How do you escape depression?

[SweetCherry]

Did you ever get into one of those moods where you were so tired, emotionally, and so stressed out that you just wanted to sleep and never wake up? Or where even the "easy way out" seemed to hld a certain appeal? If so, my question is how did/do you get out of it. Right now, i'm almost to the end of my rope, and I need a few answers for anyone who might have been in a similar "dark place".

 

[Expertise]

Damn, I wanted to be a fuck head today.

1. Get out of the house/apartment/dorm NOW!

2. Be around people, preferably your friends or loved ones, no matter how draining it seems.

3. Either get some crisis intervention or make an appointment to see a councillor, therapist or shrink TODAY.

4. Go somewhere that you love, eat comfort food and know that it DOES AND WILL get better.

Never forget that there are people who love you and need you.

 

[CelestialBody]

 

[TonyG]

I could not have said it any better than Expertise.

I might add to surround yourself with those items you enjoy and the people you know that care. Bring them in as close as you can in time of need. Send emails to everyone that you know cares about you. Writing to friends has always helped me.

 

[Deborah]

Hey Expertise

I'm really depressed, in bitch mode and about to rant and rage.

Got anything to calm me down? I'll even bring a girlfriend if you insist.

 

[Expertise]

Re: Hey Expertise

I'm really depressed, in bitch mode and about to rant and rage.

Got anything to calm me down? I'll even bring a girlfriend if you insist.

But venting is GOOD Deb!

Besides, I am currently developing this fantasy of Andrea Dworkin and Rosie O'Donnell covered in oil and simultaneously rimming each other while I furiously masturbate in to a cheeze whiz sandwhich..... lets just say I got my hands full already.

 

[Deborah]

OK, venting is good. I believe everything you say. I trust you. Really I do. I'll go for it.

But why not me and Madame Pandora? She does one helluva David Letterman impression.

 

[Expertise]

OK, venting is good. I believe everything you say. I trust you. Really I do. I'll go for it.

But why not me and Madame Pandora? She does one helluva David Letterman impression.

I'm afraid she would chomp down on the *clears throat* "cigar".

Now we really shouldn't hijack this thread, the kids got problems.

 

[Deborah]

More than you know, Honey, more than you know. OK, I'll talk at you later. Back to R & R.

 

[LittleRedDevil]

My way to cope, although some may say it is bad of me, is I pretend it's not there. I'm not one of those people who can talk about things easily, so I simply pretend everything is peachy. I figure if I don't think about it, it will go away.

 

[His Whimsicality]

1) From personal experience I know that jogging helps a lot: Came home at midnight and felt REALLY awful, so I went out jogging until I was exhausted. Now I go jogging twice a week and the depressions have disappeared, I´d say.

2) My depressions usually came over me when I was alone, so try to socialize, make new friends - feeling all alone is what should be avoided.

 

[His Whimsicality]

3) Depressions are in a way self-induced. Therefore I find it helpful to compare my 'problems' with other people ('You think you´ve got a problem? Just look at that guy, how ... he is. HE is the one with a problem').

 

[SweetCherry]

My way to cope, although some may say it is bad of me, is I pretend it's not there. I'm not one of those people who can talk about things easily, so I simply pretend everything is peachy. I figure if I don't think about it, it will go away.

I usually go that route, too, LRD. But this time it's not working. I find that I'm sinking deeper trying this. But I'm still trying it, for some reason or another.

And I thank the rest of you for your advice and input. I'm trying to surruound myself with those things and people I really care about, but I don't want to let everyone in on what's going on in my life. Some things they might not understand, so I choose to not tell them.

 

[MysteryJKR]

Ive dealt with it plenty since i was younger, I deal in a few diff ways, music for one. Music is always something you can just sit and have around you whether your depressed or not and it will get your mood to change.

Yard Work. hehe. yea yea. i know.

