Depression

[leon11]

Ive always been a sensitive or emotional kinda guy, but I suffer from pretty severe waves of depression that make my system just, shut down. I dont want to talk to anyone for a while but feel as though I need help off people when Im like this, although there's nothing anyone else can really do. sometimes i feel like im gonna cry at adverts and stuff. Ive never taken anti-depressants and dont want to start. But it seems like a chemical imbalance to me.
Ive just recovered from a bad case of flu and feel a bit drained... dont know if thats why its been worse this week.
I drink plenty of water, my diet is better than many others (although I need to improve it), and I get at least some exercise every day. Any ideas?
Maybe as an artist its in my genes and im supposed to use it =? or maybe not.
Yes the world is an unnatural environment but surely we can find true happiness still...?

edit: music helps

[machine]

Ive always been a sensitive or emotional kinda guy, but I suffer from pretty severe waves of depression that make my system just, shut down. I dont want to talk to anyone for a while but feel as though I need help off people when Im like this, although there's nothing anyone else can really do. sometimes i feel like im gonna cry at adverts and stuff. Ive never taken anti-depressants and dont want to start. But it seems like a chemical imbalance to me.
Ive just recovered from a bad case of flu and feel a bit drained... dont know if thats why its been worse this week.
I drink plenty of water, my diet is better than many others (although I need to improve it), and I get at least some exercise every day. Any ideas?
Maybe as an artist its in my genes and im supposed to use it =? or maybe not.
Yes the world is an unnatural environment but surely we can find true happiness still...?

edit: music helps

I never knew our careers were part of our genes. Go see your Doctor. You may have a chemical imbalance, and that could just be the way it is. I take anti depressants and I have no issue with it - they keep me on an even keel and I still have a wide range of emotions, just no big downers, which is nice.

[jewellerymaker]

Ive always been a sensitive or emotional kinda guy, but I suffer from pretty severe waves of depression that make my system just, shut down. I dont want to talk to anyone for a while but feel as though I need help off people when Im like this, although there's nothing anyone else can really do. sometimes i feel like im gonna cry at adverts and stuff. Ive never taken anti-depressants and dont want to start. But it seems like a chemical imbalance to me.
Ive just recovered from a bad case of flu and feel a bit drained... dont know if thats why its been worse this week.
I drink plenty of water, my diet is better than many others (although I need to improve it), and I get at least some exercise every day. Any ideas?
Maybe as an artist its in my genes and im supposed to use it =? or maybe not.
Yes the world is an unnatural environment but surely we can find true happiness still...?

edit: music helps

Hello. Sorry you're feeling this way. I know exactly how you feel, I've been depressed for years and take medication. I've been feeling suicidal a lot lately. Today, I came across some information relating to starseeds, which you might find a little hokey, but their ebook on depression really made me feel good. I hope you have some time to take a little look, I think it makes some good points and is quite positive.

I hope you find some comfort in this document, and know that I'm thinking of you.
xxx
http://www.spiritwatch.com/I_Dont_Want_To_Be_Here.pdf

[infinategood]

Ive always been a sensitive or emotional kinda guy, but I suffer from pretty severe waves of depression that make my system just, shut down. I dont want to talk to anyone for a while but feel as though I need help off people when Im like this, although there's nothing anyone else can really do. sometimes i feel like im gonna cry at adverts and stuff. Ive never taken anti-depressants and dont want to start. But it seems like a chemical imbalance to me.
Ive just recovered from a bad case of flu and feel a bit drained... dont know if thats why its been worse this week.
I drink plenty of water, my diet is better than many others (although I need to improve it), and I get at least some exercise every day. Any ideas?
Maybe as an artist its in my genes and im supposed to use it =? or maybe not.
Yes the world is an unnatural environment but surely we can find true happiness still...?

edit: music helps

The world is a messed up place. If you are depressed that just means you are actually paying attention.

Suicide is a very bad answer and please please get help and talk to someone if you truly feel like you are on the verge. It doesn't solve a thing. The planet needs caring, artistic, thoughtful people like you here! Please stick around!

[killuminati]

try 5 htp. this stuff is amazing, its a natural anti depressant.


also magnesium oil, high strength omega 3, b complex.

this should really lift your mood. I personally think depression is caused by an imbalance.



also consider these as well

exercise
yoga
qigong

[soleil]

If you use porn, cut it out quickly.

[lesleypumpshaft]

try 5 htp. this stuff is amazing, its a natural anti depressant.


also magnesium oil, high strength omega 3, b complex.

this should really lift your mood. I personally think depression is caused by an imbalance.



also consider these as well

exercise
yoga
qigong

Omega 3 is really good, a healthy diet in general is. Like you say 5htp is really good for depression :)

Also, this time of year can really bring people down due to SAD. Also, it is totally normal to feel down or depressed after being ill.

I find Yoga is really helpful and if that is too girly, qigong is a good alternative.

[eternal_spirit]

Stay away from the government drugs.

Exercise if you have countryside walk to the highest local point (hill tops) sometimes it can help - I have sat & cried on top of the hill.



Get some sun on your face air in your lungs.
If you can find a quite spot take your sketch pads draw some natural things trees etc. or whatever is in your mind.

Walk the dog or a neighbours if you dont own one. Bicycles can help. Get a guitar.

Find something to watch comedy or something of interest (Idiot abroad) is funny & educational. Best show for years.

At times these things have helped me.

[zenith82]

Stay away from the government drugs.

Exercise if you have countryside walk to the highest local point (hill tops) sometimes it can help - I have sat & cried on top of the hill.



Get some sun on your face air in your lungs.
If you can find a quite spot take your sketch pads draw some natural things trees etc. or whatever is in your mind.

Walk the dog or a neighbours if you dont own one. Bicycles can help. Get a guitar.

Find something to watch comedy or something of interest (Idiot abroad) is funny & educational. Best show for years.

At times these things have helped me.

+1

Manic depression runs in my family,but i've never touched an anti-depressant in my life. Please don't go down that route OP, nothing wrong with being a bit sensitive, crying at adverts is more likely to be caused by compassion than depression and you don't want to lose that. You've mentioned music helps, so you obviously respnd to uplifting stimuli so try and have things at hand that can lift you, and avoid things that pull you down.

