o you think you have depression? Are your ready to beat it? Yeah! Lets beat it together! The first thing you have got to do is realise who you have become, to acknowledge your situation in order to be able to accept it. Once you can accept it, then you have made the first step towards a full recovery. So what is it all about and why can't you cheer yourself up?
'Depression' is a very common mental condition which effects a vast number of people every year. A series of disappointments or unhappy feelings combine
to trigger a mood which spirals continually downwards. The more you think about things, the more your mood deepens, and one day you realise you are no longer able to cheer yourself up again. This is Depression in its common form, although sometimes your thoughts may become so tangled that rage and fear
emerge to take your mind to an ever deeper place. Sometimes it can all become a huge frustration and you resign yourself to it, hoping that somehow something will change in the future and everything will be ok again. Sadly, there is only one person who can pull your face into a big smile, and that
person is YOU.
How may years have you been suffering? Depression lasts for as long as your body wants it to last. This could be as little as a few months (with the Winter Blues/S.A.D) or many years depending largely on how you try to deal with it. The most common form, Clinical Depression usually arives all of a sudden and remains for one or two years. It often drags your brain right down, quickly taking hold of your mind and body until you either recover naturally or until you find and remove the root cause of the problem. Another common form of depression, Dysthymia, takes a lot longer to appear, lasting five, ten, or twenty years depending on treatment, and has been known to last much longer if allowed to grow and take over. This condition is most likely to have grown from many unhappy events and setbacks, which combine over time to slowly subdue your mood. Unlike Clinical Depression, which can go almost as quickly as it arrived, Dysthymia takes years to work on and acheive results, requiring hope, persistance and determination.
The main points of all depression cases remain the same;
- Uncontrolled feelings of unhappiness, hopelessness, pointlessness
- Lethargy and lack of motivation
- Oversleeping
- Lack of concentration
- Restlessness
- Moodswings
- Short temper, no patience
- Tendencies to over-drink, over-work or take drugs
- Reduced or no sex drive
- Negative thinking and repeatedly looping thoughts
- May sometimes lead to suicidal feelings
Yet you may not always feel so sad, your mood may rise and fall continuously, one day you may be quite happy but by the next day you find something subconscious has made you unhappy again. This is how the condition works, it's a real pain in the bum, so please don't feel like you are alone or unique. Hundreds of thousands of people have been there, including myself, and we're all on your side. I'm sure you'll agree when I say Depression is something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy, not even if I really hated them.
It can't be that bad, surely not? Well if you haven't been there then you won't know. It's like having a heavy storm-cloud over your head 24hours a day.
Sometimes the rain will pour down so hard that you are unable to see your way clearly, or think straight without worry. Friends may get in your way, they can't stop the rain - how could they?, and you wish they would all just go away and leave you alone. While you are in this state, you can't seem to pick yourself up and dry yourself off until the rain stops - a case of watching and waiting until something happens. Life isn't easy now. You see other people and wish you could just be 'normal' and happy, if only for a few days. Occasionally, the sun literally does come out. You feel happy and talkative towards others, your situation is under control, no better but at least no worse - until you hear the next rumble of bad news and life takes another tumble you could well do without. Have you had these feelings? Is this you? If it all sounds familiar then I hope my experiences will help you recover, and pull yourself back as soon as possible. This guide is specifically dedicated to YOU. If I can do anything more, then shout and I will be there!
