How Do You Deal With Depression?
By freak369
@freak369 (5113)
United States
February 17, 2016 9:00am CST
I guess every person has their own way of dealing with depression; I tried medication and nothing seemed to work for me but I know a couple of friend who take things like anti anxiety meds and prescriptions just for "the blahs".
There are some people that thrive on depression; if they aren't complaining about some facet of their life then they just don't feel 'fulfilled'. I consider them hypochondriacs to a degree but its hard to say that without a twinge of guilt. Depression isn't something that you can see on an x-ray nor is it something that shows up on a blood test.
I'll be blunt, there are days when I wake up and in that 30 second post-sleep foggy haze when I realize that this isn't a nightmare but is in fact 'my life' I get this wave of depression that washes over me. I am grateful to be alive but the reality of being a double amputee weighs heavy on me at times.
Talking to a 'professional' about it doesn't work for me; they can sympathize with me until the cows come home but they can't say "I understand what you are going through" and "I know what you are feeling" and actually mean it (unless of course they are an amputee). I used to get upset when doctors, nurses and psychologists would say that they knew what I was going through but it's a losing battle so why bother getting upset when there's nothing you can do about it outside of telling them that they are doing nothing but slighting their patients by trivializing their problems.
How do you deal with the occasional case of 'the blues'?
Does exercise help you when you are depressed?
Have you tried any over the counter medications for depression?
9 people like this
10 responses
@JohnRoberts (109846)
• Los Angeles, California
17 Feb 16
I just live with it. Depression is something I feel in varying degrees on a daily basis. Distractions are what I seek. Movies, music, reading, anything to deter the mind.
2 people like this
@freak369 (5113)
• United States
17 Feb 16
Keeping busy is a great way to stay occupied or to get your mind off of what is dogging you/ For me, it's not that easy. Having to wrestle with prosthetics just to get out of bed to go to the bathroom can feel like trying to wade through a pool of gelatin. Everything moves in slow motion. Thankfully I have some great friends that never let me get away with having a pity party for myself. From where I am, I can see how people can sleep for 20 hours a day or do absolutely nothing but lay on the couch and watch television.
1 person likes this
@Poppylicious (11133)
•
17 Feb 16
I haven't tried over the counter, but I am on prescribed medication. The occasional blues is completely different to depression. I may not understand what it's like to live as a double amputee, but I can relate to the waves of depression and I do know how that feels. I have suffered with depression since childhood so it's just part of my natural make-up now, to the extent that living without depression and anxiety scares me senseless! Odd.
1 person likes this
@freak369 (5113)
• United States
17 Feb 16
My anxiety comes from having to push myself in physical therapy and the fear of falling. I try so hard to walk 'normal' that when I am in pain or have a limp I try to cover it up because I don't want people to feel sorry for me. When I lost my left leg in 2008 I didn't want to live - I had no intention of killing myself - I just had no desire to live. That subsided when I got my prosthetic leg and stood up in the parallel bars the first time but when I lost the right leg in 2014 it was like "oh well, back to square one". People who never have ongoing depression won't understand what it feels like. While I am thankful that I am alive, there are times when I ask myself "Is this really considered living?"
1 person likes this
@msiduri (5687)
• United States
17 Feb 16
A year and a half ago, a friend I'd known for twenty years stopped talking to me and did some nasty things behind my back I won't go into. Oh, the drama! It was a nasty surprise. And I was quite hurt, not to mention humiliated. On top of losing a long term friendship, I also had to come to terms with the idea that I wouldn't see her daughter grow up. I'd first seen her as a preemie when she was 12 hours old.
I mourned a bit, went on a shopping spree (a few books I couldn't afford) then hit the gym. I started walking four or five days a week, all things I should have been doing anyway.
It helped. At least I wasn't home moping.
I realize that's a bit more difficult for you. I have my legs.
Anyway, wishing you all the best in keeping the beast at bay.
2 people like this
@Shiva49 (26684)
• Singapore
17 Feb 16
I have no severe health issues but do feel out of sorts at times. It is not easy nowadays as others have no time to talk face-to-face!
I had remarked at another site that we should try to associate with positive minded people but one in the know of things told me depression is more of chemical imbalance and not easy to deal with. I feel it is finally up to us to handle this tough issue and try to come out of it - siva
1 person likes this
@freak369 (5113)
• United States
17 Feb 16
Technology is supposed to help bridge the gap between people but I think it has done the opposite. I don't think that people can be happy all the time because that would probably make them have a psychotic break at some point. I would love to have a 'normal' life with an even keel or range of emotions but that's a way off for me at this stage in my recovery
2 people like this
@teamfreak16 (43418)
• Denver, Colorado
17 Feb 16
Well, I'm a Bipolar that leans heavily to the depression side. Riding my bike helps a lot by giving me something positive to focus on. I get some pretty good meds from the VA, and, although the State of Colorado won't allow it, I've found that MMJ works wonders for it. Sometimes, however, I just have to battle through it.
2 people like this
@greysfreak (1384)
• United States
18 Feb 16
I have lived with depression, anxiety and other mental illness for as long as I can remember. I had been on over a dozen different medicines over the years. Up until a few years ago I hadn't been on anything for years. Really, the only thing that medicine is doing for me this time is stabilizing my moods. The depression, the worthlessness, the hopelessness, it's all still there. It is just easier to control my moods now that I am on medicine. I still have bad times.. but less than before, I think.
As far as exercise when depressed, I don't know if it would help, even though I am stabilized emotionally for the most part, I still have no motivation, so dragging myself up to do that doesn't really happen. And when it does I overdo it, and end up in pain and can't do anything for a while... which leaves me in the same place. lol
For the most part, when I am upset or in a really bad place I try to distract myself. Listen to music, play a video game, watch a favorite show. Anything to not feel what I'm feeling so deep. It kinda works, not always, but it can numb the pain.
I would never think someone was a hypochondriac because they are depressed, or because they complain. Mental illness is a real thing, you might not be able to see it in an xray, or see it under a microscope. But it is real, and sometimes even more painful than anything you can find on an x-ray. And worse, nobody can see it, so they don't know you are going through it unless you tell them.
@JudyEv (340210)
• Rockingham, Australia
18 Feb 16
I wonder if there is a support group, even an online one, that might help? My son has depression and has medication. It is a hard thing for others to understand I think. I have to keep telling myself it's a chemical imbalance. I also continually stop myself saying 'buck up'. I wish you well.
1 person likes this
@ganesh24 (46)
• Kolkata, India
18 Feb 16
I do not know if there is any person who never fell into the trap of depression. The source of depression has to be meticulously searched and unless and until it is done one can not get over it. Over ambition often leads to depression , repeated failure to do or undo a job invites depression, repeated suffering from painful diseases or infirmity cause depression, emotional breakdown due to multifarious contrary actions bring depression, bad and undesirable association invokes depression and so on and so forth.....find out the causing factor which is itching and driving to the depression. Once the aetiology is correctly diagnosed, well, you will yourself be able to medicate it properly and get rid of the malice.May God help you.
@Telynor (1763)
• United States
18 Feb 16
I hear you. I have the double whammy of major depression-recurrent and PTSD, and it sucks. I can usually deal with the depression by staying busy and using my coping skills, but let the pain kick in, and well, off I go into the pit. My partner is a champ, and really helps when it get bad.
