Depression is NOT a Real Disorder

reply to post by PETROLCOIN


So sorry that you suffer so much. I too have suffered from depression twice in my life. It is hereditary from my father. At this time I am on an even keel because of the meds that I take. I am satisfied that I am under control of my situation and happy to be alive.
cwmswolf

reply to post by HomerinNC


Well I am just pointing out that bipolar tends to be a lack of self-awareness about self-contradiction. I've seen this happen before with other people who claim to have it.

And I don't claim that it's not real for the people who believe they're experiencing it. I am actually picking up some really negative vibes from people posting here but I am empathetic so I am used to picking up everything anyway, which makes it easy to distance myself from other's internal experience although I must admit it's really sympathy inducing.

I'm not negative about it, its a part of my being, one part i can do without LOL, but I have my coping things in place

Well said. I've picked up the same feelings from people i know..feelings about depression and how it is just a matter of changing your routine..or changing some facet. My father was one of these people, who saw depression sufferers as weak individuals who don't want to feel better, and can't because of their self pitying attitude. Well about a year ago my father suffered a bit of depression ( most likely situational like you mentioned ) and after climbing his way out of it i remember having a conversation with him about how you he use to think and how he now thinks and he admitted he was absolutely wrong about depression. It really gave me a bit of faith on the subject!

Originally posted by The Savage Khan
My cousin suffered from major depression all his life. I showed him this thread and he wanted to write a reply. I would describe him as an angry goth in High School. Now, he is always laughing and smiling when i see him. Not to say that his disorder is fixed, I'm no doctor neither is he. His is just one inspiring example of overcoming depression;

K


"I was diagnosed OCD and clinically depressed as a teen. I was on medication. I stopped taking pills in my early 20's when I discovered Marijuana. I'm 30 now. I stopped smoking a few years ago, it didn't do it for me anymore and I had a kid. Over time, I had drastically changed my life, outlook, routines, diet, work. It was a difficult process but it ended my depression.

I occasionally feel down but not like when I was younger. I am a happy person with a love for life, the exact opposite of the me 10 years ago.

Depression may be a true condition but I proved that it was curable with a change in lifestyle.

The biggest part of it was realigning my outlook on life. It really is all perspective and your perspective is dictated by your physiology. What you eat, if you are rested, in good shape, dealing with problems in your life. Most of the time, what depresses you at any given moment is not the real problem. It is often something deeper in your subconscious, some past problem that you haven't dealt with that "taints" your mood. Sometimes it is completely phantom, like you are in a bad mood for no reason. A nap may help or some water. I have come to realize that there is always a reason even if it is "unreasonable" or unknown at the time.

As a teen, I was convinced my problem was medical and unchangeable. My doctor said that talking about my depression would eventually make it easier, that SSRI's were not a cure, just something to make it easier to function and reflect. I was on two types of Fluoxetine which i hated. They made me feel like a zombie. Weed was better because I could regulate my intake and I often did it socially which was part of the "therapy".

My baby girl has been a main source of happiness in my life and caused me to reflect on life itself, what is important and what isn't. Part of the reason I don't get depressed anymore is because I have eliminated my "triggers". The things in my life that I would usually get depressed about I confronted one by one. They were people, places, ideas and memories that i have dealt with or eliminated from my life. As for the phantom stuff, I found that most often it was my diet. Believe it of not, more fruits an vegetables and sun have made a huge difference.

I have argued with people before about clinical depression. Part of depression is that feeling that you are trapped and can't do anything about it. So you feel like this is how it will always be and there is no other option. That is the condition talking. The power to overcome major depression is always in your mind even my Doctor told me this. Yes, for some the condition may be so bad that they are unable to change or fix it. But this kind of case is rare. For most people it's just perspective.

To all you clinically depressed people, you can get better, you just have to let go of some ideals and find some joy in your life. It's not that you are weak, it's like you are trying to fix glasses while wearing them (using the glasses to fix the glasses). I know that reason doesn't work when you are in that kind of mood, which is why the weed was good for me because it brought up my mood so I could reason. Prozac would only make me not care, i wouldn't have any revelations.

I know it is hard but it is not impossible you just have to find the key, something that turns the black into white. For me it was my daughter and my spirituality. You have to believe that you can fix yourself and that you must. What you do in your life comes second to actually living. If you don't deal with your depression first, you and your life will never be as good as it can be."

