"Depression a 21st century plague"

i think there is so many reasons why people fake, or exaggerate depression, it could just be middle class goths and emos who want to be 'different', different like being self harmers (but not hard enough to kill yourself), or being bi-sexual which seems to be some massive fad at the moment, or as someone said earlier a form of self pity, when they read hello magazine and the sun newspaper to see these rich millionaires that are their idols, but they cant get there. I dont know, to be honest ive had a couple of run ins with other people, self harmers and that and my conclusion as ForumFreak said, it is best to stay well away.

Leave the depressed alone untill they grow up and learn to deal with it

Reply 21

FlowerSarah

There is a big difference between being depressed and feeling down and low at times. Too many people use the word too lightly these days. Stressful situations like exams and relationship breakdowns can stress people out and make then unhappy but are they really clinically depressed? This overuse of the word just increases the stigma around mental illness and makes it a lot harder for people with real depression to acknowledge their problems and seek help.

Real depression is a serious medical condition. Having worked on a mental health ward I've seen people with real mental health problems. Big difference to a stressed out teeanger "hating life and wanting to die" on MSN.

Reply 22

AverageGuyOnTheStreet

9

FlowerSarah

There is a big difference between being depressed and feeling down and low at times. Too many people use the word too lightly these days. Stressful situations like exams and relationship breakdowns can stress people out and make then unhappy but are they really clinically depressed? This overuse of the word just increases the stigma around mental illness and makes it a lot harder for people with real depression to acknowledge their problems and seek help.

Real depression is a serious medical condition. Having worked on a mental health ward I've seen people with real mental health problems. Big difference to a stressed out teeanger "hating life and wanting to die" on MSN.

You're right there. I didn't get help for a long time because I was too ashamed that I had a problem. My depression was bad as well and I had attempted suicide before anyone knew I was depressed. Even then, I was still too scared to see my GP because I thought he would think I was being a hypochondriac. But I knew I needed to get help before I messed up my health even more (it was quite a serious attempt with serious long term health consequences) and also because I had promised my parents that I would get help so I didn't get into the same situation again. Since then, I've still had a lot of problems but there is nobody who knows the full extent. I have been put on waiting list after waiting list and also been uprooted physically when I was emotionally unstable but getting help was the right thing to do so I can get on the road to recovery.

Reply 23

hannah_dru

2

ForumFreak

The problem when you tell these people to get a grip is that they get really offended. I think they're best left alone.

As if it's that easy to just do it like that. If you leave people alone they just get worse. Speaking from experience here.

Reply 24

AverageGuyOnTheStreet

9

hannah_dru

As if it's that easy to just do it like that. If you leave people alone they just get worse. Speaking from experience here.

I would not have got through recent times without the support from my friends.

Reply 25

poppy22

Just a quick question to AverageGuyOnTheStreet, please don't take it the wrong way as I don't mean it to sound bad.

Why do you have an unhappy face as your picture?? I can see that you are depressed but does telling everyone help the situation?

I've noticed that a lot of people who are "depressed" publicise it whereas people with other mental illness tend not to as much. This is one of the reasons I find it hard to believe that the depression is a genuine illness as to me it often appears to be an attention seeking act.

AverageGuyOnTheStreet (and anyone else who is depressed), I am really interested in your views on this, so please please reply!! :smile:

Reply 26

FlowerSarah

AverageGuyOnTheStreet

I would not have got through recent times without the support from my friends.

Agreed.

I am glad you finally got help and hope things improve for you. I've also experienced some problems and know how hard it can be. You’ve made the big first step in getting help :smile:

Reply 27

AverageGuyOnTheStreet

9

poppy22

Just a quick question to AverageGuyOnTheStreet, please don't take it the wrong way as I don't mean it to sound bad.

Why do you have an unhappy face as your picture?? I can see that you are depressed but does telling everyone help the situation?

I've noticed that a lot of people who are "depressed" publicise it whereas people with other mental illness tend not to as much. This is one of the reasons I find it hard to believe that the depression is a genuine illness as to me it often appears to be an attention seeking act.

