Working past depression

Find someone competent to talk to (not Primo). My Dad dealt with depression most of his adult life. It was tough on the family, but Mom was great at listening.

Whatever you do, now is NOT a time to make major life decisions.

 

With deep depression, there may be nothing that makes you smile, or happy.
The thing about depression, is that it's kinda different for everyone......I'm not very quick to jump on the meds bandwagon, but for some it's necassary.....for others, not.
Many times meds lead people to a dark place as well, as with anything, doctors just throw the pre/I]-prescribed meds at patients. With that said, help is in order....a counselor at the very least.....I sincerely hope things take a turn for you. And while I agree that eating healthy & excersising is good, & can help some people....I disagree with anyone taking a holistic approach to depression.

 

seek help. went through this myself. self medicated for awhile,doctor medicated for awhile but my answer was to change my whole situation. as somebody who went through it avoid neg people at all cost. wish you luck. hang in there.

 

There's not much helpful advice that you're going to get, without us (or YOU) knowing why you're depressed. Reasons include: chemical depression, severe anxiety disorder, attention deficit disorder, illness, personal circumstances/life, tragedy (physical and/or emotional), prescription side effects, substance abuse, etc...

It's a pretty wide array of causes, and everyone here is just guessing if they're giving you specific advice beyond "go get professional help."

I had severe depression in my early 20's. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) medicine didn't work, and I had a very difficult time finding a shrink. After years laying on my own couch watching reruns of sitcoms on VHS because I was too poor to afford cable and my tv had no antennae, I got invited by a friend to play pick up soccer at the community center one Tuesday night. I had a great time, and found myself desperately looking forward to the next session on Thursday night. I bought a new pair of soccer shoes, and it became something that I looked forward to doing every Tuesday and Thursday.

Then I joined my band, and that was something I looked forward to doing as well. I put on several hobbies;
- snowboarding
- motorcycles
- actual tackle football (with pads and helmets, played it for the first time ever at age 26!)
- coaching softball and soccer at the local high school
- painting
- bowling
- shooting guns
- trivia night at one of the local bars
- others....

Another key for me was working out. I don't do it so much anymore, but when I was depressed, it really helped me feel better about myself.

My suggestion would be to #1 find a professional to help you IMMEDIATELY! #2, if you don't already workout, start! #3 Pick up a hobby that you've been thinking would be fun. It will give you something stimulating and new in your life that you can focus on, which will draw your focus AWAY from your depression. It's not the answer, but it helps get you past the tough times.

 

Start with the exercise, diet and nutrition. That helps most people. Supplements like St. Johns Wort help some people and it can be found in pill form at all of the greenie bunny hugger grocery stores. I have also read that the yoga / meditation route works for some people.
If none of that seems to work go to your doctor. I have seen people totally transformed by taking a pill a day.

 

Who diagnosed you with major depression ? Do you have depressive people in your family ? Did you have concussions in the past ? Did you use recreationnal drugs ? (you don't need to answer here)

Major depression is a serious condition and requires professionnal help, both medical and psychological. Don't mess around and treat this properly right now. Your doctor and therapist will give you your options (pills and/or therapy) and if you handle this, you have excellent chances of success. Best advice I can give you : don't lose your time asking for advice on an internet forum, deal with pros only (and I'm not talking pro racers lol)

p.s. Primo : go eff yourself

 

This is a great book that covers it all, along with a regime that works wonders for most people with mild-mod depression.


http://www.amazon.com/Depression-Cure-6-Step-Program-without/dp/0738213888/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328280232&sr=8-1

 

Please let us know how you are doing!

 

You could always spend some time working on that bad ass U-haul to toy hauler conversion. Anything I do that involves being at the track always puts a smile on my face.

I know it's just a band aid in the overall scheme of things, but anything you can do to keep moving in the right direction helps.

 

^ Well said!

Depression can suk the life right out of you. You lose interest in things you LOVE to do. That suks!! Like others have said.... trying talking with a professional, and try to stay active as best you can (exercise). Doesn't mean this will end it, and if not you may have to take anti-depressants. Nothing is 100% gonna make it go away. You just have to try different ways of treatment.

Only those that have been, or are going throught it can really understand how it effects on one's life.

 

I'll leave off the "die yourself", but yes to the other.

Even if he was playing..... this is just wrong. If a crowd of folks were around discussing this, and someone said this (even just in playing around).... I'd go off on the poor sucker.

 

get someone to talk to, a therapist, a priest, or preacher, etc...

i have learned to manage mine. it is/has not been easy.
i do not like taking the prescription drugs. they get in the way when i want to ride. it seems i have a low tolerance... be careful if you self medicate, it can easily spiral out of control.
i have to stay busy, someone posted a great list of things. most of the stuff i do revolve around riding and racing.
dont hide form your friends. even if seems like you have to. force yourself to have fun.
and finally, dont waste the good days.

feel free to pm me if you want to dicsuss anything. sometimes it is easier to talk to strangers.

 

Been there (and still am)

That is A solution, I guess.

As someone who has been in that dark place - - I know what that feels like and it ain't good. Like another previous post, I finally got 'tired' of it and made some life changes that helped. I hope I never see that place again.

I'm pretty sure I suffer from clinical depression - at least I have the symptoms. I don't want to go the med route though. Things that help get me out of the funk:

1) Busy hands keep the demons away. Try to stay busy doing something you like... riding, racing, working on bikes, working in the garden, whatever. It helps to keep your mind busy.
2) Try to develop a routine and then stick with it. When I don't get the things done that I wanted to, because I wasted a day doing nothing (funk mode), I get mad at myself, thus making the funk thicker.
3) Exercise is a good thing.
4) Get out of the house and interact with friends - alone time is not good sometimes.

Some of the other ideas posted are good. Like one said, perception is reality and a positive mental attitude goes a long way. Good luck.

 

primo, this is serious business. either shut up, listen and learn, or go away.

 

What I think you're seeing is it's more common than you'd suspect and the reaction (one asshat aside) is almost universally, "we want to help".

I hope that alone helps.

 

I'm a Type 1 Diabetic (22 years now), and have been dealing with depression for about 10 years now. When it started, there was nothing sad/bad going on in my life, it was all going good actually. I was a year into an exciting relationship with a girl that I loved like none I'd ever have. Ultimately.... being depressed, and not doing enough to manage it, ended up costing us our relationship, as I had just shut down. It took me years to realize that. A few years after feeling like utter $hit I saw a doctor, and went from there. Ended up finding that depression is common in Diabetics after "X" amount of years, and I now realize that the unknown stress of managing it (or unmanaging it) for ALL the years had taken a toll on me. Still does to this day. Make no doubt about it..... depression is a BITCH! I'm still dealing with it, although unmedicated at this time. I HATE having to take meds, but occasionally do when/if I get into a deeper depression.

Props to O.P. for posting up for help. I've rarely talked about mine.

 

This...

 

buzz aldrin, yes that buzz aldrin, wrote a book that describes his battle with depression: Magnificent Desolation

this helped me a bit as i was gob smacked that a guy that walked on the moon could suffer from it.