-Namaste

Mo

Brilliant words! Thank you for sharing... I feel these words sum up my position as well...

reply to post by PETROLCOIN

I really feel for you.
I also have been through what you describe, antidepressants, years of councelling, suicidal thoughts in fact that was always my friend, but when it came to it, i just couldn`t do it.
It`s not that you want to die, more like you can`t take the fear anymore and you don`t know how to live with it. This fear is not fear it is anxiety. Anxiety is caused when our imagination runs riot. There are two realms 'what is happening' and 'what is not happening'. In the realm of 'what is not happening', anything can happen! All sorts of scary things can happen there. Then there is the realm of 'what is happening', and here, only this is happening, not a lot really. 'What is happening' can be seen as boring by the mind so the mind makes up stories about 'what is not happening' where it can be the star and controller, or victim. It is very peaceful in the realm of what is happening. In 'what is happening' the mind doesn`t get a look in. We think we are our minds, and the mind likes it that way. When you realize you are not the mind, the mind will be brought down a peg or two. You even said you feel trapped in your mind, so you already know you are not the mind, or even supposed to be trapped in mind. Don't blindly believe the thoughts, ask is it happening?, is it really true?
If our mind is imagining terrible things the body responds to the fear messages.
But it is not happening, not now.
What is wrong with this moment unless you think about it.
When we go into the 'realm of what is not happening', our bodies feel and experience what our mind is experiencing, it doesn`t know any difference.

in general

depression = low levels of seretonin
boredom = low levels of adrenaline

then you have a highway called the thalamus
thalamus is connected to emotional compartments
of the brain that supply you with hormones that make
you feel in ways and do things you do.

fluoride poisoning leads to blockage of highway
which in return makes you dull
over production of hormones makes you dull
under production of hormones makes you dull

most people who are bored get sad if they are unhappy and dont confront them selfs
most of people who are bored are because of self inflicted routine choise be it adrenaline andy or passive pat
most people who are sad are due to emotional stress of memory

if you have been sad or bored your whole life since birth then i get it , you might have been born with a hormone imbalance

but if you ve just gotten sad , as of " lately " do something completly different with your life and get off the pseudo pills ,

might be just as well your just imagining it all ..

Depression most certainly is a real disorder, however, many people (psychiatrists and therapists included) seem to have difficulty differentiating between situational and clinical depression. Many people are also diagnosed with depression who never said they were depressed in the first place, but the doctor did it because he's a drug pusher for big pharma. Our medical system is flawed in countless ways, and the lack of bioethics probes is disturbing. It's my belief that the National Research Act is violated regularly at mental hospitals where pharmaceutical companies carry out illegal drug studies. Also, everybody always attacks the individual as having a chemical imbalance, but they never observe aspects of society that alienate the individuals in the first place like the mass media, religious institutions, computer technology, and consumer culture. People are naive to think that everything is hunky-dory in the USA, because that is far from the truth.

Originally posted by PETROLCOIN
People who do not suffer from depression have a great misconception about how depression works and feels. It is not about whether you have a good life or a bad life; it is not about whether you are financially stable or unstable; it is not about whether you have a lot of friends or no friends; Clinical depression can happen to anyone and it affects everyone in the same way. No matter how great your life may be, if you suffer from clinical depression, you feel the same hopelessness, helplessness, stress, anxiety, and pain that someone with a terrible life feels. Clinical depression does not care about your life situation.

This preety much sums it up. I've dealt with depression in my high school years, and it just sucks way to much to be given enought credit. I have a overall good life, but it seemed like everything was not enought, that there was no reason to live, and i got dragged down... But now i've managed to recover and life feels organic again.

Totally agree. I do not struggle with depression on a personal level but have watched my mother, clinically depressed, suffer..most of my life. Like any other disorder, it does not just affect the sufferer, but those around them. I have had to learn to be self-sufficient and to make big decisions from early on because of my mom's depression. Some days and weeks and months are better than others and sometimes it seems that she falls and falls with no sign of the bottom.
It would be foolish to make the assumption that depression is not a true disability. I admit, there are probably people that feel kind of down and might use it as a crutch..but depression itself is very real.

reply to post by ThichHeaded


I don't usually post but as a person diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and having had depression most of my life I'd like to share this. I have found that none of the medications worked for me. Diet and Lifestyle change is the only thing that worked for me. I add xtra oregano to meals helps with depression, no sweets, no sugar. Did you know that 2 ripe bananas a day will significantly erase depression. The 2 chemicals that are in most antidepressants
are also in bananas naturally.

reply to post by PETROLCOIN


Hello
How much vitamin D and sunlight do you get?
Also what are your sleep patterns like?
I ask this because it is very important from my own experiences.
Regards
Limbo

another past sufferer here

it IS a real disorder.

To believe otherwise is idiotic, in polite terms.

reply to post by PETROLCOIN


of course its not a disorder, its a condition!

Originally posted by Limbo
How much vitamin D and sunlight do you get?

