Any answers to depression?

[JoeP]

Originally posted by Chloe

I've always been confused about WHY people get depressed. If you're depressed you shouldn't want to 'brag' about it. A lot of people I know who are depressed seem to be proud to have to see Docs about it. I mean, we all have off or low days but I always think, well, stuff it, tomorrow's another day, I've had a cry etc but now it's time to move on.

 

Those of us who have been clinically depressed or who've seen loved ones in that state don't brag about it. We share these things with people in the hope that it will start to remove some of the stigma that's been associated with any sort of emotional health problems until very recently.

 

There's clearly a long way to go....

 

Some people do go on a little about their 'war stories', just as with all illnesses, but that's no reason to tar everyone with the same brush. The reason people have posted to this thread was to share experiences.

 

If you can move on quickly - great! Chances are it wasn't depression. If you've got a ballsed up brain biochemistry then you can't move on because your brain just con't do the chemistry to make it happen. You may as well tell someone who's blind to read today's Times newspaper. The spirit may be willing but the body just cannot deliver.

 

There is a world of difference between depression and feeling down or having a bad day.

 

Joe

[owdlad]

Originally posted by Chloe

Excuse me, but don't be so quick to shoot me down for having MY opinion, there's not just the usual few who can have their opinions

 

Or is it just that there's only the regulars on here who can have opinions?

 

I think if you can manage to climb down of your high horse for a minute you will find that apart from myself, YOU have the second biggest post count of the people who have rightly commented on your incorrect comments.

 

So get your facts straight before you go accusing others of shooting you down.

 

EDIT. Joe posted his reply whilst I was typing mine.....just so you don't have to climb back onto the horse again

[tosh13]

I suffered from depression 7 yrs ago & I had a community phsychiatric nurse,she came to see me twice a week for 9 months & helped me get through this terrible illness,my eldest son suffered from clinical depression & I thought I was bad,he suffered terrible mood swings,one day he was ok the next he would not speak all day.A so called friend told him to smoke cannibis as this would help, as you know anyone who has read my posts on drugs.Over the weekend up to the 4th July 2001 he had been smoking cannibis all weekend & he then smoked some heroin & on the morning of July 4th he passed away as his body shutdown.At the inquest the coroner said my son had been diagnosed with Clinical Depression & Compulsive Drug Disorder he was 24 yrs old & the anniversary of his death was 2 day's ago.Depression in whatever form is serious & can lead to all sorts of other conditions & some like to think you can just snap out of it with a little cry do not understand the pain & misery Depression can cause.

[halevan]

Originally posted by Olliekitten

Anyone know a good way out of depression if someone is lost? A good friend of mine is really suffering at the moment and I really want to help him. Anyone know any answers?

 

Tell him to leave anti depressants alone, get out and about, in town, in the Peak District, get an interest, meet people, get plenty of fresh air, think of happy things, avoid miserable gits.

[Funky Dave]

Originally posted by Chloe

I've always been confused about WHY people get depressed. If you're depressed you shouldn't want to 'brag' about it. A lot of people I know who are depressed seem to be proud to have to see Docs about it. I mean, we all have off or low days but I always think, well, stuff it, tomorrow's another day, I've had a cry etc but now it's time to move on.

 

I don't think Chloe was being disrespectful in this post. She's only trying to find out a bit more about the subject of depression. Let's face it, it's a pretty weird thing to understand, especially if you've never suffered from it.

 

Depression is (obviously) a way of perceiving the world and your own circumstances in it. People think differently about the same things. I admire the fact that you can just think "stuff it" and move on when bad stuff happens; I wish I could. I tend to brood over the bad stuff, turn it over and over in my mind. Not healthy, but then again, it's just how I am. Other people, for whatever reason, just can't "move on" from whatever is causing the problem (be it an environmental issue, like an unhappy family life, or an internal issue, such as a neurological problem).

Some people, despite outwardly having succesful lives, simply percieve their situation to be futile, hopeless and desperate. Look at kurt Cobain: young, rich, handsome, succesful and very talented, and at the age of 27 he put a gun to his head and shot himself. Outwardly he seemed to have everything, but it didn't stop him from being desperately miserable.

