Hang in there, I still battle with it also. The good Lord, exercise and a little L-Tryptophan keep me sane.
Hang in there, I still battle with it also. The good Lord, exercise and a little L-Tryptophan keep me sane.
Please pity those ignoramuses who say that your depression is your fault. I've known some great people who have struggled with depression and I salute your efforts to make the best of your life even though you sometimes feel like giving up. Please continue to hang in there and know that your family and friends love you, even if some are ignorant about depression. Hopefully this scientific breakthrough will result in a cure.
Regards,
demkicker
God bless you for hanging in there. My dad killed himself and all the pain he felt was multiplied and laid on everyone who loved him, four generations, from his grandparents to his children.
It is a solace to me that I can carry the burden of depression with God's help and the damage done by my father's death will stop in me and not harm another generation.
And may God send you better days, also.
Mrs VS
Perhaps you find depression getting worse with passing years and pleasant days coming more and more rarely. Perhaps you are difficult for others. Perhaps you have become stoic and self restrained because of impulsiveness, excitability, and unwillingness to lash out at others.
Speaking from experience.
Bipolar. Lamatrogine and carbamazepine can work wonders when added to depression treatment. This business is metabolic, like diabetes or epilepsy. Think a seizure of the emotions. Think of a life more than just duty and survival.
Have you told your doctor about this? If not, you should. My doctor saved my life, my marriage, and my family by helping me with my depression.
Get the drugs. They won't make you perfect, but they'll take the doom out of the equation. That's often good enough.
Count your blessings that you've got a wife and kids. I haven't been able to get that.
I know what you mean about not being a quitter. It actually was a huge breakthrough when I decided only the Lord would decide how long I live, and stopped toying with the idea of suicide.
God bless you.
The problem that you have to deal with is the massive number of people who hide behind diagnoses of "depression" when in fact they are the problem.
So it looks like doggone near everyone has a pathology that gets used in place of personal responsibility. THat ends up muddying the waters to where people view a claim of "clinical depression" with deep cynicism and skepticism. I mean, DU has entire threads devoted to the drugs they take (ignoring their other threads about Evil Rx Companies).
People should know that cases like yours are examples of brain chemistry problems, like so many other illnesses. But as long as lazy or agenda-driven doctors keep writing off all behavioural problems as being medical, depression and similar types of diseases will be viewed with suspicion.
But, for what it is worth, I know it isn't your fault.
i'm not a psychiatrist (nor a medical doctor), but you might consider seeing one and trying an anti-depressant.
there are also non-drug therapies (e.g., cognitive therapy) that could possibly help, particularly if used in combination with an anti-depressant.
however, if you see a psychiatrist, just be sure he/she rules out bipolar disorder before you take an anti-depressant, because these meds can trigger manic episodes in (undiagnosed) bipolar people.
I completely understand what you mean. Depression is something I have been dealing with for most of my life and I've heard it all: "snap out of it", pull yourself up by your bootstraps", "stop feeling sorry for yourself", "think positive", .....
Most everyone gets depressed at some point in their lives due to an event like losing a loved one or some kind of crisis. There is a difference between something that occurs that causes a person to become depressed and having a depressive illness that has no apparent cause.
Depression that is brought on by circumstances, usually can be overcome by going through the grieving process and time. On the other hand, Major clinical depression is an illness and although it can be treated, in some cases it is a life time illness.
In my case, it comes and goes, is unpredictable and is not related to circumstances or events. I have experienced times when I thought my depression was gone for good and suddenly find myself back in the dark hole again.
The Lord says to be of good cheer, that he has overcome the world.
I have a terminal disease for which there is no cure. I get up every morning and thank God for the day, and pray that I won't sqaunder the opportunities He gives me.
And I am almost NEVER depressed.
People who have never suffered from depression don't often understand how the condition is worse than chronic pain. Thanks for your posting.
I have a former friend (an x-ray technician) who told me my son's asthma was caused by his emotions.
The same friend worked at a state hospital which had a psychiatric ward on a different floor. The patients from the psychiatric ward traveled between floors to grow vegetables in a solarium located in the radiation wing. One of the x-ray technicians thought it was funny to sneakily remove some of the nearly-ripe tomatoes from the vines and then watch the confusion among the psychiatric patients when they arrived to harvest the tomatoes and found they weren't there. My former friend thought it was funny to watch, too.