An artist that's never known suffering.....is not an artist :)

[alexmcph]

You should try any crystal with Lithium in it eg. lithium quartz or lepidolite. Burn some incense, sit and relax with the crystal in your hand.

People will scoff or whatever but what have you got to lose? Try for yourself and decide for yourself. This helps me whenever I get sucked back down into the craphole of depression. Warning though, you may become addicted to buying crystals :D

Also some sun every day helps. I usually get an hour in the morning and just sit there breathing deep and absorbing it. Then you feel you have this energy for the rest of the day and it feels good man. A nature perk up from the source of life, that most forget. Good luck .

[211200]

DEALING WITH DEPRESSION

Foreword by Pat Davies

On reading Ann Pyke’s account of depression, I am certain that people will feel a oneness with some of the frustrations which I sense come with the misapprehensions of other people.
I have myself experienced depression and suffered the views of fundamentalist Christians; some Christians (and non-Christians) are open to other people’s views but unfortunately some are not.
I am a member of the United Reformed Church (URC). The URC is an ecumenical church which encompasses all theologies and beliefs. With the exception of the more extreme religious beliefs, the URC will accept any theology, but always promotes the freedom to think and to explore ideas.
The point I am making in connecting religious attitudes to depression and suicide is one which I feel impelled to voice.
I have heard it said that many people believe there is a heaven and there is a hell, and that sinful people go to hell. I have also heard it said, and I suppose some people really do believe, that a person who commits suicide does not enter God’s Kingdom; that their death is so ghastly and so far away from God’s will that He rejects and even ‘hates’ a suicide. That belief is so primitive and so ‘un-Christian’ in my opinion that I cannot adopt it.
Nowhere in the Gospels can I find anything to suggest that a hurting or ill person isn’t enfolded in the love of God. Quite the opposite - Jesus healed the sick and gave comfort to those in need. The God that I know is a God of compassion, of love, of healing and forgiveness.
The brutal crowd that bellowed ridicule and scorn at the crucified Christ were foul and sinful, but God forgave them because Jesus prayed for their forgiveness. Even at the point of death, Jesus, suffering the most terrible and heinous of injustices, prayed ‘Father forgive them’; He prayed for the people who were doing this to him.
I am unable to believe that a God so forgiving and so at one with all people, even the most evil of sinners, isn’t there with comfort for a person full of hurt and despair. God does not leave a person who is driven to suicide – God’s Kingdom is a place in which all tears are wiped away and healing is complete. The love of God surrounds the depressed and the suicidal because God is a god of love; a god who comforts the sick and hurts along with the hurting.
If we use the definition of hell as being a complete separation from God, a place where there is no goodness or happiness and all things good and Godly are absent, then depression isn’t hell. It isn’t hell because God IS there.
Depression isn’t a sin. It is an illness.

Pat Davies


DEALING WITH DEPRESSION

By Ann Pyke

This publication has been prepared to help those who come into contact with people with mental health problems caused by depression, to recognise the symptoms and to learn how to respond to the sufferer in the most helpful way.
What is depression?
Depression is a term used by many non-sufferers to describe low mood, bad mood, being fed up, feeling sad, unhappy and so on.
People who do not suffer the clinical illness use the word quite legitimately, and therefore in our society the real meaning has become confused and undefined.
People suffering the mental illness known as depression will either have been to their doctor or a consultant and received a proper diagnosis, or they may not have visited their doctor and no formal diagnosis has been made. However, a lack of a diagnosis does not mean a person is not depressed.
Definition
Even though I have suffered depression so badly that on the first occasion I could have died of the physical symptoms because they were so severe – I did take an overdose and tried to kill myself – I am nevertheless at a loss to be able to explain fully what it is.
My experience was a feeling so intense which, if you have never been clinically depressed, you cannot possibly comprehend. It was despair so desperate that life itself was intensely painful and nothing, not even sleep, allowed any escape from that pain.
My brain went haywire; I didn’t sleep for four whole nights and stopped functioning as a human being. I ground to a halt.
It wasn’t sadness; sadness is about something and this wasn’t about anything specific. It wasn’t unhappiness; I had no reason to be unhappy. It wasn’t grief; I wasn’t grieving for anything or anybody.
This wasn’t a feeling of being fed up – this was an onslaught so severe and relentless that I thrashed about every moment of every day in a pain so inescapable that I just needed to die.
Notice I said NEEDED to die rather than WANTED to die. I needed to escape from the pain, but it stuck to me like a limpet.
I had no appetite and lost two-and-a-half stone in bodyweight in what seemed like an instant. I had a knot in my stomach that made me feel sick. I could only sleep with hypnotic drugs, and even then the depression followed me into sleep so it gave no solace.
To put the definition of depression on paper I can only write two words:

ABSOLUTE TORTURE.

