Following Depression Page 6

  • Grunk 7 Oct 2008 15:44:46 4,718 posts
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    For those of you that have experienced this, what is the best way to get someone whom you think may be suffering from depression to go to a doctor, and perhaps try some counseling?
  • Inquisitor Moderator 7 Oct 2008 15:54:23 14,558 posts
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    Woah! You almost forget how low you can sink during Uni. It's strange, Uni should be no where near the hardest or most stressful thing I've ever done. Most of the time I was just pissing about. Still, when I was low I was lower than I'd ever been during any job or even school before that.

    I guess it's just a combination of leaving things till the last minute, always being tired because you stay up late, eating bad food and being away from home for such a long period of time for the first time.

    I'm back home now though and I can't wait to leave :D
  • dufftownallan 7 Oct 2008 23:14:28 4,723 posts
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    i dont think you can grunk, you just have to let them know that you are there for them anytime they need to talk. one thing i was never short of was people to talk to, that helped me immeasurably.
  • Deleted user 7 October 2008 23:46:34
    Grunk wrote:
    For those of you that have experienced this, what is the best way to get someone whom you think may be suffering from depression to go to a doctor, and perhaps try some counseling?

    Generally depressed people wont go to the doctor for one or both of two reasons.

    1. They dont think theyre sick.
    2. They dont think the doctor will be able to help, and they may be frightened of what will happen if they admit to being depressed.

    Admitting to number one is half the battle with depression to be honest. Most people find that accepting that theyre ill, and that how they feel isnt normal, is a big relief. Its a relief because it gives way to the probability that they will get better if they seek treatment, but it can be a very long journey getting to this acceptance for some, for others they just need it pointed out.

    You can go a long way to helping them face this by pointing out gently that you think theyre depressed, and why. Focus strongly on the positive aspects of seeking treatment and explain how much better they'll be able to feel if they seek treatment.

    You should also point out that at some time in their lives fully 70% of people will see their GP complaining of depression. Its a very normal problem to have, responds well to treatment, and doesnt mean theyre weird or mad.

    As far as treatment goes it can be quite a mixed bag. Antidepressants can be great in the short term but a course of therapy, like cognitive behavioural therapy (freely available on the nhs now) is a very good way of sorting out negative thinking.
  • Deleted user 8 October 2008 00:03:30
    The problem with going to the GP is that if they do diagnose you with depression they do fuck all to help you. My mum takes medicine everyday which only serves to completely know her out, which doesn't help her at all. And I can only imagine it is a shitty attempt at installing normality into a persons life. If they are not acting crazy then we have solved the problem, even if that eans thye are sleeping 19 hours a day. Fucks me off really.
  • Whatsfor 8 Oct 2008 00:34:05 2,187 posts
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    Ahifi, just noticed back in one of your old posts that your at Stirling uni. I live 2 miles from Stirling so if you ever need an impartial chat with anyone other then a doctor give me a shout!
  • sirtacos 7 Feb 2009 19:42:10 8,279 posts
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    I think I'm in a constant state of mild depression - have been as far as I can remember.

    After reading some of these posts though (namely the OP) I realize that don't have anything to complain about.

    That said, it's not so much a specific feeling as a vague but heavy sense of unhappiness that trails me whatever I do and wherever I go.

    I have a great balanced life with plenty of people and things to keep me busy... I'm not unsatisfied with my external attributes either - be it looks, confidence or anything else...
    I constantly work on myself and on making every aspect of my life better, on growing as a person and all that. I'm succeeding.

    No matter the circumstances, however, deep inside myself nothing ever changes.
    The scenery and the script may vary but I still feel the same all the fucking time.

    To illustrate: I could be having a threesome with Adriana Lima and Alessandra Ambrosio on a pile of money on the beach in the Bahamas and - although I'd certainly be enjoying myself - internally I'd still feel this constant, dull and disconnected feeling of - well, feeling 'bad'.

    (Then again I've never had a threesome with Lima and Ambrosio in the Bahamas on top of a pile of cash so maybe that's exactly what I need... but something tells me nothing 'external' can provide a solution... if that makes any sense.)

