саn lifе gеt bеttеr аftеr аnxiеty оr dеprеssiоn?

[Goodman]

Bоth асаdеmiс аnd mоrе gеnеrаl disсussiоns аbоut аnxiеty аnd dеprеssiоn (disоrdеrs) sееm inсоnсlusivе аbоut whеthеr оr nоt thеy аrе pоssiblе tо "rесоvеr" frоm. саn аnxiеty оr dеprеssiоn еvеr hаvе а pоsitivе еffесt оn lifе, fоr еxаmplе аs а milеstоnе fоr сhаngеs whiсh lеаds tо hаppinеss?

 

[beautifullybree]

I truly hope so. I would to have a turn around and be in the path the a changed anxiety free lifestyle. For now, I can only spread awareness and hope things get better.


​

 

[Pandora]

I am with BeautifullyBree, I hope my life gets better. However, I am beginning to wonder what is happiness..really? Everyone has their own idea what happiness is, so how will I know that I found happiness? I can look up the word happiness in a dictionary but, that might not be my idea of happiness. How do you know your truly happy if all your life you have been depressed? However, I love the idea of one day be "recovered" from depression and be happy the way I think happiness is. What a wonderful idea!

 

[Androlo]

Yes, I do believe so and I also believe that I myself am positive proof of just that. People do not just get depressed for no reason, there are always underlying causes and all too often those causes have gone on for years, if not decades, and it can therefore be difficult to even comprehend that there could be more positivity in the future. For me, no professional help worked at all. No medication or counselling had any benefit because none of the so-called professionals seemed to truly understand depression. It was therefore something which I learned how to battle and overcome on my own by realizing that emotions are largely based on state of mind which is, in turn, based on subjective experience. Time and time again my life fell apart over the course of many decades - things were never good and just as I thought that was going to change, I would be lulled into a false sense of security and would end up even worse. Automatic negative thoughts and feelings are a large part of depression and I realized that I needed to consciously take control of my thoughts and emotions and continue to do so until I was able to not let anything external affect my thoughts and emotions. By doing so, I have become a completely different person and am now happy (sort of). I certainly don't suffer with depression or anxiety any more, as I used to, and I can finally say after all these years that I now love life and look forward to what it has to offer.

 

[amonda]

I completely agree with Androlo. Depression is something that I personally had to learn how to manage. Over the years there has been growth and progression and I am doing much better compared to about five years ago. It's not something that I think will ever go away but I had to learn how to deal with it, and accept my situation, but the thing is, I no longer allow it to control my life.

 

[tgthewriter1]

You got choose to listen to the right people. You listen to the wrong people you will mess your life. Family be telling you misinformation too. Don't listen to someone just because their family.

 

[fuzyon]

Well, it can definitely get better. Anxiety and depression are simply mental issues that can make reality and the future seem grimmer than they actually are. You can be in the best position in life but your depression will always find something that you'll have to worry about. I guess you never fully recover from being depressed or anxious but you can always improve yourself as a person and start to see the world in its true colors.

 

[John Snort]

Anxiety and depression never can have a positive effect on anyone's life. But can life get better after depression? Well, it depends on what caused your depression in the first place. For example if you are depressed because you lost a job, even if you learn how to cope with the depression or beat it, life won't be better until you get a job that just as good or better than the one you lost. So though theoretically after overcoming depression you'll be stronger (re: what doesn't kill you makes you stronger) there are no guarantees that you'll be happier afterwards.

 

[gracer]

I tend to believe that after every storm comes a rainbow and that keeps me going through each bout of depression. There may be times when things just seem to be harder and heavier than usual but I still have this spark of hope in me that things will eventually get better soon. I think that if we have something that keeps us feeling positive despite our difficulties, we should keep on holding on to it and use it as our source of strength during times when we are weakened by our circumstances.

 

[pwarbi]

Life can get better after dealing with depression and/or anxiety, but a lot depends on how long you you have suffered from it and your outlook on life in general in my opinion. It's a sad fact that a lot of people will be able to fight the illness but they can never get back to their former self and it's more about finding a new you, so to speak. I myself went through depression a couple of years ago and now I'm struggling to get over the anxiety. With me though it's because before I was a very confident and outgoing person and now even though I don't feel depressed and am now off the medication, I'm still not that confident in myself and I'm not sure I ever will be again. I used to laugh off anything that went wrong and just carried on regardless whereas now I tend to think about things too much and dwell on it.


