Anyone here dealing with depression

[bigtiller]

Start walking! If you can't walk very far, that's fine. Walk for 20 minutes every day, even when you don't want to, do it. Slowly get up to 45 minutes and always walk fast. When you get to the correct speed you should be able to talk - if you have to - but you won't be able to sing. Do it every day of the year!

Soon, you'll relish in the thought that you can do something that most of the people your age can't do. By that time you will have lost some weight and your back will no longer hurt.

 

[jerrybob]

The counseling is a great step.......any local support groups near you? Sometimes talking to others with similar issues can help. It's good you realize where you're at.......some folks have trouble doing that. I think some of the advice above is good........just hang in there....life will get better.

 

[zzvyb6]

Get some B vitamins in ya. B6, B12, etc. Some drinks are loaded with them (I drink Red Bull A LOT). Or get it from shots at a doctors office.

Make sure its 'depression' and not 'anxiety'. Stay away from certain foods (like chocolate, Pepsi or Coke, high caffeine foods). The Red Bull doesn't really have a lot of caffeine in it compared to ther energy drinks. My wife suffered from it. Try not to go the way of anti-depressant drugs. They have to be changed every 6 months or else your immune system gets used to them. They become less effective and you get worse FAST. Doctors these days are just pill pushers because there are no simple short term fixes.

Find some fun things to do: learn to couples dance, go to farm auctions and enjoy the crowds. Learn to skate. Buy a boat and go fishing. Learn a new skill or trade. Do some charity work. Keep busy. Have a reason to look forward to the very next day. Works for me.

 

[JFoy]

Andy is right. Having a wanted purpose is really beneficial to mental health. I'm semi retired and prone to getting depressed when being around the house for days at a time. When I do something of interest with other people, I snap out of it. Seriously, check out the classes and continuing ed stuff at your community college. You'd be amazed how taking a course of interest invigorates your mental state.

I'm not a doctor but I've had training in counseling and as I understand it, depression can be physiological or mental. The majority of psychiatrists I know always reach for the script pad which bugs the crap out of me. Adults with ADD can go through depression cycles and for them, they need stimulants - more specifically, they need dopamine. I'm one of those and I take a couple supplements like L-Dopa and caffeine tabs. They help quite a bit. So, if it is physio, meds and/or supplements can help. If it is mental, doing things that interest you like taking a class, working out at the gym, etc.

Finally, for long term mental depression, look for the cause of it. For some people, they beat themselves up over failures in their life. For others, they harbor anger towards other people. There is a huge list but when such is the case, we have to remember that the stop light turns red regardless of what you say to it or how you feel. It happens and our thoughts and feelings are completely independent of it. So, if we can't change it, realize it, and let it go.

Hope that helps

 

[arrow]

It's not always the events that trigger depression. It's the heightened perception of the event caused by the depression. Usually, depression is caused by a chemical imbalance of some sort that a person can have for years and not even realize it. A couple of rotten things happening in ones life can exacerbate the condition.
You can try the homeopathic route if you prefer and getting blood chemistry profiles is always helpful. You may be vitamin deficient in certain areas. Prescription meds can be very helpful to sort of get you over a hump. What you need is now is a better "outlook" and balancing body chemistry goes a long way toward that end.
It makes the difference in being able to feel happy about what you have instead of sadness of what you think you don't.

 

[newbury]

Hang in there Taylor.

Unless things have changed greatly you've got plenty of "stuff" you can do. Some people need to get social when they are down, some just need time to reflect how good they still have it.

When I joined this forum in January 2009 my loving wife had just suffered her second stroke over the span of a couple of months, she couldn't move her right side and I was basically living in the hospital by her bedside. There were several instances when the doctors didn't know if she would recover. And we were investigating hospice care.

But we had made evolving plans on retiring to Mississippi and she had the will and determination to recover. For a few years it was up in the air about exactly where in Northeast Mississippi and when we we would get there. Well we found the place but my son has gone and gotten a great wife, great job and provided us with 2 grandchildren so we still have not figured out the definite when, but we are working towards it.

You are plenty young enough to set a goal, the key I think is to choose a worthy goal and always work towards it.

If you prefer being social, besides other things written here, perhaps consider taking some courses at Northeast in Iuka. That gives a scheduled "be there" purpose and is generally a good way to meet members of the opposite sex.

I think most members of TBN have been depressed, it's part of being normal. The key is to work out of it instead of becoming a couch potato. If you haven't already done it read some of rswyan's, Daugen's and Red Neck Geeks posts in the Good Morning thread they should give a lot of ideas for good stuff to do. And when you are busy it's harder to be depressed.

