Depression is NOT a Real Disorder

reply to post by Modern Americana


Perhaps we were predisposed to it. Knowing the mental stability of our family, it would not surprise me.

(Modern Americana and I are brothers, for those that don't know.)

reply to post by Modern Americana


Just don't end up like me.. its not a good place to be dude..

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us..

Originally posted by PETROLCOIN
(Modern Americana and I are brothers, for those that don't know.)

Learn something new everyday..

I used to be one of those self-righteous jerks who told people to "buck up"-then I had to deal with depression. In my case, I was never overly sad or happy. I was just neutral really. Then the sleep problems started, the guilt over nothing, everything was my fault. I hated seeing myself everyday. I was just angry at myself all the time. I finally decided to go to therapy. I was never given medication as I found I could control my mood through proper diet and sleep. If i don't get eight hours of sleep a night my mood will get dire quickly.

I don't know what caused it. It just happened one day. I had to quit my job (bartender) because the environment just wasn't going to aid my in getting well. I'm lucky in that my husband saw his father go through something similar so he was very kind to me.

Some of the statements regarding depression are just silly. No, it wasn't about being a victim. I didn't enjoy it. Some days I couldn't bring myself to get out of bed. It wasn't some sort of attention gag. I wanted to be alone, away from everyone. I felt ashamed of myself and just wanted it to stop.

reply to post by ThichHeaded


I go to the Portal to make me smile sometimes.

Don't get me wrong, I am not some down-in-the-dumps guy all the time. If I were not so self-concious about my teeth structure, I would be smiling damn near 24/7. I smile and laugh all the time and am a generally happy person, I just have severe mood swings and all it takes is a thought and the rest of the day is ruined.

reply to post by PETROLCOIN
This is a great post. I just wanted to add that anxiety and depression don't always go hand-in-hand. It's possible to suffer just anxiety. Don't have any shame when it comes to seeing a shrink and taking your meds. Do what you need to do to participate in life. Be your own warrior. Those that judge forget they probably just downed a six-pack of beer/bottle of wine/a couple of martinis or whatever other "attitude adjustment" provides them a distraction. Also don't feel you have to explain your condition to anyone other than your doctor.

One other thing...this really isn't ATS topic material, correct??

reply to post by Modern Americana


Its funny you say that, I have the same issue.. Teeth wise.. I was getting them worked on and in the middle of it i ran out of ins.. sucks to be me i suppose.. But i get what your saying, You have a better grasp on things than I do..

I to goto The Portal to have fun.. its a good place to hang out and not be ourselves.. Remember that night what I said.. I was being honest when i said this is the best time I had in a long time.. It really way.. I rarely smile about anything but that night was awesome for me.. Ironically it was here on ats..

But you guys are cool.. I wanted to tell you also I added you and Petrol as friends on my profile page i never look at..

I'm currently watching "THE BRIDGE" and it's very powerful, to say the least.

What I'm not fully comprehending is this, how come there is practically no way to get rid of these depressing thoughts and ideas? What makes these thoughts stick onto people that immediately appears as if there is no other assistance? Some people mentioned different ways of coping with depression, yet for some these methods do not work. What I'm basically trying to understand is this, how do depressing thoughts come about and why does that particular individual feels as if there is no help?

Personally, I've never had to deal with depression so I may possess a bit of a biased perspective. But, I have thought about suicide only because I found it somewhat fascinating. Obviously I did not proceed with it, but it was life changing just to ponder suicide.

I'm not in any way trying to be condescending, just wanted a further perspective.

Thanks.

reply to post by ReAlIzAtIoN

I was just wondering how suicide is "facinating?" You end your life and your loved ones are left horribly miserable, wondering what they could have done to stop/help you.

Originally posted by ReAlIzAtIoN
I'm currently watching "THE BRIDGE" and it's very powerful, to say the least.

I made the post Petrol referenced in the beginning of this because of that movie.. and to show people what a suicide person is like.. of sorts(I am not going to say i am suicidal at this second or not because i dont want to lie) I made the post because I dont understand why people can be so cold to suicides that end up killing themselves..

What I'm not fully comprehending is this, how come there is practically no way to get rid of these depressing thoughts and ideas? What makes these thoughts stick onto people that immediately appears as if there is no other assistance? Some people mentioned different ways of coping with depression, yet for some these methods do not work. What I'm basically trying to understand is this, how do depressing thoughts come about and why does that particular individual feels as if there is no help?

My outlet for a long time was art and music.. I used to slam something 3d like nobodys business.. I listened to music all the time.. Type O, Manson, The Cure.. things like that.. I have also researched death to the extent that i am basically possitive on what can happen after we die.. I just need to prove it.(This might be where suicide plays a role for me.)