I typically get the recommended daily amount of Vitamin D. Sunlight varies, obviously. If it's a nice day and not too hot or cold, I like to go out.

Originally posted by Limbo
Also what are your sleep patterns like?

I get 8 to 9 hours of sleep every night.

I remember i read about a topic on depression in a forum years ago, i really can't remember the name or anything of the website but the topic was something similar to this. I remember clearly one poster wrote something to all the people who was 'trolling' or 'bashing' people who suffered from depression by saying things like 'it's in your head, it's not real' or 'get a proper life', nasty things like this. I remember this one poster very clearly because of what she/he said to these people, they said something like this:

''Imagine depression (a mental condition/illness) and think of it a physical condition,
imagine you start running, just running with no goal in mind,
imagine you are running and you start feeling tired and beginning to be breathless,
imagine you are still running but you won't stop yourself from running,
imagine your legs and muscles are starting to ache all over,
you are are strong and don't believe in being tired or exhusted because this is all in your mind,
imagine your lungs are bursting for air and your mouth dry as sandpaper,
imagine you feel that you are beginning the lose the feeling in your legs,
you do not stop running because this condition is all in your mind so stop complaining,
imagine that you are about to drop from exhustion and dehydration,
imagine your entire body is screaming in agony, but you don't stop running,
you can't, you simply can't because all this pain is in your mind, it's not real, get over it,
imagine your vision is is now affected, spots, bright flashes,
imagine your balance is now affected, you can't run in a straight line, you stumble,
but you keep running,
imagine people are now yelling at you for being weak, unable to run, unable to cope,
you finally realise you can't cope, it's too late, you've pushed yourself too much,
you want to stop, you need help to stop but people start getting angry at you, start screaming,
you are weak, keeping running, we can so why not you?
imagine you you can't stop running, and keeping on running,
the only way to stop is to find someone to help you stop or die trying.....''

I thought this was a good way of explaining depression in terms that can be understood by people who never suffered from depression, the people who took the time to understand the message behind this example realised that if they imagined this on a mental level instead of a physical level they backed off. Those who continued to troll or bash were too stupid or blinded by their own ignorance to even try to understand.

Anyway, this was my 2 cents....

reply to post by PETROLCOIN


I find it incredibly courageous for you to say what you did. Stars and flags all around. Being able to relate (but not nearly as strong as you to speak openly about it), I really appreciate your post. There is a great stigma surrounding people suffering from such afflictions. Upon meeting someone else socially and becoming friends/more, I spend many a day dreading telling them of the details of my disorder. Whether it is fair or not, I've always believed people look at me differently after they know what is largely my personal secret.

I applaud your candor. You are a testament to just how strong people like us must be. Also, the other kinds words and understanding expressed by the general ATS community is extremely powerful. Right or wrong, in the heat of the battle or not, sometimes it's easy to forget the level of humanity this site enjoys. Keep fighting the good fight. Cheers.

Originally posted by HunkaHunka
Uhm... Happiness is a choice...

Some people have a harder time making that choice than others... Some don't realize that it is a choice, still others have been taught that happiness is wrong to feel...

Some forms of depression are not a choice. So you can't just choose to be happier any easier than choosing to grow wings and fly.

Jesus Christ, what a tremendous good, short well written informative read op. S&F from me.
Come to think of all the people interested in this depression thread.

I start thinking personal again, I must say i do believe this mass depression is a response to what we all feel towards this planet, mankind in itself, and where it is heading, I think if we look at the big picture on a world basis, most of us want to live a life in peace, like free human beings, not stressed out by economical, social or personal factors.

Or any other man made factor as what brand of clothes, the bigger house, faster car ect. This materialism, "COMPETITION" is a form of DIVIDE and conquer attempt to spread us out and eliminate us bit by bit, all of those who cannot live up to the standard the "TPTB" has made.

And it is a deeper agenda at play here.

-You wanna give up, but it's worth the fight.

hang in there people. We will unite once again. for the good of mankind.

I agree with the OP and am now very confused by recent events. Last Sunday night I experienced my first panic/anxiety attack which then turned into hyperventilation, preventing me from breathing well, if at all. I'm 25 years old and while I experience the normal stresses of a typical 25 year old (work, money, student loans, girl issues, etc) and have felt waves of anxiety and panic before, but they had suppressed and subsided within minutes.

This time was a totally different feeling however. I thought I was having a heart attack or something to that effect so I called 911, went to the ER and came to find out nothing was "physically" wrong and that I had induced hyperventilation via a panic/anxiety attack.

I don't consider myself depressed (far from it; I seem to have a very positive outlook on life in general) but I do not understand where this came from. Can it be caused by toxins in the body? Excess stress? Hope to get some answers from some more experienced members.