Fighting Depression

[gracer]

Depression in my opinion is one of the most misunderstood conditions in society. I myself feel that I have a problem with depression although I have never asked for any professional advice and have never been diagnosed medically. I have been in this state for 18 years now but I'm still fighting it and gathering strength from anything and anyone I can gain strength from. Right now, my family especially my son is my main source of strength. Nobody knows that I have this feeling because I feel like the significant people in my life wouldn't understand. Understanding someone who is depressed is a very difficult thing but making someone understand that you are depressed and not just in a spur of the moment mood swing is the most difficult. This is why I'm just fighting on my own.

 

[rz3300]

Well I have been battling depression for as long as I can remember, and I agree with you gracer it is very misunderstood, or just not understood well enough or at all, and it manifests itself in a variety of ways, which makes it even more difficult to treat and address. At a certain point you start to wonder how different your mode of thinking is from everyone else, and then that kind of compounds itself and makes things worse. That is my experience at least, and I have experienced with different medications but really to no avail. I have just accepted it as a part of life, but I still wonder...

 

[pwarbi]

I've also battled with depression in the past but fortunately I feel that it's in my past no and I'm slowly getting over it and it's now just the bouts of anxiety it left behind that I'm dealing with.


Depression and in fact any form of mental illness is often ignored or simply not spoken about as there tends to be a stigma attached to it. While it is becoming more and more common to be spoken about and there's more therapy and medication, all different forms of help that weren't around before, a lot of work still needs to be done and especially when t concerns males who are suffering. I'm not saying that male depression is worse than any other, but in the past men have seemed to have been told to just get on with things and even now the biggest cause of suicide amongst men in the UK is depression related, so things need to be done more than ever to show that it doesn't matter who you are, there is help available out there just as long as you know where to look.

 

[morgoodie]

I agree that depression is probably one of the most misunderstood medical conditions out there. It is truly amazing just how misunderstood it is since there are so many people who suffer from it. Why is there still the stigma concerning it? I have suffered with depression all my life and will struggle with it my whole life. Unfortunately, my children will suffer as well. However, unlike myself I am getting them help for it. I wish I could have had the help that they are getting when I was a child and maybe things would be a little different. Back when I was a child this disorder was not recognized in children. Even today there are so many people that do not believe children can be depressed. It is up to us to educate people on what depression truly is and share our experience of it with them.

 

[gracer]

Well I have been battling depression for as long as I can remember' date=' and I agree with you gracer it is very misunderstood, or just not understood well enough or at all, and it manifests itself in a variety of ways, which makes it even more difficult to treat and address. At a certain point you start to wonder how different your mode of thinking is from everyone else, and then that kind of compounds itself and makes things worse. That is my experience at least, and I have experienced with different medications but really to no avail. I have just accepted it as a part of life, but I still wonder...

You've definitely hit the nail rz3300. Many times I do feel and wonder why the way I think is totally different from everyone else around me and it becomes even worst because I feel more misunderstood and neglected. I feel as if my thoughts and my feelings are of no worth at all that's why nobody doesn't seem to care and listen to what's really inside me. It's really hard to explain but with people who also suffering and fighting depression, I know that the feeling is too heavy to even try to explain and make others understand.

 

[Alex]

Beside the stigma still in society, people struggle to understand because they can't see it. You can though once you have experienced depression, and can tell when someone is struggling. Everyone is susceptible and I like to think of controlling depression rather than fighting it. Relapses and triggers occur, so I think of controlling it rather than something that must be fought.


I think more people are depressed than you imagine, but they live with it and cope with things like alcohol, binge eating or other things that mask it. You are not alone, but there are some people who do understand, but many who won't and don't get it.

 

[fuzyon]

I think what is actually worse than dealing with depression is getting people to understand how you're feeling and what you're going through. I realized that people who don't know how it feels like are clueless and don't know how to comfort you, it's not their fault by any means though. Because of this reason I tend to keep my thoughts for myself because it's hard for me to express myself, I'm tired of people telling me to "get over it" and that it's just inside my head, if it was that easy I would've been cured a long time ago..

 

[morgoodie]

I think it is funny when people say that "it's all in your head" and I want to tell them well duh!!! That is why it is a mental disorder because it is in your head. People think that you can say a magic word and it will all just be fine. But it will not be fine if you are not getting the right chemical to your brain. People see depression as an excuse and that people who have depression are just lazy. I get it. To an outsider it does look that way, but it is not like that at all. I would like nothing more than to get up off the couch or out of bed not because I have to but because I feel like it. People who have depression do not want to feel like this. It is not fun and I wish that there was a way to make people who have not ever been depressed see what it is like to live our lives depressed. I have two children to take care of and most times I barely have the energy because my depression takes it all away from me. I force myself some days to do it because it is not their fault and I do not want them to think of me as someone who was too lazy to take care of them. It is a life long battle and I hope that I can say I am winning against it.