Games, outdoor, indoor. (sports or video games)

& of course the most important in my opninion is spending time with people who really care bout me and want me to smile. very special friends. Even if ya tend to put yourself down or have an attitude bout things. I like to spend my time with those people.

On that note, Isolde babe! Thank ya! *big snuggles*

 

[Mistress]

I'll probably get flamed for this but speaking from personal experience...

You don't escape....it's there always, just somes times it gets covered up real good. Meds help, shrink helps, but they don't do the total job...

 

[SweetCherry]

Maybe I should have asked "How do you deal with depression" instead of how to escape it. I guess I'm looking at it right now as a prison that I need to escape from for sanity's sake. It's not a matter I have to deal with very often, usually just when I get too many things on my plate, and the stress of everyday life and problems is getting to me. I swear, it's always when I get PMS that everything builds up. I swear, I'm irrational when it hits, and I can't for the life of me make sense to those who I need to make understand me the most!

 

[Mistress]

Oh how to deal with it..then you dont want to ask me...because I dont know...I cant...

 

[MysteryJKR]

I'll probably get flamed for this but speaking from personal experience...

You don't escape....it's there always, just somes times it gets covered up real good. Meds help, shrink helps, but they don't do the total job...

Heck no ya cant escape it. which sucks. Ive never taken meds or anything but ive had a lot of friends and people with experience around me and it helps me think. Sometimes I find myself just crying and wanting to just be alone. just hating everything in life and myself most of all. Just for no reason. cuz something is sparked in my head and the depression just shoots out when I hoped it was on vacation. hehe.

 

[Mistress]

edited nm

 

[alexander tzara]

SweetCherry - depression is usually anger turned inwards when it should be turned outwards. It could be anger that you feel towards a specific person, or a situation (eg being in a job or a marriage that you hate) or an unresolved issue, sometimes from your past (some people repress the terrible things that have happened to them in childhood so deep in their subconscious that they can't even remember them happening - they just know there's something wrong there).

A doctor might prescribe anti-depressants but they take around two weeks to start working and they don't solve any problems: the depression's still there underneath your dulled senses.

Depression won't just go away if you ignore it. You've got to take action. It's not healthy to internalise your anger. It can lead to physical problems (high blood pressure, stomach ulcers and other symptoms of stress), and psychological problems (depression, anxiety and phobias etcetera).

You should find ways to release this pressure that builds up inside you whenever you don't let your anger out. As His Whimsicality and others mentioned, intense physical exercise (running, swimming, dancing, working out or whatever) can make you feel much better - you release a lot of the tension that's built up in you and your body releases natural chemicals that make you feel happier.

You can also let a lot of tension out through sublimation: turning the negative energy that's making you depressed into creative energy through writing, art, music, sports or whatever. If you're doing it purely for therapeutic reasons, you don't even need to let anyone else see the results. You're the only audience that matters.

If you have a specific unresolved issue, though, and you know what it is, at some point you're going to have to deal with it: either by talking it through with friends, family or a professional counsellor or - if it's appropriate and you feel up to it - by confronting the people involved directly. Let them know you're unhappy and why. For example, if you're unhappy about the way your partner treats you, you should try to find a way of discussing this with them. Or if you're unhappy in your job, what can you do to make it better? Don't waste all your energy fretting about it - DO something to make things better. Maybe it's time to look for another job that you like better. If you're not in a relationship and you want to be, what can you actually do to make it happen?

I used to be a psychiatric nurse. I noticed that in the majority of cases the way people manage to get out of a depression is by taking some action to sort out the unresolved issues in their lives, or by finding new ways of letting their tension and anger out.

If you're having serious thoughts about harming yourself you should definitely find someone you can talk openly to, not necessarily to give advice, mainly just to listen. It's easier to think clearly about your problems if you tell someone about them. If you think it'll help, look into visiting a professional counsellor.

Basically what I'm saying is, don't let things bottle up inside. DO something constructive to make yourself feel better.

 

[Deborah]

And you listen to the monkey doctor!