AverageGuyOnTheStreet (and anyone else who is depressed), I am really interested in your views on this, so please please reply!! :smile:

My avatar is not actually related to my depression,though it has been useful when people have thought I should come across happy (hence the line at the bottom of my sig). But I like the smilie I used as my avatar as I use it in my posts and admittedly I was having a bad day when I decided I wanted an avatar. I could have had a smiley avatar but thought that people will expect me to be happy when I'm not and also loads of people have smiley avatars so I wanted to be different, and that is why I haven't changed it.

By the way, I was too ashamed to even admit that I had a problem for about 4 months. I did everything I could to increase my motivation/sort out my sleeping patterns/get happier/etc etc etc before I even considered seeing my GP. My first suicide attempt should have been enough for me to realise I needed help. Instead, I applied for extenuating circumstances on the back of an 'unavoidable illness', still failed my exams, then decided to drop out. It wasn't until I became suicidal again that I got help, but by then I had messed up my long term health so much. I tell people about my depression and how I was too ashamed to get help, or even admit that there was something wrong, because I don't want to see others going through what I've been through.

Depression might be common - I've heard it referred to as 'the common cold of psychiatry' - but it is still an illness. It is caused by a lack of seratonin in the brain. Some of the symptoms are related to thought processes but there are physical symptoms too - messed up sleep patterns and change in appetite for example.

Reply 28

sweetface.

Depression is a very common thing, but I wouldn't call it a "plague" everyone suffers it any point in thier life, so it can be like a cold it comes and then it goes.

Reply 29

starchild

15

I suffer from depression and would like to echo again Hannah Dru and averageguyonthestreet. They are both right in the fact that depressed people can only confide to people close to them, or someone who has gone through simillar experiences. However, from my own experience, I find it hard talking to people who are very close to me for example family. So, I talk to people on here but also close friends. I dont want to feel like I burden them. :frown:

Sorry for this, just wanted to post something to support those posts.

Reply 30

h82think

14

Depression imo occurs due to a lack of control or having no purpose. What can be done to combat this: I have no idea!

Reply 31

nikk

15

It is important to realise that an element of depression is a normal fact of life, that will affect everybody at some stage or other. The vast majority of these cases are quickly self-resolving (few days to a few months). More serious depression that persists and seriously degrades your quality of life are the ones that need medical treatment and can be considered more of an illness IMO. I think doctors need to concentrate more on making such distinctions. We live in something of a trigger happy society when it comes to dishing out perscriptions.

Reply 32

~~hannah~~

4

Depressed mood has a function and I think in our quick fix society people have forgotten that there is a reason why we feel down sometimes. It helps us to reallocate our resources to endeavours that have a better pay off, so for example we feel down if we get dumped but we feel that on order to help us realise that we would be better off with someone else, and it helps us to ruminate over what went wrong and how we can fix it in the future. Depressed mood is functional, and people are overeager to say its a clinical problem.

The problem is that in our quick fix society everyone wants an answer quickly, now along with fast food, we are looking for fast mental fixes. Alot of people are getting diagnosed who just need to take time to come to terms with something, instead they feel like there is something wrong with them, and do not have the time (due to work, children, school) to ruminate so just run to the doctor at the word go.

There are people who are truly clinically depressed, but compared with the number of people on antidepressants its really very few.

Reply 33

goodLife

poppy22

This is probably going to wind people up, but I think it needs to be said...

I recon that a lot of people use the term "depression" as an excuse for the fact that they are not mentally strong. -And because it's been labeled as an illness then they get some sort of pity as it is not their fault. It really winds me up when people get depressed about stupid things such as;

when there are so many people out there who have lost everything but are mentally strong enough not to bring everyone else down with them.

And before everyone gets really cross, I do recognise that some people genuinely have depression but I think that the majority of people who say they do or are diagnosed with it are looking for excuses to feel sorry for themselves.

