Six Signs You May Be Depressed

This is to Deborah Gray regarding the signs of depression.  I recognize my depression but just don't know what to do about it short of medicating....

I was glad to see your own personal list on this site. It mirror's my own list as well. I too have been struggling with depression since childhood. Thank you so much!

Thank you for your personal symptoms list. I can idenitfy with it myself. I thought you might enjoy some of my helpful suggestions for staying on the good side of the depression battle:

 

1. Yoga/ Mediation- a combination class has worked best for me.

2. Meditation- can't practice enough!!

Medication is what conquered my depression, along with some therapy. If you do not want to take medication, it's still worthwhile to see a doctor to rule out any underlying medical conditions that might be causing it, and perhaps start therapy.

How do you know is being depressed is a chemical inbalance in your brain versus just having a legitimately unhappy life and feeling sad and worthless?  I'm taking Cymbalta and I still feel depressed so I think I have reasons to be depressed other than chemistry.

Your depression could conceivably be a reaction to things not going well in your life. However, if you are feeling sad and worthless, that definitely sounds like depression talking. I would suggest that you consider therapy and tell your doctor that the Cymbalta isn't working. You may just need to try another antidepressant. Unfortunately, it can take a little experimentation to find out which one works for you.

I completely agree with you about the yoga, and in fact wrote about it in one of my earliest blog pieces: http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/18/1422/upward-facing-dog/

I think it can be a real lifesaver.

Thank you for your post.  Like some of the others, I have suffered from depression since childhood and could only identify it in retrospect once I started to feel better. 

 

Initially, I fought against the doctor's diagnosis of depression, thinking my problems were "stress".  That is, until I started crying one day and couldn`t stop. 

 

Even today, my first sign that my depression is getting the better of me is overwhelming job stress.  This is accompanied by feelings of <almost> paranoia.  As mentioned in the initial list, not only is everyone "irritating", but it feels like they they are acting the way they do just to p___ me off! I start thinking that the only way to solve my work problems is to quit and walk away.  This leads to thinking that the only way to deal with my life problems is to "quit" my life. 

 

Unfortunately, depression's progression is insidious.  It doesn`t register with me until I`ve created problems with myself at work, and problems with my relationships at home.  The comment about being self-centred resonates with me.  But I am so blind to what is going on inside myself, that I look to my environment to try to interpret why I am so unhappy....

 

I`m having terrible problems with depression now, struggling with panic attacks and acting out at work...  I`ve been taking Effexor for years, and haven`t had any success with adding other drugs in combination.  Not sure what I`m going to do this time.  Yoga has helped in the past... it`s a good suggestion. 

 

Anyway, thanks for the post...

 

Even though I am definately depressed and often feel like the normal symptoms resonate strongly with me I still end up seriously questioning whether I'm depressed when I'm feeling a bit better. I would feel as if I were just being overdramatic and greedy, simply messing up my own life out of laziness or anything else but depression. Nevertheless I'm definately depressed.

The point is that the surest sign that you are depressed is if you spend a prolonged period of time wondering if you are depressed. If it has come up on your mind repeatedly, there is definately soemthing wrong.

I was surprised to see your list. It matches my list of signs that I am not doing well.

The last entry, music, is the one I know is an indicator for me. When I am depressed I cannot bear to listen to music. When I am feeling well I listen to all varieties of music and enjoy them.

I mentioned this a few years ago in a group setting and a majority of the participants agreed. It is an interesting feature of some people's depression.

I can relate to some of your experiences with depression. Unfortunately I was not diagnosed with depression until a few years ago, although it has been with me since I was a teen. I am 56 now.
Years of fighting it and years of stress brought me to a point where I was faced with the life or death decision. I got treatment, both group and individual sessions, and medication. Over the last two years I have been able to reduce the Effexor XR from 300 mg to a maintenance dose of 75 mg.
 
I lost my family and my business because of depression, but I have been rebuilding and starting over and life is improving. Its a challenge some days.

I really enjoy your site and the information you provide. Thanks for that.

Thank you Deborah for your answer to my question.  I will talk to my doctor about changing my prescription.  I think you may be right.

Deborah,

Thank you for your wonderful share posts. You give information and knowledge and help that only a depression suffer could give. Your posts help by giving me hope and the knowledge that someone understands. This helps to counter the lack of understanding among those medical professionals who have not had depression, as well as the general public. One who has not experienced it as you have, can never have more than a partial and limited understanding. Unfortunately, this is the nature of humans.

Thank you again!!!

Mike

You have some great points here and some comments have some great suggestions too.  I for one do not take any medication for my depression.  The reason I am depressed is I get bullied daily at school, and I have talked to the school nurse and she doens't really know what to do.  I am quite a smart kid, and only being 16, I really would like some help on getting back to my old wonderful life.  I get bullied because I am smart and I like to learn, where as the other kids in my class think I am a nerd, and only make fun of me for it.  I dread going to school most days, and only hope that the bullies will not be at school or they will leave me alone.  The headmaster at my school doesn't seem to understand my situation, nor does anyone else, besides my father who was bullied in high school.  Do you have any suggestions that would help me?

 

Thanks

Christopher