A question for depression sufferers..

These are probably a really silly series of ignorant questions to ask, but I am just really interested to understand this condition a little better.

But those of you who actually have or take medication for depression, how did you first discover that you actually needed to see a doctor about the problem?
I mean, to actually have clinical depression, do you literally have to feel down and depressed all the time? Or is it just frequent bouts of depression? I mean, depressed people surely still laugh and joke around. I perhaps see it more as a suffering internally rather than immediately noticable when you first see someone...

Are there other ways or curing depression, is medication the only answer or can lifestyle changes possibly help cure the condition?

I am also wondering what are the main causes of depression? Is it hormonal imbalances or can just lack of self esteem or personal problems lead to the onset of clinical depression?

Thanks and I hope someone feels happy enough to talk about what is essentially a horrible condition to suffer from.

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Reply 1

Tinkers

If i knew the answers to this i wouldnt have depression!! Its been 2years now, and ive seen councelers, doctors, phycatrists, ive tried differnt medication, different types of therapy. I still none the wiser!!

Reply 2

theepw

thanks for replying graddage, when did you first realise that you actually had to see someone about the condition?

also, when it was initially confirmed that you had depression, where you told what caused it in your situation?

Reply 3

Anonymous #1

I went to the doctor because the people close to me noticed I was suffering from more than just stress/sadness. It was too intense, the way I saw myself was hugely distorted etc. and they said I needed to go to the GP the next morning! So I did and I said I was feeling sad and he asked me questions which revealed the extent of the depression.

I think the main trigger of depression is: when what you have to cope outweighs you ability to cope and you dip under into depression. This can be anything really - hormones, stress, anxiety, esteem etc. (probably a combination of the lot!)

Reply 4

theepw

I see where your coming from.

Was the depression a feeling that was pretty much constant throughout your whole day? I mean did you have non stop depression, or did you have some better days?

Reply 5

Tinkers

When i attempted suicide. Nope they still dont no whats caused it, they rekon it a mix of things.

Reply 6

theepw

Right I see. I mean could you personally pin point what was causing your feeling of utter unhappiness?

As I have already said further up, was this a constant 24/7 thing? I did you find that on some days it was not that bad and you could perhaps laugh or joke around.. I mean was it an inconsistent thing, or very frequent?

Reply 7

Anonymous #1

theepw

I see where your coming from.

Was the depression a feeling that was pretty much constant throughout your whole day? I mean did you have non stop depression, or did you have some better days?

No it wasn't constant, which was quite deception (cause I told myself I wasn't that miserable etc). Then I kept a diary for a few days - saying how I felt at the most extreme and roughly how much of the day I felt: awful, OK, good. Then I noticed awful + extreme thoughts were taking up a lot of the day, most days.

I think it's tricky because depressed people often have a tendency to feel unworthy - so don't want to go to the doctor - and can have moments of feeling really good. Doesn't negate your depression though.

Reply 8

theepw

yea, I know one of my friends said the same to me. He said that he often felt down and lost enjoyment in things he previously enjoyed, but the fact that the feeling wasn't 24/7 he felt that it was a silly thing to even suggest that he was depressed.

Since he had low self esteem anyway, he tended to feel that going to the doctor was a waste of the doctors time and that it was a silly thing to see someone about, as it was nothing too serious.

I mean, did anyone notice that you were depressed, or as I mentioned, is it more of an internal feeling that people don't really tend to pick up on that well?

Also, did it also your sense of humour, i mean one day could you be laugh and joke with your friends, but other days just feel horrible?

Reply 9

Anonymous #1

Like I said, it was the people close to me who noticed. They'd had experience of depression themselves so recognised the symptoms in me. Then I kept a diary, then went to the doctor.

I could laugh and joke, but felt detatched from it most of the time.

Reply 10

theepw

Oh right i see.

How long had those feelings been going on for? Was a quite a long time before those around you said that you should see a doctor?

Reply 11

Anonymous #1

Within a couple of weeks. They'd noticed a general pessimism coming over me, then I'd want to go out less, then they noticed I was sleeping nearly all of the day etc. and so it mounted up until it became almost hard for them not to notice.

Do you suspect you might have the symptoms yourself, or are you concerned for a friend?