 

I know a few people do seem to "brag" about depression, but if something's weighing heavily on your mind, you usually need to share it, just to lighten the load a bit. Well imagine if that something was tearing up your life - it's going to be on your mind constantly. I suppose that talking about it can be a fairly cathartic experience.

[miniminch]

Originally posted by Chloe

Excuse me, but don't be so quick to shoot me down for having MY opinion, there's not just the usual few who can have their opinions. As a matter of a fact, my sister in law suffers badly, as have many of my family members, which makes me think it could be inherited, so how dare you go judging me.

All I said is that I get confused about why people seem to brag about it, I was in the pub the other day and 2 people were laughing about how anti depressants made them feel when they stopped taking them! Come on! I never said EVERYONE should say what I do, "stuff it, tomorrow's another day" That is just what I DO I don't seem the point in dwelling on things. Read my post before you go saying things you shouldn't.

 

Or is it just that there's only the regulars on here who can have opinions?

chloe, what a horrible, horrible, horrible Insensitive person you are. You will have our depressed friends chucking themselves under buses – can you think before making silly glib comments? Please

[JoeP]

Originally posted by halevan

Tell him to leave anti depressants alone, get out and about, in town, in the Peak District, get an interest, meet people, get plenty of fresh air, think of happy things, avoid miserable gits.

 

Not a bad idea, but if you have a depression caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain then all these things will probably not help.

 

Just sometimes anti-depressants are what is required to get things under control.

 

Joe

[redrobbo]

Clinical depression is a serious and life-threatening illness. Having been a psychiatric social worker for many years, I am fully aware of the crippling nature of this illness. In its worst manifestation, sufferers become suicidal. Some do indeed take their own lives. Some kill themselves by involving others, e.g., by throwing themselves under a train or lorry.

 

I have never met anyone who brags about their depression. Too often sufferers don't talk about it because of a sense of shame or perceived stigma.

 

Chemical treatment (anti-depressents) does indeed help, as well as talking therapies (pyschotherapy, counselling), and also exercise and activities. The one thing to remember about clinical depression is that the sufferer is unlikely to recover and improve without medical help.

[Clik32]

Sorry for the delay, had lots of things to sort out recently. Here goes...

 

MINIMINCH - so you, from ONE of my MANY posts (!) can say that i'm a "horrible, horrible insensitive person" can you? I never made NO comment about anyone HAVING to think stuff it, I said it is what I do!! So who's the horrible one now?

 

OWDLAD - If you look at any of my posts, most of them are asking for help, replying to questions, so on and so forth. NONE of them are starting arguments, none of them are slating mods etc etc. (I'm not saying you're accusing me of this, just an example) This is the first time I've had any dispute with any member. High horse? I wish, I'm probably one of the most relaxed, shy and down to earth people you'll meet and not once have I gotten on my high horse.

 

STARSPARKLE - I fully understand how people with depression feel, I'm a shoulder to cry on for a fair few people, and believe it or not, right now I'm needing the favour returned. My original post simply stated how I am when I feel a bit low, sometimes I do let it bother me for more than a day, a week, whatever, but all I'm saying is the way I prefer to do it. If I wanted to imply that I thought everyone should be like this, I WOULD HAVE SAID SO.

 

This is the problem with too many SF members. You read too much into someone's post, take it too far and accuse them of things they haven't done! I've been a member of this since it was FIRST put in the Star and SOME of the people who post at this time are so rude and arrogant it is untrue. There's no wonder people refuse to post on here any more for fear of getting shot down in flames!!

 

How dare any of you accuse me of something I haven't done?

Bye for now

[miniminch]

Originally posted by Chloe

 

This is the problem with too many SF members. You read too much into someone's post, take it too far and accuse them of things they haven't done! I've been a member of this since it was FIRST put in the Star and SOME of the people who post at this time are so rude and arrogant it is untrue. There's no wonder people refuse to post on here any more for fear of getting shot down in flames!!

 

How dare any of you accuse me of something I haven't done?

Bye for now

There is no need for racism and accusations of child abuse!