Depression

[Fist and Faith]

Ah! Gotcha.

[Linna Heartbooger]

Av- makes sense, not too far off . Would engage in that discussion more but wanting to rant about coming up against my own internal walls again instead...
(laugh/groan)

i have suffered from depression all of my life.

i use my art as therapy. but you all should have guessed that.

but being at e-fest made me realize how much i need like-minded friends.

my friend tom (art car museum curator) filled that void until he was neddlessly killed by a drunk driver. it sent me into a tailspin for awhile.

so a big thanks to all of you for keeping my balanced.

and a special shout-out to lucimay, after julie luci is my biggest fan. and her defense of my writing on the watch has been a much needed boost. thank you luci!

Sarge! Yes, indeed, thank you for posting here. =) Yup, guessed that about your art. Glad for luci's defense of your writing. When I first looked at your writing, I was like, "Huh. This bothers me and I just don't get it at all." Then when you wrote in blue about my kiddo's imaginary world, I was like, "Huh. This guy just has a different way of expressing himself." And I saw something I hadn't seen before.

Sorry about the blow of losing that friend. Don't have anything I can say to that right now.

(Well, dang, I was gonna rant about my own "taking a dive for a bit of depression and passive-agressive reactive behaviour by which I sabotage myself." But I've done run outta time, I think. And some parts of me -didn't- REALLY wanna talk about it anyways.)

[Vraith]

and a special shout-out to lucimay, after julie luci is my biggest fan. and her defense of my writing on the watch has been a much needed boost. thank you luci!

HEY! I want an honorable mention...I know I've said at least one or two good things about your creative writing...
HEY! Lucimay never said anything about mine except once asked if I thought women could be good hard-nosed detectives/detective fiction writers! [I think that was Lucimay...]

Makes me feel neglected...depressed even....OH! that's why I came to this thread today:
Just saw an interesting thing about antidepressant drugs, and how over the long term [more than 6mo to a year] they may be a really bad idea. Not conclusive, but at least shows they should be looked at a lot more closely and thoroughly. It seems they:
May actually cause repetition/recurrence.
Are barely more effective than placebos.
A couple other things.
One point he made that seems obvious, and I've seen implied here in several posts: If you go to a doctor for high cholesterol/diabetes/whatever...they don't just give you a pill and say go away...they tell you to change your lifestyle/behavior, too, cuz they work together, yet more and more psychiatrists go the drug-only route every day.

[sgt.null]

Linna : i seem to be in a minority that believes i am very normal. the writing is filtered by my world view.

vraith : i give you an honorable mention. did not mean to exclude you. and i have never tried any meds long term.

[Avatar]

Av- makes sense, not too far off . Would engage in that discussion more but wanting to rant about coming up against my own internal walls again instead...
(laugh/groan)

So do something about them. And if it's literally impossible to, then stop letting it bother you.

--A

[sgt.null]

having suffered from depression since being a child (i saw a therapist back in grade school) i really can't understand people around me who want to be miserable.

i learned a long time ago to put all of it in a compartment. makes me want to scream at these people.

i really don't need them to make me feel miserable - i can do that on my own.

but marrying julie has helped a great deal. and everyone here helps as well.

[Linna Heartbooger]

So do something about them. And if it's literally impossible to, then stop letting it bother you.

On some level, it's true that my action is essential to dealing with my internal problems.

Yet, whenever I hear someone give a glib "so just deal with it" type of response, I can't help but think, "denial."

[sgt.null]

the problem being that i "just deal with it." years ago i discovered that therapy does not work for me. i am "uncooperative."

[Linna Heartbooger]

the problem being that i "just deal with it." years ago i discovered that therapy does not work for me. i am "uncooperative."

lol, aren't we ALL?
"I am skilled and extensively trained in sabotage.
Unfortunately, it's SELF-sabotage."

it's unfortunate that wasn't working out.
because there are like.. actually competent counselors / therapists / pastoral staff people, etc.
they can't make us change, but there are things they can do to encourage change.

Saying "Just fix it" CAN be a start - that's confronting a person.
But there's so much more.
active-listening and asking wise questions.
persuading.
inspiring that there's a "good hope" to work towards.
confronting about the more specific problem after listening.
supporting, but not verbally enabling.

[Cambo]

Everyone has to learn to "just deal with it" eventually. No-one goes into that depression with you, and there's not always going to be someone there to hold your hand.

People who say that who haven't expereinced depression though, have no idea what kind of "dealing" they are describing.