Somebody once told me that they understood depression and knew what it was like. I asked them to draw me a picture of an orgasm.
Unless you have been there, you don’t know!
Suicide
Suicidal thoughts ran through my mind at every moment, but at the same time I didn’t want to die. I did want to get better. I needed relief, but because the condition was so tenacious and relentless I could see no end to this. Then, just at the time when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, it did.
It was a bottomless pit that just went down and down and down. The pit was black, and became blacker and blacker and blacker. There was no way up. Nobody understood. Nobody helped. People didn’t want to know. Life just carried on around me and people carried on as usual. I was left behind in this pit, crying, whimpering, losing weight and fearing sleep in case I didn’t wake up again. Then hoping that I wouldn’t wake up again.
My mind was so active it whirred around in an endless carousel of thoughts and feelings that were never nice ones, and wouldn’t switch off. There was no rest and no escape.
You cannot control depression when it becomes that extreme – it controls you!
I didn’t want to die, but I had to escape. It seemed the only relief possible was death. It was the only cure.
Beware and be warned!
NEVER assume that a person who tried to kill him or herself but has failed has just staged a cry for help. My suicide attempt failed because I didn’t do it properly, not because I didn’t mean it.
This is what happened:
I have a logical and technical mind, and decided that an overdose of paracetamol would be the method I would use. I discovered that I wasn’t THAT clever because two things happened which I hadn’t considered.
Firstly, it took a long time to reconcile myself to the fact that I would commit suicide – a long time because I didn’t really want to die. Then, after making the decision to go through with it, I looked up the fatal dose of paracetamol in the British Pharmacopoeia. I knew that if I didn’t die within a short time, my liver would be so damaged that I would die of liver failure within days anyway.
I sat on the sofa in my living room one evening while my husband was still at work, and took the fatal dose. It was a difficult job making myself do it, but I forced them down. Then I sat there and waited to lose consciousness.
I didn’t lose consciousness, but instead, within a minute of taking the pills, something quite unexpected happened. I panicked!
A panic mechanism took control and I was suddenly terrified of what I had done. I panicked so badly that I had to sort this out. I telephoned a friend and told him; he came to my house and took me to the casualty department at a local hospital where my stomach was emptied of the poison.
Physically I felt terrible – an overdose of paracetamol makes you feel ghastly. I was sweaty, shaky and nauseous. I couldn’t lie still. I was given charcoal to drink, which made me sick and brought more the poison up with it – lovely!
My blood was tested to see if I had liver damage – I didn’t!
I went home feeling as depressed as ever, but there was one positive result: I wouldn’t try to kill myself again.
Taking those pills was difficult enough, but after I took them, boy did I panic! I have no idea why I panicked like that or if it is common. Perhaps it happened because I didn’t really want to die. Who knows?
NEVER call a suicide attempt a cry for help and dismiss it as if it is the acting up of an attention-seeking brat. Take it seriously!
It might be attention seeking, it might not. But whatever the cause, it is dangerous and might work; and whatever it is, it happens because the person is in emotional pain and needs help. The person needs support and care – and if they want attention, then give them attention, because giving a depressed person what they want can lift them out of their state.
However, do be careful of overindulging a depressed person. You must put clear boundaries around any attention you give them.
Reaction to loss
Loss can cause depression. When I studied psychology, depression was part of the course.
I was taught that there are two types of depression: clinical and reactive. Clinical depression is caused by definable physical causes, while reactive depression is caused by loss.
What had I lost which caused such a severe condition? I had never grieved when my parents died, so there had been two major losses festering inside me for years.
My parents died within eight months of each other. My mother died at the end of November 1985 of cancer after suffering the illness for 13 months. My father died eight months later – nobody knew he also had cancer, but he presented symptoms just a couple of months after mum died – then he died too.
At the time my mother died, the Southend (Essex) Cancer Unit was under threat of closure and was going to be moved. Mum had endured such a terrible time getting to and from the hospital for treatment, that it added badly to her difficulties. Dad was a local counsellor and was fearless and outspoken – he was a socialist and everybody knew it.
I remember sitting in the back of the hearse after mum’s funeral. Dad was in front and he made a decision: “We’re going to save that cancer unit,” he said. “I will rally supporters and it won’t be party political – we’re just going to do it!”
For the next eight months he ran a campaign with the local council and other parties, and formed an action group to save Southend Cancer Unit. He then became ill himself but ran the campaign from his hospital bed. Before he went into hospital I helped him. I delivered leaflets and I drove him around in a convoy of campaigners. I set up a PA system on the car via which he would shout at passers-by: “Save Southend Cancer Unit”, and “National Health Service Cuts can KILL!”
He became a local celebrity and was always in the newspaper – you might remember him, George Young. He died only days prior to the verdict on the future of the cancer unit being announced. The unit had been saved but he never knew because he died of cancer a few days too soon.
Ironic? An enigma? To me it remains very disappointing and causes tears to this day when I think of it.
A trust fund was set up for the campaign money – it was called ‘The George Young Trust’.
So, I lost Mum then I lost Dad, and I lost the pleasure of ever celebrating the saving of the cancer unit with the man who headed the campaign – who was also my dad. That is still a loss and is a painful memory. It sounds like it should be a good memory, but it isn’t really, because he never knew! He died in July 1986.
All of this crept up on me and in 1990 I endured a very serious depression. It might be called a breakdown. My psychotherapist suggested that losing my parents as I did and never grieving meant that the grief was still there waiting. That, and the loss of never being able to crow and puff with Dad about saving the cancer unit was there too.
Never say to people ‘That is in the past’, or ‘that is over and done with’ or ‘surely you’ve got over that by now’. A Minister of Religion once told me not to live in the past, and to ‘never look back’. However, a large part of therapy is looking back. That is what memory is, a connection to our past, and what is wrong with nostalgia?
The past doesn’t go away, and unresolved issues from times gone by can return with a vengeance when you least expect them.
Depressed people often live in the past, and if they are doing so, let them. Perhaps issues from the past won’t let go of them; perhaps they are haunted by their memories. If you are a friend or relation of the depression sufferer, or a carer, you are not qualified to tell them to do anything, and you are not qualified to judge whether they should try to move on from some issue. That is the job of a professional. So, don’t say it.
Let the depressed person stay where they are – they need to work through the past somehow and this depression is doing it in its own way. To try to move somebody on can irritate them, annoy them, anger them, and even hurt them. It will certainly frustrate them, so don’t try. Just stay with them, wherever they are.
My experience of other people’s suicides.
During my lifetime I have experienced the deaths of a number of people who I have personally known. Two of those were by suicide. Another two deaths were of people that I hadn’t met but knew from association of either their family or friends. So I can personally relate four encounters with suicide. Then a friend of mine lost a son by suicide – that makes five. Another friend lost a nephew by suicide – six.
Suicide is more common than is often realised, and if we look around I am sure that we will find it in a friends or family network to which we belong. I will describe three of those occasions:
Debbie Goldman
It was around 1971 when a new girl was brought to my primary school classroom and introduced to the class by the head-teacher. She was sat at a desk and became one of the class. She was just another schoolgirl to me, just another classmate. I didn’t particularly get to know her and we didn’t become friends.
I left primary school and the class was split up because the pupils went to different comprehensive schools depending on location. Debbie Goldman and I went to different schools.
I left comprehensive school after five years and started college. It was five years since I had seen or heard of Debbie Goldman. I was now 16/17 years old. She would have been the same age.
One evening there was a news story in the local paper about a young woman who had killed herself in a house in the very road in which I lived. A minute’s walk away. This happened at the house of Mark Newman, a friend from my primary school days.
Mark and I used to play together and I went to his house many times. We too went to different secondary schools so I lost touch with him even though my mum was a friend of his mum and we lived close-by.
For whatever reason, his parents didn’t send him to the same school as me. This isn’t important, but the fact is that he went to the same school as Debbie Goldman. They became boyfriend and girlfriend.
The news story told a sad tale of Debbie going to visit her boyfriend Mark at his home one evening, only to find him there with another girl who he was apparently seeing behind Debbie’s back. A row developed and Mark drove this other girl to her home, leaving Debbie at his until he returned. When he did return, he found Debbie dead. She had hanged herself.
This doesn’t sound like a planned suicide does it? It sounds like a severe and immediate reaction to the devastating discovery that the person with whom you feel intensely in love doesn’t want you.