Personally, I've never had to deal with depression so I may possess a bit of a biased perspective. But, I have thought about suicide only because I found it somewhat fascinating. Obviously I did not proceed with it, but it was life changing just to ponder suicide.

I'm not in any way trying to be condescending, just wanted a further perspective.

Thats cool your a lucky one.. I am curious though for someone who was never depressed and thought about killing themselves what did you think up?

What I have done is over in the thread Petrol referenced.. But I guess i should give that warning dont try this at home thing.. or something..

Originally posted by Dumbblonde
reply to post by ReAlIzAtIoN

 

I was just wondering how suicide is "facinating?" You end your life and your loved ones are left horribly miserable, wondering what they could have done to stop/help you.

Suicide is fascinating because we believe it is an escape from the hell we are dealing with now.. We believe that if we die that god or whatever will take mercy on us and so on and so forth.. we believe that if we suicide that it has to be better than here..
This is what I believe anyway..

From what I have researched about death I can almost guarantee this positive.

reply to post by Dumbblonde


The reason why I used the term "fascinating" was because I feel as if it's interesting in regards to what goes on in people's heads when they have the desire to end their life. How would people treat each other now that you are gone? Would they now be more peaceful? Were you the problem this whole time? That's what I meant, basically.

I have just read your post and feel strongly with what you are saying. I myself have been a long term prisioner to depression and from that have only just learnt that I have suffered from Bipolar Disorder. Thanks to the depression and the failed treatments I consider myself one of the lucky few to have the terrible mental disease, see if I never have suffered from depression I would never have known that I was different from other people and that something was wrong with me.

I was moved by your honesty and how you describe the feeling day to day and can only say that they are too true words. I wish that there was a cure not so much for depression but for the stupidity of some people in the world. What would they do if it all came to an end and there was no "outside" to fox it.

Thank you for your time and I hope that you feel not so alone in this world.

reply to post by ThichHeaded


What I'm still confused about is this: why isn't there something that you may do to alter your ways of thinking? If you perceive that there is something in your life that's missing, or something that you want to eliminate, how come one can't start from there to the road of permanent stability?

I might have exaggerated a bit about me have the desire to commit suicide. What I wanted to point out is that I thought about it, but I never tried it.

How did you research about death, if you don't mind me asking?

reply to post by ReAlIzAtIoN
Tell me that you don't really believe that if you were gone, people would have better relationships with eachother as a result of your life ending?? Do you really think you affect other's inter-personal lives to that degree??

Originally posted by ReAlIzAtIoN
reply to post by ThichHeaded

 

What I'm still confused about is this: why isn't there something that you may do to alter your ways of thinking? If you perceive that there is something in your life that's missing, or something that you want to eliminate, how come one can't start from there to the road of permanent stability?

I try, there is not as much postive when you see black all around... I have tried to make things different for myself but end up backfiring to no end.. I try to change particular habits in my life and realize they are not working.. If you look at my post history here there are some gaps on where I wasnt around.. I was thinking looking at how F'd up the planet is was playing a role on what i was thinking and feeling.. But this partly wasnt the case.. Yes seeing all this crap on ats, the news and whatever might play a role in my life but I dont think it is a big part what why I am..

I am the way I am because I was screwed up as a kid, Screwed up family, basically outcast by society and alot of other things.. Alot of things I learned is because of growing up in such a screwed up family life.. Not just because..

I might have exaggerated a bit about me have the desire to commit suicide. What I wanted to point out is that I thought about it, but I never tried it.

How did you research about death, if you don't mind me asking?

Before Al Gore invented the internet they used to have these things called libraries.. I would go there and read up on anything related to death, bible. books and so on.. then Al gore invented the internet and knowledge because a big part of the internet.. I started getting into near death experience and started reading alot of them.. I bought a bunch of books and jacked a bunch online.. just so i can see what it was like to have died and come back.. From all this research that I have done since roughly 13 or so yrs old(37 soon to be) I have come to the conclusion that what i said above.. I cant exactly prove it unless i go there.. The thing that i want so much is to be loved unconditionally.. That is what i am missing in this life.. Which is why i said in my other post that there is something that i can never find here and that i feel i will never belong.. because I do know for fact that when you die you are surrounded by acceptance and unconditional love..

Does this answer your question?

Hey Petrol, sorry for jacking your thread dude..