[Menolly]

Everyone has to learn to "just deal with it" eventually. No-one goes into that depression with you, and there's not always going to be someone there to hold your hand.

People who say that who haven't expereinced depression though, have no idea what kind of "dealing" they are describing.

I still think at least part of the answer is obtained by following ones spiritual center and link within. Regardless of whether one is a believer or not, find the stillness within and settle yourself there for twenty minutes a day or so, seeking whatever "spiritual stillness" you can.

It can't hurt, nu?

[sgt.null]

the problem being that i "just deal with it." years ago i discovered that therapy does not work for me. i am "uncooperative."

lol, aren't we ALL?
"I am skilled and extensively trained in sabotage.
Unfortunately, it's SELF-sabotage."

it doesn't help that i never really trusted the docs involved. i can't imagine doing it for a living and always had trouble believing they would care enough...

[Fist and Faith]

Everyone has to learn to "just deal with it" eventually. No-one goes into that depression with you, and there's not always going to be someone there to hold your hand.

People who say that who haven't expereinced depression though, have no idea what kind of "dealing" they are describing.

I'm sure you're right. And I'm sure many people who don't have to deal with this don't have any idea, and are just being ignorant, or arrogant, or stupid, and do mean "Just get over it." As though that's how it works. However, it can be meant in practical terms. Nobody else can deal with it for you, eh? So if I said such a thing, I'd mean it in the sense that, you either find a way to deal with it, of you suffer terribly, and possibly kill yourself. You must find a way to deal with it. Ignoring it doesn't seem to work.

[Cambo]

Hey, I never said it wasn't good advice

[Holsety]

the problem being that i "just deal with it." years ago i discovered that therapy does not work for me. i am "uncooperative."

lol, aren't we ALL?
"I am skilled and extensively trained in sabotage.
Unfortunately, it's SELF-sabotage."

it doesn't help that i never really trusted the docs involved. i can't imagine doing it for a living and always had trouble believing they would care enough...

Egh, I have found that I am unable to trust docs at this point. It's sad, really. I DO think they care! But, when all is said and done, even when I fully dedicated myself to following their instructions, they screwed up. I got the wrong perscription written by my doctor, the CVS took about a week to straighten things out, and suddenly I was without my meds. This happened MONTHS ago.

And, when I pair up all the things professionals in the field seem to say about my condition, it seems they have very little of consistency to say. And it's a fairly common condition (bipolar)! How can I trust their consensus when I, alone, can wreck it with ease? I would rather get people to accept bipolar more, than to be accepted myself as someone without bipolar. I would rather get other people to be accepted more as humans, than to be accepted as a human.

[sgt.null]

Holsety : i worked in the mental health field. the manic depressives and i got along. the schizophrenics and i got along.

the paranoid folks and i got along worse than they did with other stuff. with some spectacular disasters.

[rusmeister]

Everyone has to learn to "just deal with it" eventually. No-one goes into that depression with you, and there's not always going to be someone there to hold your hand.

People who say that who haven't expereinced depression though, have no idea what kind of "dealing" they are describing.

I still think at least part of the answer is obtained by following ones spiritual center and link within. Regardless of whether one is a believer or not, find the stillness within and settle yourself there for twenty minutes a day or so, seeking whatever "spiritual stillness" you can.

It can't hurt, nu?

According to us, it can.

[aliantha]

Everyone has to learn to "just deal with it" eventually. No-one goes into that depression with you, and there's not always going to be someone there to hold your hand.

People who say that who haven't expereinced depression though, have no idea what kind of "dealing" they are describing.

I still think at least part of the answer is obtained by following ones spiritual center and link within. Regardless of whether one is a believer or not, find the stillness within and settle yourself there for twenty minutes a day or so, seeking whatever "spiritual stillness" you can.

It can't hurt, nu?

According to us, it can.

"Us" being the Orthodox church? In that case -- thanks, I'll make a note.

[Cambo]

I'm actually aware of a couple of ways in which meditation can hurt, and hurt badly, sometimes triggering its own spiritual or psychological crises. But in general, it is an excellent tool for self observation, which is by nature helpful in dealing with depression. It just comes with its own dangers, that's all.

Can't speak for why Orthodoxy is against it.

[sgt.null]

Can't speak for why Orthodoxy is against it.

well - i should stay out of this. but i can hazard that meditation is eastern philosophy and nothing that doesn't come from th eorthodox church can't be right?

maybe rus will tell us why we are wrong.