I wonder whether this emotional bondage is in fact love. How can love be fatal? It is cathexis, but nevertheless it forms a hold so tight that a person engulfed in the turmoil of the hurt and pain of finding that they are rejected by the object of their feelings responds with such severe distress to their loss that the reaction is immediate. All rationality and logic leaves them as they are taken over by an unimaginably intense grief. They commit suicide.
Peter Long
My first job on leaving college was quite a good one for a youngster. I was an analyst on a chemical plant for a well-known manufacturing company. I was also responsible for customer complaints and the calibration of electrical equipment.
Peter did the two latter jobs as a temporary position before I took them over, so I got to know him. I didn’t know him for long and I didn’t know him well. We didn’t work together very closely because we didn’t do those jobs at the same time.
Peter was a very nice, pleasant, mild mannered youngster of around twenty years of age. He was a Jehovah’s Witness. He left the company when his contract expired and I heard no more of him until one day I was looking at a newspaper and read another sad tale of a suicide. A young man named Peter Long had killed himself because his girlfriend had jilted him.
Howard Minter
I didn’t actually know Howard Minter personally; I was a friend of his daughter Susan.
I knew that her parents had problems but I had no idea of the detail. I found out later. To my mind what happened was monstrous.
Howard must have been middle-aged because Susan was in her twenties when I knew her and when this happened. This man was happily married until his wife suddenly found somebody else and began an affair. She moved out of the family home and went to live with her lover.
Howard was distraught and sunk into a pit of despair – depression. He threatened suicide and told people that he would burn himself alive in the local park. Nobody helped him, I doubt if anybody knew how to help.
How often are threats of suicide ignored or treated with disdain? Was he a tantrum-throwing pest seeking attention or was he ill? Howard went to his GP and was sent away with a rebuke for being so silly.
Howard recounted this story and it got to me. Apparently, he went to his GP and told him about his feelings and suicidal thoughts. He told the doctor that he intended to burn himself alive in the local woods. The doctor told him that all he wanted was a nursemaid and he should sort himself out. The doctor probably thought he was being clever by telling Howard to be a man!
The television was on one Saturday morning when I happened to be with Susan because she came to stay at my house for the weekend. We both caught a glimpse of a news story about a burning car somewhere or other. When the fire brigade extinguished the fire they found a body inside.
We didn’t even consider that it was her father. The story washed away and we got on with the day. Later she was contacted with some urgency – it had been her father.
NEVER do what that GP did and send somebody away with a flea in the ear.
If somebody comes to you and threatens suicide, listen to them and respond to them. You might have to tell them to go to a doctor, or even speak to the doctor yourself.
There is a dilemma in being told of suicidal thoughts – the dilemma of knowing or not knowing what to do. But whatever you do, DO NOT reject the person – help them in some way. The first and most urgent thing to do is to take them seriously, listen to them, and give a sympathetic and listening ear.
People so severely depressed need something to which they can cling that will give them hope. You might be that hope. You might literally be their lifeline; so let them cling to you, and LISTEN to them.
If you cannot cope with it, then tell them politely and sensitively that you will refer them to somebody else. Then do just that and refer them on. Do something, but DO NOT reject them.
Circumstances such as these require immediacy of action. It is no good telling a depressive to come back later or to go elsewhere for the time being – down tools and respond IMMEDIATELY. They might be dead tomorrow!
Strange behaviour
Depression isn’t just a feeling; it has many strange quirks which can make a person think in a most illogical manner – a disconnection of logical thought.
I recall two instances which now make me laugh, but at the time gave rise to concern: I was sitting in my living room when the telephone rang. I sat there and acknowledged in my mind that the phone was ringing, but didn’t consider answering it. Whatever connection in the brain usually prompts a person to actually answer a ringing phone simply didn’t happen.
This incident makes me think of stories we sometimes hear of people in shops who walk out without paying. The actress Joyce Grenfell did this and was arrested. She couldn’t understand why she did it. I wonder if it is the same phenomenon that I experienced with the ringing telephone. I wonder if had I been shopping at that time the brain would not have made the connection between shopping and paying. I wonder!
The other funny story is one which I look back on with a friend of mine, Vera. She laughs to this day because she witnessed it:
I was at a church bazaar manning the bookstall. It wasn’t my church, it was Anglican, but I became roped into assisting because of a lack of helpers. My husband was there and he bought some sandwiches and nibbles which we sat down together and ate. When we had finished, I resumed my job on the stall. It was then that I saw a woman across the hall that I considered to be rude and aggressive. She really did have a problem with being polite, so I decided to go over and hit her on the head with the dirty plate from our lunch.
Vera stopped me from doing this and gave the plate to my husband who took it away.
This was not a serious threat of violence; it just seemed to be a perfectly logical thing to do with a dirty plate.
This is now a very fond memory. I was on hypnotic drugs at the time and life was like trudging through treacle.
The next time I visited my GP he halved the dosage. This behaviour was apparently due to an addled brain – addled by an over-dose of hypnotics.
Physical symptoms
My first encounter with depression included extreme insomnia, extreme weight loss and severe loss of appetite
The second bout included extreme insomnia and loss of eyesight – the doctors could not diagnose a problem with my eyes as there was no apparent physical cause, but my optician confirmed that I had lost a large part of my visual field. Things on the right of my line of sight shimmered into focus as they moved to the front. I couldn’t see small print, even with my glasses or a magnifying glass.
My eyesight was in this state for about a year or more before it suddenly corrected. No doctor has ever acknowledged this as a symptom of depression.
Other people
The reactions and attitudes of other people are often very negative. There is a stigma attached to any mental illness, and because depression is often misunderstood by those around, a sufferer might be considered a nuisance, a misery, an unpleasant person to associate with – somebody to avoid or even fear.
Even the grieving widow will find that people pretend not to see her or they walk on the other side of the road. The telephone might suddenly become very silent because a depressive can be wearing on those who speak to them.
Other people can think they understand, and the world is full of self-appointed ‘experts’ who are actually clueless; the churches contain many of these.
I have seen Christian books, some still in publication, where Ministers of religion class depression as an unnecessary consequence of unresolved sin; all that is needed is repentance. THIS ATTITUDE AND BELIEF IS DANGEROUS – NEVER THINK THIS! If you do, however, believe this, please keep it to yourself.
Every organ in the body can go wrong and cause sickness – so can the brain. Appendicitis isn’t caused by unresolved sin, so why should depression be?
What NOT to say to a hurting person.
People can say the most frustrating things that do more harm than good. These can include such as: to the mother who has lost a son in a road accident, “You’ve still got the other two.” She is grieving her loss, not what she still has.
To the young woman who has lost her husband: “You’re young enough to marry again.” She doesn’t want to marry again – she wants her husband back.
As for being told to ‘snap out of it’ or ‘pull yourself together’ or ‘there are people worse off than you’; if somebody can identify that button labelled ‘feelings’ and retune it, then please show me, otherwise never say these things to anybody.
A church elder once decided to ‘have a go’ at me because I objected to something she had done or said. Given that this elder is an opinionated person who is ‘always right’ – you only have to ask her, she will tell you – she wouldn’t stop attacking me, and finally said: “You’ve got a mental problem!” She was correct of course; I had depression.
One would hope that elders of the church would have some sort of training in pastoral care. I know that in my church the training is useless because Ministers and Pastors manage the pastoral care system and they don’t have sufficient training themselves. It is the blind leading the blind.
One example of this involves a lady who came along with me one year to collect the Christian Aid envelopes. She wasn’t asked to do this, she offered. Even though I told the elder in charge that Lucy would like to do it and would need a permit, I was told that it wouldn’t be right to bother her with this because her husband had just gone into a home and she had personal problems.
It was correct that Lucy had just lost her husband to a nursing home, but that was even more reason to involve her in things. Lucy needed to be active, she wanted company. She had LOST something and needed to be valued and have things added to her life. Being left out of activities can be felt as rejection and can leave people feeling undervalued and even insulted.
NEVER leave a depressed person out of things, instead always try to include them in everything. It is up to them to say no if they don’t want to take part, it is not up to you to decide on their behalf. Depressed people are not incompetent idiots. They don’t need coddling, they need to be kept going. INCLUDE THEM.
People can and do say the wrong things.
I consider that I am very privileged to have experienced depression at it’s worst. It means that I understand the condition and can be of help and support to sufferers. I know that a depressed person can be difficult and negative, but all I can say to those who have never experienced the condition, and have no tolerance of it, is that it is by the grace of God they have never been afflicted.
There was once a time when I had never suffered depression, and I didn’t understand either.