There is alot to be said on the topic of depression.
For some reason, while reading the OP intro, the book "Landscapes of the Sacred" by Dr. Beldon Lane comes to mind. Finding one's sense of 'place' (the setting of one's journey) is vital to achieving one's theme of Being.
Most follow the paths of others and deny the 'self' of expression.....as a chick with it's head jarring out of it's shell unable or unwilling to free it's body.

Often, visions,(as in the 'Concept' of platonic forms so to say) speak much louder than 'words'.

Rather than delve into this enormous topic (depression) of which is far too broad a label to accurately pin down the 'source' as there are often many sources and many experiences of which play on one another to establish one's current position among themself as to that of the world about them, I digress.....

On the other hand, it is crucial for one to avoid pharmaceutikills in most instances.
Natural herbs and medicines (natural compounds) are far more preferable to a man-made solution of which are often addictive, by design, quite toxic and often require increasing dosage or alternative treatments/pharmaceuticals to achieve similar 'effects'.

It is a sense of 'place' of 'people' of 'community' of family of love of acceptance of nurturance of familiality of sense of purpose of sense of meaning.....that folks yearn for today.

Depression is a topic of which is often very personal in nature and therefor there is no one solution.
Family, freinds and the Creator could help though in the End, one must help themself as only the 'individual' knows the individual. If it makes sense, it most likely Is.....

Though I am a firm believer in natural law as well as human natural law, the Creator does make acceptions to human natural law when valid and necessary. Just as an inventor had the 'vision', the prayer had the vision though the 'answer' was/is not a forgone conclusion. It takes two to tango with the truth, no? One can have a thought, a vision, though "the proof is in one's pudding".....so to say.

The vision is often personal to one's own path, not to that of another.
Hang on folks, stick around and witness what is to come quite soon.
It's worth it.....

Originally posted by ThichHeaded
Hey Petrol, sorry for jacking your thread dude..

Not at all. Feel free to discuss what ever you want. I don't mind. The mods might, but I don't.

I lost track of all the replies anyway. I didn't anticipate this much of a response. I'm still stuck on reading page 5. I doubt I'll get around to reading the whole thread.

To say that depression doesn't exist is to say that happiness doesn't exist. Both are results of inhibition or release of chemicals within the brain. Some people (half full glass) bounce around happy all the time, so the opposite occurs as well.

I used to be one of those that didint believe in mental ilness, that it was all make believe, when your young your immortal, nothing can stop you. Then you grow older, getto live through hard times, for some, on harder times, and alot of them dont have anyone to talk too or the resources to get help.

Its already not an easy life, and then you meet a bunch of insecure trolls that pick on people so they can feel good about something lol.

just my 2 cents

Depression is so real and prevelant that individual health insurance plans did not cover it until "ObamaCare" forced them to. All health insurance plans effective after 3/23/2010 must now cover Depression screening and treatment, starting January 1, 2011. You will not have to pay any co-pays or deductibles.

Learn More at: www.healthcare.gov...

-CWM

Originally posted by crazydaisy
I too have clinical depression, anxiety attacks. The depression is bad but a panic attack can feel like death coming on. I have been on medication for years and it works as long as my meds are changed from time to time. I had my first panic attack at age 12 - didn't know what it was then as I am 63 now. I remember that first attack like it was yesterday. My Mother thought I was dying and the Dr. thought it was puberty. At least we have come a long way in understanding depression and anxiety. I don't want to hear negatives about Big Pharma on this subject - research has led us to medication that helps, without it we would have no value of life. Unless you have experienced it - you have no idea what its like. Thank you for the thread OP - this should be discussed and hopefully some understanding will come from those who do not suffer with this debilitating condition.

I have to quote you because I too had my first panic attack at 12. (35) now. Seems the first half of my life was littered with anxiety. Then most of my 20's was riddled with depression. I took many different medications through the years and even once got into exercise and that helped alot but in my late 20's I finally said to heck with all that crap. Know what I found out? Caffeine....BIGGEST conspiracy in america imho. I am willing to believe 90 percent of mental problems in america are caused by caffeine. Caffeine and chocolate are at the foundation of our culture and people live there whole lives from birth to death and never once truly live without either for just six months and experience life without the drug "trimethylxanthine" in their system. Because if they did they might see all their mental problems evaporate like fog on a dark morning. (Sometime I will make a lengthy thread about this here and detail my research)


But do you people know whats REALLY scary? A "depression attack". Many of us have felt an anxiety attack before and know how truly frightening and debilitating it can be..even emotionally scarring. BUT imagine all that coupled with a lil voice tellijng you to end it all....and it gets louder.....and louder....and LOUDER untill it explodes into a climax in your head and your heart acts like you just took an intravenous hit of adrenaline and it takes an hour just to calm down.