There's certainly life after depression and anxiety, it just might be different to how it was before, Not necessarily better or worse, just different, but that isn't always a bad thing as maybe you got depressed and anxious in the first place because your life needed to be changed in some way, and so maybe try and take what positives you can out of what you've been or what you're going through, no matter ho hard that may be.

 

[DavidRosenberg]

I think I am coming out of my depression. What was bothering me is now more or less gone, and I feel a lot better.


However, this has brought unique challenges with it too.


For example, while I was badly depressed, I was a total recluse. I didn't talk to anyone. I didn't feel like I deserved to have friends. Additionally, I couldn't hold down a job so I was effectively unemployed.


Now that I feel like living again, dealing with these two issues is quite a challenge. My closest friends and family have given me nothing but love and support - for which I am truly grateful. But I was a very social person before and enjoyed chatting with anyone. When I see some of my friend's pictures and stuff on facebook, I feel like I've missed out. Not sharing their lives with them has put some distance between us.


The employment issue is definitely a problem, and one that isn't easily solved. I basically have a large gap in my employment record. I don't think any employer would even consider me, despite working for good companies and having great results.


But, I didn't come this far only to be beaten down by external factors again. I decided to try and work for myself and be self employed. It's a massive challenge and every day is a struggle. But this is something I'm used to.


I'm not 100% if depression truly ends. What I do know is that you have to take life one day at a time.

 

[EdmondA]

The long and short of it is, it can and will get better. But after that, it can and will get worse again. You have to learn to navigate the hills and valleys of life in a way that means that the lows won't break you, and the highs can be enjoyed in a non-manic state.

 

[Bea]

I'm not sure about recovery - but I do say yes to the possibility of life being better. Life does get better, not always because you've "cured" your anxiety and/or depression, but life does get better in spite of you having these mental illnesses. We just learn to live with them; we can get medication, we can let ourselves live how we want to. We don't have to let other people guilt us into feeling happy, or into going to social events that we don't want to, in the same way that people with more physical illnesses shouldn't let people guilt them. I think letting ourselves take more gradual control of our lives is a good start; we shouldn't let that dark voice in our head dictate everything we do. We have to start learning how to fight back against depression, even if "fighting back" simply means just taking a shower.

 

[pwarbi]

I've heard it said before that depression and anxiety are like an addiction and while you do get better and things move on, at the same time you never fully recover and you're always only a day away from slipping back into it, the black dog always nipping at your heels. Personally even though I do think it will stay with you, I still firmly believe also that you can carry on living a full life and it's more about how you deal with things that counts the most.


If you think of yourself as a person that as dealt with depression and your making the most of the rest of your life then you will live as a fulfilling life as you want. If you regard yourself as a person that's always going to be struggling because of depression then that's what you'll always be...struggling.

 

[jaden11218]

I think it can get better and you could end up with a happy life overall. I hate looking back to high school, but that's where my anxiety and depression developed. It was bad those few years. I think what helped me most with depression was a new setting.I graduated and moved far away. I got away from the people who bully and judge, and away from my parents who did not know how to raise a girl. I was happier being in my new place away from all, but my depression was not entirely gone and my anxiety was still bad. I ended up finding my person there. The person who I could confide in about anything and who accepted me and all my past. It isn't easy for me to meet someone new, but when he approached me, something just felt right about him. Having someone positive in my life that I could talk to about the negative really helped me to overcome my depression. It didn't do much for my anxiety, but it helped to have someone willing to answer my cell phone for me because I was too afraid, or to place my order for me when we ate out. My anxiety didn't start to go away until after we had our first baby. I love my baby more than I'm afraid of people, so I will actually answer the phone regarding his doctor appointments, and stand up to people when they judge my parenting or do something to my son I don't approve of. I speak up for my son because he can't yet.


I'm not saying you need to have a relationship or a baby to overcome depression and anxiety. I still have those days where I feel like I could fall back into it all. I just wanted to share this because I am proof that it can get better. I don't want to share the gory, ugly details of what all happened in high school, but my case was bad. It may help to find yourself in a new setting, leave all that baggage behind and take a chance, but only when you know you are really ready, otherwise it could potentially make things worse.