Reply 12

theepw

Well I guess that is what I am not sure about really. I don't want to feel silly and go and see someone, I mean I have done tests online, but I am not sure how valid they are.

I don't feel down every day, yet today I felt really down. I don't get as much enjoyment out of things I used to enjoy. But then again on the flip side, everyone feels down from time to time, and maybe I am just growing out of the things I used to enjoy a lot...

I guess if I tried to educate myself about the condition I might be able to find out or not. I am quite self deprocating at times, so I guess that when I do feel down I just think to myself, 'stop being so silly'...

Reply 13

Anonymous #1

It's a tough thing to diagnose. Often depression can have quite physical symptoms (too much sleep - insomnia, loss of appetite - increase of appetite, loss of interest in going out, loss of sex drive). There's plenty of stuff on depression online. Don't try and self diagnose using the net, just use it to try and understand how you're feeling. For example, I didn't think anything of be able to be awake for only 2-3 hours a day until I read depression can cause it online. If you suspect depression, go to the doctor. Don't out it off for fear of 'making a fuss'.

Don't feel embarrassed about going to the doctor. People out there purposefully waste GP time - LOADS of them - or don't turn up to appointments etc. If you have a real concern, it's completely valid and worth checking out.

Reply 14

theepw

My sleep patterns are not as extreme as yours, in fact over a few months its been inconsistent really ie. I either feel really knackered during the day and just want to sleep, but at night I just cant sleep at all.

Looking at the other two situations of people who have posted in this topic, I don't think that whatever I am feeling is that severe. I mean I do have personal problems which I havn't told anyone, it could be the bottling up of those things that can cause a feeling of being a bit down from time to time.

It's most likely nothing, probably caused by the dark nights, they always get me down anyway.

I really appreciate your replies by the way, I guess it takes quite a bit of courage to talk about that kind of condition and open up about it. I really hope it gets better for you with time.

Thanks...

Reply 15

Anonymous #2

Yeah i went to the doctor today to get refered to a counsellor for as long as i can remember i have not really felt happy. My mood changes all thro the day its really bad at the mo.At the mo its a consant feeling down like ill be happy for a bit but majority of the day i feel down. i have not been diagonsed with depression yet but i think i have it

Reply 16

Draculara

depression is often caused by a reduction in a neurotransmitter in the brain called seratonin, hence medication.
low seratonin isn't the only thing that can cause depression though, yes, low self esteem can be major one. a traumatic event or other things too. i think i became depressed because of a really delayed reaction to a traumatic event. i think. but its really hard to know.

Reply 17

he_is_innocent

I felt really really 'down' (no word to describe it really), sad, stressed, anxious pretty much constantly for two years, worse at 'certain times of the month' but not really too noticable as I felt so crap anyway, self harmed, saw a counsellor for 6 months in those 2 years, was suicidal, stopped socialising, stopped talking pretty much, could quite easily spend the day in bed doing nothing, or spend a day in silence if I wasn't forced to talk to people. I either wouldn't be able to sleep much at all or would sleep too much. I couldn't going into shops etc on my own, would NEVER talk to the people at the counter (others got very annoyed at me!) and would never do things like that on my own, but at the same time I hated being around people becauase al I wanted to do was be on my own and dissolve into my own little world. My counsellor wrote to my GP because I wasn't sure how to explain everything to describe it best and when I (eventually) went to my GP for something else, she brought it up, did a questionnaire thing and diagnosed me with serious depression and anxiety, if this is any help. I am now on anti-depressents (citalopram) and the mini-pill to help with the worsening at certain times of the month, which seems to be helping most of the time but still not the ideal solution. Sorry for the long post, am feeling a bit down at the moment, and want to distract myself...though this probably isn't the best post to be writing to distract myself :biggrin:

Reply 18

Ink

Depression can take many forms, and I know this because I myself have experienced it in several forms over the course of my years - often it changed when my circumstances changed.

I do believe depression can be overcome, but it requires a lot of change internally, externally (you might need to change a lot of things in your day-to-day life), and sometimed medications are required. Therapy can help you with the first two parts.

Medication does not help everyone, however, and in my opinion, those who prescribe meds are sometimes not very discerning. You say you need some, they give you some. Simple as that. You tell them it's not working out with you, they move on to the next med.