[killuminati]

If you use porn, cut it out quickly.

I agree, I'm a 29 year male. Porn is very addictive, its very draining on your body and its disturbs your mind, I wondered why there is so much porn out there, it keeps you distracted.

I get depression and severe anxiety, Its hell but you have find your inner strength. Keep away from negative things, this forum is not helpful to a depressed and anxious mind.

[gladys]

i can't believe anyone hasn't mentioned st. johns wort?

i have suffered from depression on more than one occasion (and quite severely) and i can thoroughly recommend the herb 'st. johns wort'. it takes about a week to 'kick in' but it really does work. Please try not to go down the 'anti-depressants' route, i firmly believe they do more harm than good (look what came out about the once popular and oft prescribed anti-depressant 'seroxat').

i also firmly believe in the power of positive thought and learning to love yourself more.

hope this helps leon11. god bless you

[strawberries]

Try to reconnect to Nature and people.

I've heard that the "dolphin therapy" works pretty well.

[leon11]

thanks all for your honesty, and lovely comments, they were nice to read.

I wont ever be taking big pharma anti-depressants, (or trying to commit suicide =) as I feel the same as many of you seem to.

I do take omega 3 oils sometimes...there was also a time when I was addicted to buying crystals! I've also dabbled with qigong and the like too....but as a cursed human, like so many!.. I rarely seem to be able to stick with positive things for a decent length of time, or work them into my daily life....lack of control over myself I guess. Even the most hardened of us though are surely sucked in by at least some of the subversive aspects of modern life. The evils put their to trap us! So many external negative influences that at times it bogs us down or tests us no matter how positive we try to be. I guess I have to learn to ride the storm sometimes or accept some neccessary evils or decide what I can and cannot change.....
it seems such a crazy balance sometimes of striving/worrying/causing myself stress (in the hope of manifesting a better reality), and accepting imperfection and enjoying what I have..? Surely it can't be all of either of those, although I think I need to balance it out and do more of the latter...


back to the chemical balance...I will try the other supplements mentioned (st.johns wort and 5htp), and put my crystals to good use. I'll get back to the park soon too...just need to sort a few things out....

I'll always hang on to some of that compassion, sensitivity...and my inner child. Don't think I could get rid of them if I tried in fact....but wouldn't want to completely if I could.

thanks again

[leon11]

oops Id also like to add...
I read the other day that your REM happens at around 1am...so if you stay up late you don't rest very well. I think this is quite important - I've always stayed up too late!
Diet is obviously important too....I eat far too many refined-sugar snacks. I think the constant unnatural sugar highs these days, really mess with your head. I also eat snacks late, which I dont think helps either.

Id also like to mention that most of us take anti-depressants unknowingly - as our water supplies are contaminated with prozaac.

I think the porn issue is also worth discussing. It definately messes with your head. I think this issue is perhaps made worse too if you smoke, and suppress your...labido? Frustration! I have a stunning girlfriend yet for some deep rooted reason I dont seem to want to make love to her very often.

However it works, Im sure there is a biological, chemical war going on inside our bodies. It's us and (hopefully) mother nature vs. the corporations and governments, on a chemical level as far as Im concerned. But again, I feel like you have to balance worrying about this stuff, yet at the same time strive for improvement =S

Im too confused again heheh. good night all

[leon11]

p.p.s...on a brighter note, I think that to lead a good, positive and happy life these days is a mammoth task.....and for all our efforts in the face of sometimes overwhelming odds, we should be proud of ourselves. Self forgiveness is surely another important issue for happiness.
Things would be so much easier wouldnt they, if we openly accepted our faults to each other, instead of pretending (and sometimes fooling ourseves) that we're infallible or perfect. Im gonna go now before it sounds any more like a Jerry Springer episode or something =D

[soleil]

I think the porn issue is also worth discussing. It definately messes with your head. I think this issue is perhaps made worse too if you smoke, and suppress your...labido? Frustration! I have a stunning girlfriend yet for some deep rooted reason I dont seem to want to make love to her very often.

IMO, pornography is a form of mind control. Over-stimulation in order to cause trauma which then re-wires neural pathways and compartmentalises minds is something that the Truth movement has covered. There is less coverage on the gradual re-wiring of neural pathways through over-stimulation and pleasure from pornography. The levels of stimulation are beyond what are tribal ancestors would have been exposed to and it is a dynamic process meaning the user needs to seek out harder porn to receive the same return of pleasure.

Losing desire for a girlfriend whom one knows is sexually attractive is a tell tale case of increasing porn dependency - especially when depression is involved.

The good news is that you can defrag and reboot your mental hard drive (pun intended) and the libido will return when the sexual energy parasites that come with porn (like malware comes with certain internet sites) realise that their host isn't feeding their appetites any more.

[jimj_wpg]

OP, I've sufferred from depression since 1987. Some of this depression is because of a low functioning thyroid, other reasons is due to the decline of Western civilization.

My parents used to emphasize "take your (vitamin) B's". But curing my depression, which is possible, is more than Vitamin B. You gotta take the "holistic" route - body, mind, spirit. Stay away from shrinks, and psychologists. They know nothing.

What I have found that works is the following:


VItamin B Supplement
Get your Thyroid levels (TSH, T3, T4) checked
Check your blood sugar levels
Colloidal Silver for me acts as a natural anti-depressant
When they're not chemtrailing, turn towards (but don't look at directly) the Sun
Daily (or regular) meditation...You'll re-discover who you have been in the past, which will help you answer why you are the way you are (likes and dislikes, your personality, the way you walk & look)
If you have 'em, get all of your Mercury/Silver/Amalgam fillings out.
Drink only purified/distilled water daily.
Stop watching,listening, reading mainstream "news". The repetitiousness of it (unresolved world issues after several decades) depressed me. Issues like the Israel-Palestine "war", the economy & employment up/down/stagnant. The effect will be to "Step OUT of the Matrix".


Maybe one reason why you're depressed ... You're waking UP, and so you now see the contrast between what should be. Peace. And what is. Discord.

Since doing the above, my depression symptoms have eased considerably. Never been on anti-depressants, as most say they aren't effective anyways.

Christmas-time is still very difficult for me. As someone in his mid-40s without a wife or kids, and several decades after being a child myself, I find Christmas to be depressing because it has lost the "magic" of it all...the anticipation of receiving toys as presents, the playing board games with my cousins (most cousins have left for other cities) at Christmas Day family get togethers in the 1970s. I really dislike being a grownup sometimes. That's why I have the avatar I do...I was at my peak at 8. I wish I could smile like that again in family photos. My cousins had mainly girls, so their kids I couldn't even connect/understand/relate to.

I live alone, and so the days leading up to Christmas my energy dips quite a bit because my expectations, based on childhood Christmases past, are not up to snuff - can't compare to today's "celebrations". I just wanna close my room door, keep the cats out in the living room, and sleep. The heavy chemtrailing (creating gloomy skies) that has occurred in the past few years around Christmas holidays don't help either. By about December 29th I'm feeling much better again.

I used to get really anxious because of my current lot in life - no wife & kids of my own because I'm repelled by most women today. It has been because I opened myself to reincarnation in June 2009 that this anxiety is now GONE. I have accepted that maybe I'm just not ready for a wife & kids yet. Maybe in the next life, or the one after that. But I'm OK now with being Single. I accept that now. Perhaps it is just that regardless of what women look like today (too much male hormones) that maybe because I have just been in Human form a small handful of times in the past 1000 years I am still trying to understand (thru experience) what being Human IS.

It's community like the DI forum that I find solace, peace, refuge to help make sense of this world.

[leon11]

IMO, pornography is a form of mind control. Over-stimulation in order to cause trauma which then re-wires neural pathways and compartmentalises minds is something that the Truth movement has covered. There is less coverage on the gradual re-wiring of neural pathways through over-stimulation and pleasure from pornography. The levels of stimulation are beyond what are tribal ancestors would have been exposed to and it is a dynamic process meaning the user needs to seek out harder porn to receive the same return of pleasure.

Losing desire for a girlfriend whom one knows is sexually attractive is a tell tale case of increasing porn dependency - especially when depression is involved.

The good news is that you can defrag and reboot your mental hard drive (pun intended) and the libido will return when the sexual energy parasites that come with porn (like malware comes with certain internet sites) realise that their host isn't feeding their appetites any more.

heheh thanks for the advice....i will try to reboot my drives all round =)

[olia10]

Have you tried yoga?

People with depression and anxiety are usually under developed in their 3 lower chakras, which will result being stuck in a loop of flat energy and negative thoughts. Yoga, especially Hatha and Kundalini, can really help balance those chakras. It helped me get out of the funk. The hard part is sticking with it. It takes awhile.

_____________________________________________
anxiety and depression free!!!

www.d2light.com

turned the corner

[lesleypumpshaft]

Have you tried yoga?

People with depression and anxiety are usually under developed in their 3 lower chakras, which will result being stuck in a loop of flat energy and negative thoughts. Yoga, especially Hatha and Kundalini, can really help balance those chakras. It helped me get out of the funk. The hard part is sticking with it. It takes awhile.