And of course this time of year you need to find something to do so you don't suffer the steam heat of Northeast Mississippi.

/edit -
I'm reminded of the importance of having a purpose in life.

A few years before I retired a bunch of us DOD employees were standing around discussing our "effective wages". (For example I made about 10% less being retired than I did working, primarily due to lower taxes, no commuting cost etc.) One of the guys who had in about 5 more years than I did and had maxed out retirement asked - "But if your retired what purpose gets you up in the morning".

After several others commented on things like duty to do a good job, interest in seeing what will be done on a particular project, etc. my answer (to paraphrase) was "What gets me up and will get me up is the need to urinate, then plan on what to do next"

 

[farm boy00]

I know your same feeling and understand you very well. I just turned 16 but was a freshman this past year and hit a little "bump in the road" at my high-school and was pretty well forced to leave and only good option was online. On my down time between switching schools and became a heavy workaholic working in my dad's company. With that and sitting at my house for half a school year each day and souly working on weekends it drove me heavily into depression until recently. It dont help that i havent had much of a social life for slot of years. About the only way I have been able to dig myself out was because my cousin came up a few times for the 4th of July weekend and I got somewhat social again and I've been praying and leaning towards the Lord more and more and going to my youth group alot more

My honest advice is that you find a few people to go do something with but make sure you get out of your house and to go to church. The most dangerous thing to me with depression is being by yourself with your thoughts.

 

[dmccarty]

People have mentioned the gym and walking....

I HATE the gym! :shocked::laughing::laughing::laughing: BORING. Can't stand it, it is not fun and it is like going to work! :thumbdown::laughing::laughing::laughing:

Of course I have had gym memberships of and on for years but finding time to go to the gym is hard. It really is hard if family and work take up your time. The other problem with GOING to the gym is the finding time to just GET to and from the place. In my case, that is about 30-60 minutes of travel time... I can do quite a bit of exercise in 30-60 minutes...

A few years ago work paid some employees to use a Fitbit. Fitbit basically a pedometer that links up to a website and tracks the number of steps you make each day. The steps are converted into how many miles you walk, calories burned and how much time you spent walking. I LIKE walking. I can think while I walk but when I do other exercise I focus on the work out and I get bored quickly. Not so with walking...

The nice thing about the Fitbit is the tracking of the steps. Most days I walk around 5 miles. Some days as much as 7-10 miles which usually happens once a week. What makes this easy, is that the steps don't have to happen in one "gym session" but you find 5 or 10 minutes here and there during the day to go walk. It works.

I have been modifying my diet for years to stop from gaining weight, worst case, and best case, to loose weight. At the end of 2015, I gained a bit mainly because I was burned out from work and family issues and just sitting around. I tweaked my diet, basically gave up my daily beer ration during the week and went from walking 5,000-7,000 steps a day to 10,000-15,000. I am loosing weight again. :thumbsup:

The last time I was at my current weight was last century after doing the Atkins diet. :shocked:

I mention all of this because walking is good exercise and it is easy to find 5 or 10 minutes every once in awhile to go for a walk. The Fitbit will give you goals to meet, track the effort and let you know when you have met the goals. You don't need a Fitbit to do this but it makes it easy. Excercise does help your mind and body and just a bit of walking can do wonders.

Later,
Dan

 

[Taylortractornut]

Thanks for the advice, I've lost a bunch of weight nearly 60 pounds. think it's diabetes though I have an appointment for that in a few days. I'm on a diet and walk a lot at work. I'm redoing my old house mainly trying to make it mine again. I know I'm blessed with a wonderful daughter a good job that I love, good dogs and several friends both here and on tbn and a **** fine junk collection lol. I'm still shopping for a psychiatrist. I try to look at the bright side of things. Dad is retiring soon and I have that on my mind too, not that I can't handle the work just trying to find someone to do my job right has me uptight. There's not a lot to do here, Newbury I like your idea about Northeast. I'm not a fan of meds my friend that committed suicide and two others were on the same meds. I do some metal art work and it helps.

 

[mark02tj]

I can't offer much more than others have already put forth. My daughter suffers from depression and anxiety and my heart just aches for her as I watch her (and try to help her) battle it. As long as you're working on yourself though, I think you're on the right track.

Post up some pics of your metal art work!! I'd like to see it and I'm sure that others would as well. :thumbsup: