How do you know if you're depressed - common symptoms?

[Breast Pump]

I'm talking about psychological depression.

I have bouts of sadness, guilt, and helplessness. Usually because I'm not doing my best in school/socially. They usually don't last long but what can i do to get over them quicker? I dislike feeling this way very much. Does anyone relate?

(Edited by Breast Pump at 7:50 am on Sep. 16, 2002)

[canikickit]

Big Time.
I don't really think there is any specific way to get over them. Not drugs that's for sure.
Just live your life day to day. Find something you enjoy doing and do it. Listen to music. Happy music. Reggae music. Reggae is the nicest music. Just listen to music that makes you happy.
Oh yeah. Most important, and it can be very hard; talk to someone about it. A friend, relative, perfect stranger, bum sitting on the street.....I dunno. But don't keep shit cooped up. And talking to cyberspace people like me doesn't count. Go to a comedy show. Take it easy. Do your best and do it slow. Yeah.

[suffianr]

Do something. It always help to be involved in other stuff to take your mind off your depression. DON'T start drinking or smoking pot or other self-destructive stuff.

Find a new hobby. Do stuff you've never done before. Rock climbing? Skiing? Don't like the outdoors? Then try finding a job somewhere. Just do something, otherwise you will start to sink into your depression, grow comfortable with it, welcome it every morning you wake up, and start to get very cynical about life. Don't ever try that. I've been there. Not a nice place to be.

So, what are you looking at? Go! Get off your arse and go do something new. :)

Good luck!

[hawarameen]

try a hobby such as stamp collecting or trainspotting thats it do that its wicked

all joking aside dont do any of the above it will make things worse and you may become suicidal.

chin up and keep yourself amused kid.

[Mazdak]

Why not buy a roach?

[ratm545]

i've found pot to be very helpful......

[I Bow 4 Che]

hahhahahahahah hahahhahahaha depression hahahaha HOLY SHIT! You have no idea....my life...hahhahahah...the doctors...the needles...the medication....the scars on my wrists....the lack of reasons....the large ammount of reasons.....the nights....the days....the tears.....the plastic smiles....the screams.....the laughs...depression....hahahhahahah Everyone fucking gets it...everyone can relate...some more seriously than others...I have to take medication for it...yet it doesnt help anymore...I really hope you get over it...find an escape...and remember to cry...cry till your fucking eyes bleed...then scream, scream at yourself and your need for self destruction...depression hahahahahaha

[Mazdak]

wow...... that was....... emotionally overloading. That really sucks.

[I Bow 4 Che]

what was...my rant...or his...who...wha...huh? green...die..me...away...go...sorry...bye-poof!

[boadicea88]

I don't cut myself, exactly, I scratch. I have a big scar on the side of my wrist where I scratched myself till I bled. Told my mom I burned myself. I scratch my upper arms too. That's why I never wear short-sleeved shirts. I don't take medication, I refuse to take meds. Nobody knows but me... I relate.

[MJM]

Take up a hobby like Aikido or volunteer at the local NPO that you agree with. Zen can be very fulfilling, it's like getting to know yourself as most people never do. Also consider getting psyche tested or apptitude tested, it's very libereating to find out the things you beat yourself up about are a natural part of who you are.

[Breast Pump]

thanks for all your replies :) and you're all right, i should get a life and keep myself busy!

will do!

[ArgueEverything]

You know you need medical help at the point when the things you normally enjoy are no longer enjoyable. That's what a psychologist who visited my school said.

I think i'm heading in that direction, though i've never attempted suicide.

[trash kitty]

theres a difference between being down and depressed, but both of them suck.

just surround yourself with the things you love, try new things.. but don't do drugs.. cos thats what i did and it screwed me up.

keep on keepin on bub.

[John Difool]

Quote: from trash kitty on 9:47 am on Sep. 18, 2002
but don't do drugs.. cos thats what i did and it screwed me up.


or, if your psy has prescribed some anti-depressants, don't take 6 times the dose with half a bottle of vodka... that was a strange and interesting experience, but I'm not sure I'm quite ready to do it again ... ;)
Definately, find a hobby that forces you to have contacts with people, and don't indulge in one that would sever you from the surrounding society .

[trash kitty]

nicely said john difool.

dude, i was quoted! yay for me.

i've never been on anti-depressants before, my docter said i shold try but i knew that i'd end up doing something stupid like you john.. id rather get that tingling feeling from a nine volt battery on my tounge :)

but i have to admitt.. drugs are stupid.. but i have so much fun when im on them. and its not like i go around thinking im oh so cool becasue i get stoned or pop pills. not at all. im not your typical sterotype for an addict. people think that im a rich snotty *****.. quite the oposite in fact.

peace and love.

[T H mjd]

dude totally relate, im in ur shoes,im not going to say why thou, but all you can do is do stuff that u want and dont let anyone tell u otherwise.
my depression comes n goes @ the moment im fine, but its like up and down

[elisabeth]

I had the same thing when I was in high school, because I was a quite bad pupil (except French, English and Latin), and I would say that the best medicine against it is talking. I unfortunately started driniking as well and I still have a stupid relationship with alcohol. So: talk talk talk !!!

[Goldfinger]

I once took a knife and cut "T H E R E S E" on my left arm. Cut it up big time. Then I found out it was all a dream, and thought I didn't have to do it again.

[Dhul Fiqar]

I've found that while alcohol and illict drugs don't really work to cure depression, they sure do make depression a whole lot more interesting :biggrin:

Seriously, though, your condition doesn't really sound like it's in a serious stage. As for signs, well when you start having panic attacks or unexplained feelings of unspeakable dread regularly, that is usually a bad sign. You would also probably be fairly lethargic, although this varies at times. You would often have a deep desire to end everything, whether it be by suicide or just wanting everything to stop in a more general way without going so far as to consider suicide.

In any case, I think anti-depressants and therapy can help a lot of people, but certainly not everyone.

--- G.

[Eastside Revolt]

Hey, has anyone ever taken the bullshit that psychiatrsts perscibe for you? I have seen shinks before and they always want me to take this or that. I never go through with it, mostly because I don't trust tham after all the ritalin they shoved down my throat as a child. I really wanna know that those drugs don't fuck with your head like stimulants do.

[Dhul Fiqar]

I've taken 'em, they're not at all interesting. Stuff like Prozac and other tricyclics basically make you more docile and apathetic. Sex drive often diminishes.

Diazepam is however fantastic with beer, it's basically valium, gets you high as a fuck if you take enough.

Ritalin I don't much like, unless I'm getting tired out drinking or something, but I can't imagine enjoying anything in life while being constantly on amphetamines. Must be really messed up...

--- G.

[Dhul Fiqar]

Oh, and tricyclics do seem to affect severe depression btw. They don't make you happy, but after a few weeks (it takes a long time to kick in) it sort of decreases the desperation or intensity of your feelings. Thus it's potentially useful for getting in a correct state of mind for therapy, but medicines are not therapy on it's own.

Personally I'm fucking sick of the shit, it reduces the effects of psychadelics among other things.

--- G.

[Eastside Revolt]

what was...my rant...or his...who...wha...huh? green...die..me...away...go...sorry...bye-poof!


I feel ya!!!!!! U have no idea how I feel ya!!!!!!

[Dhul Fiqar]

Sheise, I just noticed a bad baaaad typo, I meant to say SSRI's and NOT tricyclics.

DON'T take tricyclics, they're a lot more arcane and have more side-effects, I really hated them.

--- G.

[Eastside Revolt]

what kind of side effects do SSRI's have. do you live in the states.

[Dhul Fiqar]

The SSRI's are what I described before, they sort of dampen your feelings of depression. But they also sort of dampen your sex drive, and if you suddenly stop taking them you'll get dizzy and such, so you have to come off them slowly. Also they take a few weeks to start working.

I live in China actually, but I'm sure they work the same on other continents :biggrin:

--- G.

[Eastside Revolt]

Sounds like I'd rather hang myself. My sex drive is low enough as it is, and my stomach is near-enough vomiting as it is without an extra pill to take. I was just wondering about your country because it sounds like you would have had crazy medical bills.

[Dhul Fiqar]

They work very differently for different people, a female friend of mine gets horny as hell when she's on them, it's a weird case though.

Basically, you can't go wrong at least giving it a shot, but you need therapy to go along with it. The meds just help settle you down enough to be able to deal with things, they don't deal with them for you.

My medical bills are pretty high, but the Icelandic government and my parents handle them together...

--- G.

[Eastside Revolt]

I don't even know if I even trust those so called therapists.

[Dhul Fiqar]

It depends on the therapist in question, but many of them can indeed be trusted. Being let down by one is a really hard experience though...

--- G.

[Eastside Revolt]

Not so much let down as scammed.

[bill evans]

Re: depression. There is a useful site netdoctor.depression.co.uk with lots of info and a test-yourself which doctors often use. Some anti-depressants make you impotent. I had one (paroxitine)but you can change. My next one I could get and stay hard without any danger of coming. My girlfriend rather approved of that one. (fluoxitine) My present one is not supposed to have any such side-effects. Time will tell. You don't really notice the drugs, as such. Most people just feel more-or-less better for them. Who wouldn't take an aspirin if they had a toothache? I found they cooled me out without any effects on will or determination -- I made a few changes to my life, though the process is not yet complete.

[latin lefty]

I suggest you do something stimulating like play an instrument. I started learning guitar when i wasn't good and it definitely helped me. You also need to read some positive literature, one problem with me is that i would read political stuff that was negative and made me sad and angry.

[Dirty Jersey]

id say find a hobby your interested in and do that. also when im pissed or depressed i usually write stuff. i have notebooks full of rambling incoherent strings of thoughts. i always feel better after and if i ever need a laugh i read a couple pages and think "oh my god what the fuck was i thinking?"

[hazard]

psychological depression is just a tool of the capitalist pigs

depression was proven to effect the proletariates in the only way that matters to the capitalist pigs

production value

so, depression was called a mental illness and another facet of the bourgeois descended upon the hapless proles who now participate in the billion dollar anti depression industry

unfortunately, with gene therapy on the horizen, all working class individuals will be preconditined to be happy, content, toothless and best of all - productive