_____________________________________________
anxiety and depression free!!!

www.d2light.com

turned the corner

I swear by Kundalini Yoga, it's great stuff :)

[shadowmoon]

I went back to my Dr's yesterday..
She asked me if the antidepressants she gave me were working, I said "no they made me sick" (I actually threw them away and never took one of them after reading about them......)

So she says ok try this one and hands me a scrip for a supply of another type called Paxil...looking it up on the net fuck me! the side effects and the withdrawal troubles people have..!

Gp's are mostly fucking useless, all they do is hand over pills after looking it up in a book, I could do that myself.
I'm not going to bother going back there. toxic shit they want to poison me with.

I had a bad few months recently, lots of deaths and losses and etc.. they just wanted to fill me up with drugs when really I was just reacting to external events as humans naturally do,...by being upset and sad about them. those pills are not the answer.

Watch this guys video on these drugs
How SSRIs (Paxil) Really Messed Me Up - YouTube

[blue2]

You certainly did the correct thing in throwing the tablets away-they do not work in fact most often prescribed drugs do not work but they actually cause what they are supposed to treat in the first place.

Sometimes it can be a shortage of B12 or Folic acid, can i suggest you look on www.red23.co.uk as they have Dr Mercola's B12 spray take a look as it is very worth a good go.

If you drink alcohol that will make you depressed like many other things in life like Loss,loss of a job anything to do with bad relationships.

It was proven that St John's Wort is effective for depression - depends what is causing it-treating just symptoms without correct cause is bad news with main stream medicine. But i'd hurry before shops no longer stock it due to new Licensing laws that may come in to ban herbals. It has been proven to be effective over anti depressants just don't use both together, it may well be you need a holistic approach.

Hypothyroidism can also cause a depression-any illness or surgery can do so too. Raw juicing might be good for you too...i'm raving about the Omega Vert juicer at present,wonderful for cold pressed easy juicing. although initial outlay costly but long term is a good buy, from UK Juicers if interested and can afford of course.

Poor diet is a cause too. Even bread and synthetic chems in foods and gluten i believe can cause it cos it results in malnutrition. Also the mineral Magnesium can cause and most folks are deficient in this mineral as with many others-try ionic ones maybe from detoxyourworld,com unless you can get some good treatment from Shen clinic.

Dr's automatically reach for the script pad without even considering vits and mins deficient, but you are far better getting it from natural means and by sprays and juicing.

Also ask yourself or at least monitor what in your mind precedes this feeling in your mind. Sorry i just re read your post and see you have lot of losses..do try the B12 spray though and bereavement can cause thyroid to be underactive too..but i wouldn't recommend thyroxine even if it did show in blood tests or if indeed lucky enough or should i say unlucky enough to even have blood tests correctly interpreted. I buy mine in from abroad and self treat much more successfully but then i did lot of research too.

Maybe take a read at Thyroid UK and Thyroid Patient Advocacy and Thyroid Tears and buy the book by Diana Holmes Tears Behind Closed Doors it would help you see if you could have this. Even Dr Gordon Skinner has a book he wrote called Hypothyroidism and it's Management, if indeed you do have this but even a good read in case in the future you may need it.

See perhaps a hypnotherapist...just a suggestion.

[_ree_]

wotever you do keep away from big pharma, that shit is bad for ya in all ways

forget the doctor bullshit talk, antidepressants do not cure the cause, they mask it, turning you into an oh great functional zombi to "fit in" with the rest in so called "great society"

fuck them

you can beat depression without the chemicals, don't listen to anyone who says otherwise and gives ya the "chemical imbalance" bullshit

do squirrels take antidepressants? thought so. still they are happy jumping and running around

find your answers in nature, all i have to say

[awarenow]

I agree with the previous post completely.
Had a personal tough experience with antidepressants.
I am starting to realize more and more that depression is suppressed emotions (mainly anger, grief, unexpressed emotions etc)
What do anti-depressants do? They numb you down and suppress your symptoms, not to mention the side-effects.

As a solution I would recommend allowing your emotions to be, to be released.
This can be done by meditating or in everyday situations by allowing your thoughts/emotions be, observing them.
I have found peace in Tolle´s, Adyashanti´s and Frank Kinslow´s teachings. Struggle and pain comes from fighting what IS (whether it is thoughts, emotions, person, current situation).

I would very much recommend this. It is actually free on Adyashanti´s website too. On youtube the "basic principles" video is in 4 parts. The second video talks about "applications of the teaching)

Adyashanti - Basic Principles of the Teaching (1 of 4) - YouTube

[leon11]

Sometimes it can be a shortage of B12 or Folic acid, can i suggest you look on www.red23.co.uk as they have Dr Mercola's B12 spray take a look as it is very worth a good go.

If you drink alcohol that will make you depressed like many other things in life like Loss,loss of a job anything to do with bad relationships.

It was proven that St John's Wort is effective for depression - depends what is causing it-treating just symptoms without correct cause is bad news with main stream medicine. But i'd hurry before shops no longer stock it due to new Licensing laws that may come in to ban herbals. It has been proven to be effective over anti depressants just don't use both together, it may well be you need a holistic approach.

Hypothyroidism can also cause a depression-any illness or surgery can do so too. Raw juicing might be good for you too...i'm raving about the Omega Vert juicer at present,wonderful for cold pressed easy juicing. although initial outlay costly but long term is a good buy, from UK Juicers if interested and can afford of course.

Poor diet is a cause too. Even bread and synthetic chems in foods and gluten i believe can cause it cos it results in malnutrition. Also the mineral Magnesium can cause and most folks are deficient in this mineral as with many others-try ionic ones maybe from detoxyourworld,com unless you can get some good treatment from Shen clinic.

Dr's automatically reach for the script pad without even considering vits and mins deficient, but you are far better getting it from natural means and by sprays and juicing.

Also ask yourself or at least monitor what in your mind precedes this feeling in your mind. Sorry i just re read your post and see you have lot of losses..do try the B12 spray though and bereavement can cause thyroid to be underactive too..but i wouldn't recommend thyroxine even if it did show in blood tests or if indeed lucky enough or should i say unlucky enough to even have blood tests correctly interpreted. I buy mine in from abroad and self treat much more successfully but then i did lot of research too.

