New Here - Ready to Help

By Jen Tuesday, September 20, 2011

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Your 20s and 30s are supposed to be an exciting time in your life, right? For me, the last decade has been confusing as I've dealt with depression off and on and only recently realized exactly what was happening to me.

I've joined HealthCentral to understand more about what I'm dealing with. I spent some time in an outpatient facility this summer after having suicidal thoughts. Before that, I had no idea there were so many factors that could contribute to depression. I just assumed my personality was simply "blah," but it's more complicated than that.

My goal here is to not only learn more about depression, but also to help those in their 20s and early 30s understand how depression impacts their life as they embark on new jobs, new relationships and learning their sense of self. For instance, I spent part of my 20s avoiding social settings because I was anxious and depressed. If I can help even one person avoid that same fate, I'll be thrilled.

Of course, depression knows no age limits and there is plenty of common ground to discuss ranging from the loneliness we can feel, medication, suicidal thoughts, etc.

Since my outpatient stint, I've had family and friends come to me saying they never realized how bad I felt. It was eye-opening for all of us. For my immediate family and husband, this has been an incredible strain on them and I'll definitely be writing about how family is impacted when someone they love has mental illness.

I hope we can all get happy together.
Jen

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Comments (6) | Add comment

Donna-1

9/20/11 2:21pm

This ought to be very helpful, Jen. I am 53 now, but I certainly struggled with depression in my 20's and 30's. If I could have known then what I have learned now, I think I could have stabilized and recovered more readily and quickly. And not been so ready to give up. Best wishes!

ATsai, Editor

9/20/11 3:17pm

Hi Jen,

Thanks for sharing your story, I know you will be inspiring to lots of people!

luff,

chopkins

9/20/11 4:56pm

I'm sure there are thousands of peeps out there who have/had symptoms of depression in their 20s and 30s, but like you, figured it was just their personality or the consequence of dealing with tough life changes. Trying to transition from college fantasyland to the "real world," trying to develop a career, trying to cultivate meaningful relationships... these are all hard enough without depression making things more confusing and difficult. Just by sharing your own experience, you are helping -- and I look forward to more!

Merely Me

9/20/11 5:27pm

Hello Jen and welcome

I am sure your contributions will be very appreciated by our members. Depression knows no age. Children, teens, young adults, middle agers and beyond can all be susceptible to a mood disorder. I have a feeling that despite age, many of our members will be able to relate to your journey.

Thank you for reaching out here. I am hoping you will find the support you need. And I am looking forward to hearing about your exepriences. Take a look around, read member shareposts, get to know the site. If you have any questions just give a holler.

Thanks so much for joining MyDepressionConnection.

Aubrey (aml0017)

9/21/11 4:56pm

Hi Jen! I just turned 30 and have dealt with depression and anxiety since my teens. I am having a hard time right now with the feeling that I just wasted a whole decade of my life that is supposed to be the fun part of life, when you are young and learning about yourself. I graduated high school and college and started new jobs etc. during this period but I was not happy for one minute of it. I have never had suicidal thoughts per se but I went through a hard time when I turned 30 cause all I could think of was "another 10 years of this and I will be 40! Another decade wasted and my life half over!" Now, I know this hasn't happened yet and I can still take control of my life but it really got me down.

I look forward to hearing your insights.

Jen

9/22/11 9:11am

aml0017,

Congrats on the big 3-0! I've battled too with feeling like I've 'wasted' a decade. I've tried not to let it overtake my thoughts otherwise I'll never get out of this.

I think one of the hardest things about being in our age group is the social experiences we might miss because we're depressed. For me, I spent a lot of times in mid-20s avoiding friends and parties because I was too anxious to leave the house, which left me depressed. In retrospect, I feel I missed some important formative times in my life.

The one positive thing I think is - in your 20s, there's a lot you don't know. Hopefully we can learn from those years and heal better in our 30s.

-Jen

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