the tools to overcome them now. In the past, growing up, i didn't know how to cope so i tried suicide a few times & had a horrible childhood & hard teenage years & hard young marriage but gave my life to God & over the years he has taught me how & what to do & helped me overcome my "ppl pleasing" , low self esteem & stinking thinking. I think mine is situational
  • MarkofSuccess
    MarkofSuccess Posts: 120 Member
    I understand about loosing everyone when the depression and bipolar behaviors began. It seemed to me then and now, being treated for MDD and Bipolar for 16 years, that just when I needed the people, they ran away.
    I'm not talking fly-by-night friends. I am talking family. People that I raised, supported and were raised with. They didn't want to empathize or help. they didn't have the time or compunction. they just dumped me like a pot of hot beans.
    But I am still strong. Growing more stable relationships, with people that I know to trust. They have stuck with me through the thick and thin. I got sober, sane and graduated gradschool at 51 yo. It has been a journey. I still struggle, but everyone does at some level.
    Now is the time to get my physical self back. I used to be built like a rock. Now it is just rock candy. But even that is a process.
    Life it a marathon, not a sprint. Given time, it will get better.

    BTW: yes it is an disease. Mental illness is just like diabetes, not enough of the right chemicals where they need to be, when they need to be.
    Of course there is a genetic part and an environmental We can't change whom our parents were. So, we are affected by the environment and life events that can trigger the disease. The sign of true depression is when life events improve, but you don't.
    So, medication and behavioral counseling have given me a chance at a GOOD life.
    I hope that I don't get stupid enough to think that I am cured. Then I would be truly *kitten*.

    Best wishes everyone.
    please contact me if you want a friend. I am always around here somewhere.
    love,
    Mark
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
    MarkofSuccess wrote: »
    I understand about loosing everyone when the depression and bipolar behaviors began. It seemed to me then and now, being treated for MDD and Bipolar for 16 years, that just when I needed the people, they ran away.
    I'm not talking fly-by-night friends. I am talking family. People that I raised, supported and were raised with. They didn't want to empathize or help. they didn't have the time or compunction. they just dumped me like a pot of hot beans.
    But I am still strong. Growing more stable relationships, with people that I know to trust. They have stuck with me through the thick and thin. I got sober, sane and graduated gradschool at 51 yo. It has been a journey. I still struggle, but everyone does at some level.
    Now is the time to get my physical self back. I used to be built like a rock. Now it is just rock candy. But even that is a process.
    Life it a marathon, not a sprint. Given time, it will get better.

    BTW: yes it is an disease. Mental illness is just like diabetes, not enough of the right chemicals where they need to be, when they need to be.
    Of course there is a genetic part and an environmental We can't change whom our parents were. So, we are affected by the environment and life events that can trigger the disease. The sign of true depression is when life events improve, but you don't.
    So, medication and behavioral counseling have given me a chance at a GOOD life.
    I hope that I don't get stupid enough to think that I am cured. Then I would be truly *kitten*.

    Best wishes everyone.
    please contact me if you want a friend. I am always around here somewhere.
    love,
    Mark

    I always think I'm going better and bam, it starts again.

    Having friends has helped for a bit, but I get disappointed when we can't hang out too now. And even when we hang out, obviously it doesn't last forever, so it's just a small relief... You go back to your life after. In a way... it was much easier for me when I didn't have friends. That's possibly the depression talking... but when you don't have any expectations, it's easier not to be disappointed.

    I think it's probably always been my main issue - I rely on others too much to find my happiness. Maybe because I feel that I don't have that person who's always here for me anymore (I'm married but it hasn't been great at all in the last couple years, like we're not on the same page, and my new friendships are still new and they have their own issues too). I had that until I turned 19 and it's when everything started to go sour. It probably doesn't help that I never got any support from my parents either... I totally sympathize with that.

    I guess I can never shake the feeling that people are going to get sick of me too.
  • ratherbeskiing
    ratherbeskiing Posts: 847 Member
    therapy, gym, writing in a journal, and being honest with people when I feel low tends to work for me.

    As far as medications, I did not want to be on a harsh med with bad side effects which I found when I was placed on medications. I talked to my doc she said try 5 - HTP which I find at my local Hannaford in the natural place. It works for me.

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