Maybe take a read at Thyroid UK and Thyroid Patient Advocacy and Thyroid Tears and buy the book by Diana Holmes Tears Behind Closed Doors it would help you see if you could have this. Even Dr Gordon Skinner has a book he wrote called Hypothyroidism and it's Management, if indeed you do have this but even a good read in case in the future you may need it.

See perhaps a hypnotherapist...just a suggestion.

not all relevant to me personally, but great info here.

I take John's wort now, and I do seem more levelled out this last few weeks.

I think thyroid problems affect many people, me being one of them. I also never gain weight or bulk, no matter how much I seem to eat. It seems you are right and that the various chemicals, gluten, bromide, fluoride, etc, mostly inhibit your ability to process food.
as a side note here, i see some people who eat white bread and little in the way of vegetables, yet have good physiques and seem very fit. how the hell do they manage it i wonder?!

On the subject of doctors, it seems that many of us have wised up, and enough said in the previous posts.

Many other great pieces of advice in these pages too, cheers =)

will make time for some yoga soon ;)

[strain]

Its threads like these that add to one of my many reasons as to why this forum has become my favourite. You people have been a great help, so thanks.
When I was 12 I was put on to anti-depressants (I can't remember the name though) due to a lot of rough shit I had been going through at the time, it didn't help at all and most days I just felt like a complete zombie, like my mind wasn't functioning at all. I had been taking 6 tablets a day because the psychologist kept increasing the dosage each time I told him that it wasn't working.

Eventually I refused to take them because it was affecting me drastically, I couldn't communicate like I used to, I felt tired all the time and, as many of you have stated, emotionally numb.

Then I met a friend when I turned 13 and we began smoking weed together almost every day. I have since quit the stuff (though I do smoke occasionally) but after using it for quite a few years it had almost completely erased my depression, elevated me mentally and spiritually and my diet had become much more balanced.

So here's some advice:

- Avoid pharmaceuticals ENTIRELY, the shit is poison especially after long-term use.
- Smoke some Cannabis occasionally and meditate (though if you are entirely against the use of any substances it's not essential but still, meditating is)
- Exercise regularly (apart from the weed and meditation, this has helped me tremendously, there's no feeling quite like it. After working out each morning I am extremely euphoric and energetic throughout the day)
- Step outside of the 'norm'. If you lead a life where you follow the same routines each day it can feed your depression because your mind and soul is not being stimulated creatively. Do things differently, do something that defies anything conventional.
- Don't give your power to anyone or anything, recognize your worth, your beauty and your uniqueness.

I know the above isn't exactly the best advice ever given but its those simple things that have helped me out of depression so I just thought I'd share it with ya'll.

All the best ladies and gents.

[shadowmoon]

Started Vinyasa Yoga classes tonight.

God its given me a real BOOST..I've felt good for the first time in a long time again:)

I wish it was just more than one class a week.

[wildhorse]

Started Vinyasa Yoga classes tonight.

God its given me a real BOOST..I've felt good for the first time in a long time again:)

I wish it was just more than one class a week.

aw im so glad for you shadow...exercise def helps...as does time ((hugs)) and its a bonus when you start looking good again, iv dropped nearly a stone already which def helps with any depression hehe

ya will get there, as will i :)

[white zombie]

Couple of things that get me through the hell side of depression =

1/ Forcing myself to remember no mood lasts forever
2/ Talking/venting. Putting into words whats in my head even if its jibberish.
3/ Forced walks while listening to music.
4/ Remembering to eat
5/ Praying/Surrendering/letting go
6/ Identifying what thoughts are behind the feelings. This can be a bit raw. We are simple basic creatures when it boils down to it.

Just remember, if you're negative toward yourself it was most likely taught to you by others, but somehow you mistakenly believed it and adopted it. Live your own life, not the one that was inflicted on you by ghosts from the past.

Maybe one of em will help you out

[allseeinguy]

i hear st johns wort is very good, i actually used when i quit smoking, i had no withdrawal symptoms

[hypnoticspectre]

imagine if depression was just a state of mind that you convinced urself to believe in.. imagine if the earth & world was spelt backward and we are actually drlow htrae people.. stop convincing urself perhaps? im wondering?

[kanz]

Everyone gets depressed from time to time, it happens when you get some bullshit threw at you , or something in your life is bothering you, I'd say its natural to get it. Unless you live a "perfect" life.

Best just trying to work on the part of your life thats bothering you the most.

[tenzingnorgay]

Ive always been a sensitive or emotional kinda guy, but I suffer from pretty severe waves of depression that make my system just, shut down. I dont want to talk to anyone for a while but feel as though I need help off people when Im like this, although there's nothing anyone else can really do. sometimes i feel like im gonna cry at adverts and stuff. Ive never taken anti-depressants and dont want to start. But it seems like a chemical imbalance to me.
Ive just recovered from a bad case of flu and feel a bit drained... dont know if thats why its been worse this week.
I drink plenty of water, my diet is better than many others (although I need to improve it), and I get at least some exercise every day. Any ideas?
Maybe as an artist its in my genes and im supposed to use it =? or maybe not.
Yes the world is an unnatural environment but surely we can find true happiness still...?

edit: music helps

Lack of zinc can cause depression. Lack of zinc delays recovery from respiratory infections. Zinc supplements are cheap. Don't take zinc oxide which is diffiuclt to assimilate. Take Zinc gluconate or zinc sulfate.

[metida]

St. John's Wort (Cantarion) is natural anti depressive, maybe your beliefs makes you depressive. Depression is sometimes self-directed rage, don't kill yourself, maybe you find your way out of depression, and if you kill yourself, you will never know, what life would bring you. Maybe joy is in front of you. We are entering in 2012 year, wait for end of the world, don't waist your effort on killing yourself, David Icke says that 2012 bring us not the end of the world, but end of the world as we know it, and we are entering in new era of enlightenment. You should wait at least for that.
L.S.G - Hearts - YouTube
When I listen to this only one thing comes to me-Infinite love is only truth-all else is illusion.

[metida]

And try some counseling, at least read -Louise Hay-heal your life.