 

[gracer]

A lot of people who have never experienced depression do think that it is just a state that we choose to be in and that it can disappear if we only want to but it's not the case. As hard as we try to conquer it everyday, without the right solution to prevent it from coming back it will eventually find its way back again.

 

[CarlosTL]

As long as you're fighting depression without the help of medication then you deserve a lot of credit. Medication can ruin you long term, and only makes you feel better momentarily.


The people who find the mental strength and willpower to keep going and putting one foot in front of the other through depression are true heroes. By no means depression is a fatality, everybody experienced it even for longer periods, even successful people and artists. Consider it a challenge that will polish you and make you stronger.

 

[tgthewriter1]

I have to deal with this depression a lot lately. I hate dealing with it because it makes you work slower. Every time I do something, I hesitate and doubt myself. I need to cut the source of this depression and I suggest you do the same.

 

[justsayyes]

Fighting depression to me seems like a neverending battle. It dies down at certain times but i know it's always there looming over my head, so ready to let it's presence known and make my life miserable over and over again. It's so unfair how most people don't understand this illness and brush it off like it's no big deal, maybe to them, if only they know the struggles we experience both mentally and emotionally to try to act normal to keep up with them, they might empathize a little.

 

[rootle]

I think one way to fight depression is to try doing some form of exercise on a fairly regular basis. Exercising releases hormones that alter your mood and just getting your blood pumping can help you feel good. When depressed, it's worth remembering that all human emotions are simply caused by impulses in the brain. So just try figuring out ways to make your brain work in a better way. I've said everything in the most unscientific, amateurish way but I hope it made sense.

 

[Moroccanbeauty2266]

Depression definitely has that negative connotation to it for those who do not want to understand what it really is.


Many people suffer form it and it makes me sad that people judge you so quickly.


I have always tried to hide how I truly feel inside because every time I would open myself up like that I would get hurt.


So in a way that is how I cope with my kind of depression. In my family a lot of us have depression but nobody talks about it.


I am glad that I have a friend who is open about her depression and she uses yoga as a strategy to overcome it.

 

[Bea]

People who tell you to "just be happy" and who tell you that you can't be sad (because children in some places are starving, don't you know that, Bea?) are the ones who frustrate me the most. "You can't be sad! Look at this other person! She's suffering more than you and yet she's happy!" Ugh, those are the worst kind of comments ever. That's why it's a mental illness; depression is a mental illness because you're sad even when there's no cause to be. It's like that because of a hormonal imbalance in your head. I wish people would understand it more. I wish we could get rid of the stigma that, just because you have a mental illness, you're either insane enough to be locked up in an asylum or you're just saying it to get attention.

 

[gracer]

That's right Bea. Depression is not something we choose to feel but it chooses to occur. It's not like we're forcing ourselves to feel sad but we are just sad. I had an uncle who also suffered from depression but we never knew that he was depressed up until he died. He always had this very strong, serious personality that we thought was just his character but beneath it was a very depressed man who never showed us how sad he was maybe because he was afraid of what would be said to him or how people would react to his condition.

 

[joshposh]

Depression is very serious. People can resort to extreme measures when it is not addressed. I have worked with a few kids are were depressed and felt like giving up. My advice to them was an easy one. Of all the things that are against you in the world, it can be countless, even hundreds, you need to find that one thing that gives you hope and a reason of being. It's easy to give in to these depressive feelings, but you have to find that one things that you love and nurture that aspect of you.


Everyone has their special moment or thing in life. It is that, that you cling onto and build yourself up for there.

 

[StillStanding]

I feel like for most, it never goes away. People just get better at coping with it. I think people begin to realise that after each episode things were not as bad as they had assumed so start to take their terrible thoughts about the future with a pinch of salt.

 

[gracer]

Right now, I'm at it again. I just don't feel so energetic again today. I'm just way down sad right now. Sometimes it's really hard to fight it when your sadness just comes out and rules over you. Good thing I have this forum to vent out my feelings to.

 

[amy88]

Hear you 100% about it being super misunderstood. I think that if you know someone who has battled it, then it's easier to understand - but plenty of people haven't, and seem to be of the mindset that people with depression should just "be happy" or "remember that other people always have it worse!" and things like that really just make it worse.


I think slowly but surely more awareness is coming to depression and a whole host of mental health issues, but I do think there's also a whole way to go.