 

[SpectreT]

Depression

Hrm. I don't really know. I'm not sure if my depressive state is my base state, or if my manic phase is my home. I just know i go through long periods of complete apathy, self loathing, and pure despair, then one day, I'm a god, I cannot fail, and everything around me is perfect. When I'm at my worst, nothing helps. For me, neither medication nor counseling is an option. No drugs for two very important, to me, reasons; I can see absolutely no good in tampering with my body, ever. And secondly, I see it as a cheat, a mask, and a cover-up. I have a friend who was on some medication or other (he never told me what it was, but unlike me, he's pure depressive), and he was practically a zombie, going through all the motions, but not really FEELING anything, no depression, but no joy either.

That's not the way I want to be.

Counseling, a prerequisite to getting medicated, is also out, for a few reasons. I have a very logical mind, and when logic takes me to a conclusion, I'm immovable by any outside prodding.

Example, from my deepest thoughts of self:

Fact:
I will be thirty in the beginning of May, on the anniversary of the Hindenberg crash.

Fact:
I work in a public service industry, namely, retail sale of books.

Fact:
This job, while fun, is nowhere near well-paying enough to allow me to leave my parents' home, and live as an adult.

Fact:
I have no girlfriend, or even prospects. Therefore, I am not providing the one thing I feel a person is supposed to in this world; I am bringing no happiness to anyone else.

The combination of these facts, in my most depressive state, leads me to the invariable conclusion that my existence is a tremendous waste of human life, that I've fouled up somewhere, and that it is far too late to ever fix my life, to make it one worth living. I have literally cried myself to sleep over this in the past, and probably will do so again. As I believe I mentioned in another post, however, I feel myself to be a warrior, whose goal and mission is the happiness of others, and to tend their needs. My pain becomes anger, and that anger fuels my actions, until the depression passes, and those wonderful times that I'm on top of the world are back.

Keep people around you, remind yourself that all things in this life are transitory, and just PRETEND to be energetic and happy. Soon enough, it won't be a pretense.

That's my method anyway.

And about the "easy way out"? Remember two things:
1) It's never "easy" on those you leave behind.
2) Eventually, we're all going to die anyway, so why rush it? You might be cheating yourself of all kinds of interesting experiences.

side note, a bit I only half remember from a book I read when I was younger:

Why pray to God for strength, or for an end to your trials? Who do you think sent those trials in the first place? God knows your strength, He's just showing you what it's for.

You can insert "Yaweh" or "Allah" or "Bob", or heck, even "boston fern" in place of "God".

 

[SweetCherry]

Thanx, Alexander. It sounds like good advice. I know what you say is true. I thik that may be part of the problem. I have things I need to tell certain people in my real life and I'm afraid to do so. I've spent a lot of time chatting to friends this morning who have helped me see things a bit clearer. That, a hot bath, some music, and a bit to eat have cleared my head somewhat to where I know that self-destruction is not the way out. It doesn't make it any easier to do what I have to, but I'm at least once again getting my head out of my proverbial backside and facing reality.

Again, thank you to everyone who offered me bits of advice. It was greatly appreciated.

 

[alexander tzara]

It doesn't make it any easier to do what I have to, but I'm at least once again getting my head out of my proverbial backside and facing reality.

The monkey doctor is pleased.

 

[Kuddles]

Depression...

It's a dark, eerie hole...I suffer from it myself. I tried for 7 years to deal with it on my own to no avail. I finally broke down and went to counselling and am also on Zoloft....I now wish I had gone a lot sooner! Counselling has helped me sooooo much and so have the meds. I know alot of people are against it but, my doctor monitors me monthly and makes sure I am not zombied out. My counselor has helped me deal with several people in my family that I haven't had the courage to stand up to on my own before...I've always bit my tongue and laid low. But, now that I found the courage to stand up to them I now feel empowered and in control of my life. I know counselling and meds isn't for everyone but it certainly made a difference for me!