Everone is different and it really sounds like you have not had the depression that these depressed people you are talking about have. Ive always secretly thought that depression/anxiety is one of the most awkward things to have as when I had it it is hard not to become 'selfish' and bring others down. Its a constant fear with a really negative perception of life. I thought that people who had it were just soft attention seeeking until I started with it all at 16.

Reply 34

lostinfantasies

2

I've lived with some form of depression for the past nine, ten years. I'm nineteen in August. Go figure.

For me, it's very real. It's very there. I know when I'm "okay", I know when I'm "neutral", and I know when I'm at my lowest of my lows and I know when I want to kill myself...

...

Basically.

Lol.

People who are depressed, who are REALLY, TRULY depressed...they see the world in a completely different way to others. Like goodLife says - it's a negative perception of life.

What I can't stand is that doctors tend to wait until something's HAPPENED, i.e., self-harm, suicide attempt, etc., etc., before they take depression seriously. I KNOW I've had it for this long, and yet I was told that despite a suicide attempt I had a few years ago, despite the fact that I CONTINUE to think about Doing Something Stupid, I was told to "go for a bit of a walk", that I wasn't "really depressed", and that I just felt a "bit sad" at times.

It's like...how far does a person have to go?! It annoys me when people think depression = self-harm, suicide, etc. It means so much more than that. It's the THOUGHTS as well as the actions.

Reply 35

Sorani

16

What I can't stand is that doctors tend to wait until something's HAPPENED, i.e., self-harm, suicide attempt, etc., etc., before they take depression seriously

There are doctors who don't even take you seriously when you *have* done some of those things. Some doctors I think aren't really sure of how to deal with it and seem to turn to pills like fluoxetine straight away to try and make the problem go away.

Reply 36

Anonymous #1

I think I have depression, although my doctors have indicated it could be a very bad stress response to the following factors all together:

- Finding out my dad had a mental illness (had been kept secret between mum and sister)
- Having to look after my whole family who all have illnesses
- Grandmother passing away
- Exams (a-levels)

This obviously has affected my revision so much, and I'm needing AAB. The worst thing is, I doubt Queen Mary University will even take any of this into consideration.

And I have been bottling most the long-term ones of these for a few years - so I urge all to be more open about their feelings, and especially guys - I'm a guy, but we're socialised way too much into keepin our upset to ourselves!

Reply 37

starchild

15

Anonymous

I think I have depression, although my doctors have indicated it could be a very bad stress response to the following factors all together:

- Finding out my dad had a mental illness (had been kept secret between mum and sister)
- Having to look after my whole family who all have illnesses
- Grandmother passing away
- Exams (a-levels)

This obviously has affected my revision so much, and I'm needing AAB. The worst thing is, I doubt Queen Mary University will even take any of this into consideration.

And I have been bottling most the long-term ones of these for a few years - so I urge all to be more open about their feelings, and especially guys - I'm a guy, but we're socialised way too much into keepin our upset to ourselves!

regarding Queen Mary. I applied there for law and they were very supportive of my circumstances. They are very supportive. Just alert them to your concern, so at least they know.

Reply 38

db

17

poppy22

Why do you have an unhappy face as your picture?? I can see that you are depressed but does telling everyone help the situation?

I partially agree with this. Obviously you need to be able to tell people you are close to (or possibly live with) that you have depression and that's you'd benefit from their help and support at best and for them to at least acknoweldge and appreaciate you have a mental illness at worst.

I equally believe that there is a time and place to mention any sort of illness and this is definitely a case in point. Like helenkr has said, some people seem to let their depression define who they are as a person and I reckon that once you've become one of those people you're only making it harder for yourself to get 'better'.

Reply 39

DeSiFiEd

2

starchild

regarding Queen Mary. I applied there for law and they were very supportive of my circumstances. They are very supportive. Just alert them to your concern, so at least they know.

wow thats very comforting - did you get in? How did you go about alerting them? thanks alot.

"Depression a 21st century plague"

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