Therefore, I really suggest seeing a therapist first. Therapy can help you in ways that drugs cannot.

As for my own depression...it had been going on for years, but I thought it was only due to my environment (abusive parents) and I thought everything would be better when I left home.
Things only got worse when I left home.
It got to the point where not only was I apathetic about everything in life and my entire future, but there were times when I was in physical pain because I hated myself/my life so much. It's hard to describe, but when there is physical pain involved, when this pain gets so bad that you think you would do anything you could to stop it....when you put yourself in bad situations because you feel you don't deserve anything good in life...that's when you know it's time to see a doctor for medication. That's when you know therapy isn't cutting it.

Personally, meds didn't do wonders for me. One medication made me gain weight and get kind of crazy for a while. Another one seemed to help at first but when circumstances made me go cold turkey, I didn't notice anything different.

Umm...other than that, for those of you with extreme mood swings, you might be bipolar, which is (I've heard) harder to treat in most cases.

...However, many people who are depressed have good times and bad times. You have to decide whether the good times and the bad times balance out. How bad are the bad times? How often do they come? Are there even any good times?

Some of my depressive states have just been a complete lack of feeling towards anything. Apathy and avoidance at it's best.

And to top it off, for most of the time that I have been depressed, I have had a healthy social life. Most of the time when I was with people, I would just get quieter when I wasn't feeling so great, or if I 'crashed' (I had moodswings), I would make an excuse to go home, so as to not pull others around me down.
Others who didn't know me that well often said I was always the one smiling.

Just becuase what you think may be depression may not be as extreme as what others are describing doesn't mean you don't have it at all. Like I said, it takes many forms, and can occur in various levels of intensity.

To close up, I will, once more, suggest seeing a therapist. Even if you think the problem is as small as you bottling things up, the therapist can probably help. Might as well go and sort out current problems before they turn into bigger ones, eh?

Reply 19

Anonymous #3

Afraid I'll have to answer this one anonymously.

theepw

But those of you who actually have or take medication for depression, how did you first discover that you actually needed to see a doctor about the problem?

The first time I experienced it, when I was about fourteen or fifteen, my behaviour, condition, performance at school, etc., had deteriorated markedly, to the extent that my school, parents, etc., had noticed. I was seen by my GP and referred to a psychiatrist immediately (who had a two year waiting list: I was seen the next day).

I mean, to actually have clinical depression, do you literally have to feel down and depressed all the time? Or is it just frequent bouts of depression? I mean, depressed people surely still laugh and joke around. I perhaps see it more as a suffering internally rather than immediately noticable when you first see someone...

Generally, from most descriptions of the condition I have seen, it is a sustained bout rather than sporadic bouts of ill humour (although chronic depression certainly meets the criteria for the latter). Some depressed people don't laugh and joke; some are so profoundly depressed in fact (catatonia) that they are incapable of moving or speaking (one thinks rather of the actress in Bergman's Persona). Doctors are trained to recognize the markers of depression (unkempt appearance, absence of eye contact, the visible marks of sleeplessness and neglect, and so on).

Are there other ways or curing depression, is medication the only answer or can lifestyle changes possibly help cure the condition?

I think this is a deeply controversial question. I contend that medication is not a way of curing depression at all; most of the psychiatric drugs were developed for other purposes (insecticide for instance), and those clever chaps at the pharmaceutical companies recognized that chemical brain-damage might be rather profitable (the antipsychotics were originally marketed as 'chemical lobotomies' when brain-damage was still in vogue). Lifestyle changes can definitely help, except in the case of certain rather recalcitrant depressions (e. g., the catatonia mentioned above).

I am also wondering what are the main causes of depression? Is it hormonal imbalances or can just lack of self esteem or personal problems lead to the onset of clinical depression?

The causes are completely unknown. As with any psychiatric condition, there are probably a multitude of 'conditions' going under the name depression, each of which has multivariable causes. The idea of a chemical or hormonal imbalance is widespread; but the evidence is scanty at best (and often simply a case of the post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy). I suppose, as with anything psychological, the causes are a mixture of hardwiring and circumstances; in a sense, one can think oneself into a depression. I don't have much truck with the idea of blaming extraneous circumstances (lots of people cope with worse after all); rather a case of reception and interpretation.

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