    To lighten the mood: two kittens two cups.
  • Metalfish 7 Feb 2009 19:47:49 9,191 posts
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    The interview which this is from has Mr Stephen Fry talking at length about his bipolar disorder. Sorry I didn't see the who.le clip but I think chunks of it are on the pootube.
  • belta 28 Feb 2009 20:23:35 306 posts
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    depression is a funny thing. had it since my teens and hid it from everyone. after years of bottling it up i had to do something about, so on the happy pills now and although it hasn't taken it away, it feels more managable.
    it was that stephen fry documentary that got me on the road to go and seek help
    but one bit of advice i will give, if you are depressed or suffer boughts of it. KEEP OFF THE BOOZE.
  • Benno 28 Feb 2009 20:27:39 11,854 posts
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    I cant imagine what its like to be depressed. Do you just feel sad all the time or does something need to set you off?
  • belta 28 Feb 2009 20:37:25 306 posts
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    Benno wrote:
    I cant imagine what its like to be depressed. Do you just feel sad all the time or does something need to set you off?
    i can only describe it from my own experience. nothing would set it off and it's like being in a pit you cant get out, which gets deeper and deeper till you feel you just want to lie there and wait for death, which could last for a day or in my worst time about 6 months solid.
    the thing to do is try to remove any stress in your life. i was a drug/alcohol counselor for 8 years. so i jacked it in and became a freelance artist. shit money but i'm happier
  • DFective 1 Mar 2009 03:10:33 2,013 posts
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    I think I'm depressed. I fucking hate my boring, uneventful life. Is this depression?

    Bloody hope not.
  • Syrette 1 Mar 2009 03:41:41 51,181 posts
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    Whatsfor wrote:
    Ahifi, just noticed back in one of your old posts that your at Stirling uni. I live 2 miles from Stirling so if you ever need an impartial chat with anyone other then a doctor give me a shout!

    That's a bit strange.
  • Deleted user 1 March 2009 04:02:23
    Post deleted
  • speedofthepuma 1 Mar 2009 08:08:00 13,428 posts
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    mowgli wrote:
    The problem with going to the GP is that if they do diagnose you with depression they do fuck all to help you. My mum takes medicine everyday which only serves to completely know her out, which doesn't help her at all. And I can only imagine it is a shitty attempt at installing normality into a persons life. If they are not acting crazy then we have solved the problem, even if that eans thye are sleeping 19 hours a day. Fucks me off really.

    Sorry to hear that your Mum has had such a bad experience Mowgli. However, anybody who is out there suffering with depression please don't think this is the norm, see your GP, it is by and large a treatable condition.

    foreverafternothing wrote:
    Whatsfor wrote:
    Ahifi, just noticed back in one of your old posts that your at Stirling uni. I live 2 miles from Stirling so if you ever need an impartial chat with anyone other then a doctor give me a shout!

    That's a bit strange.

    I read it as offering a sympathetic ear if needed. Seems more impressively kind than strange to me.
  • Syrette 1 Mar 2009 08:11:04 51,181 posts
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    I didn't mean that in the way it may have looked. I just personally wouldn't divulge my problems on to a complete stranger.
  • speedofthepuma 1 Mar 2009 08:12:32 13,428 posts
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    Sure, but that's essentially what counselling is.
  • Syrette 1 Mar 2009 08:17:40 51,181 posts
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    speedofthepuma wrote:
    Sure, but that's essentially what counselling is.

    Er, not exactly. Counselors are trained and have a code of conduct to keep things between them and the other person.

    Some guy off the internet isn't the same thing. Might be good to have someone to listen to you, for sure, I mean people post a good deal of their problems on here for instance, but I personally wouldn't seek out someone in person who I'd never met in person before and then divulge confidential information unless they were a counselor, someone I knew, or someone I trusted.

    And for the record I used to see one every other week for most of my childhood. To each their own.
  • Syrette 1 Mar 2009 08:19:46 51,181 posts
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    Anyway I've been up all night for no good reason whatsoever, so if my previous post doesn't make any sense then I apologise. Better get some sleep before the football at 1.
  • speedofthepuma 1 Mar 2009 08:22:13 13,428 posts
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    I'm not really out to have a go, I just responded to "I just personally wouldn't divulge my problems on to a complete stranger", which is exactly what you did, unless you knew your conseller at a personal level, which is unusual and probably a bad idea.

    I agree it is much more sensible to use a trained professional, but sharing with anbody if times are desperate, may be better than holing away and becoming isolated and more unwell.
  • Benno 1 Mar 2009 10:42:32 11,854 posts
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    Can you develop depression? or is it something that you are born with? like a ticking time bomb?
  • Deleted user 1 March 2009 10:59:39
    Since you can get post-natal-depression and other forms that develop after an incident it seems to be more of something that comes on rather than what you're born with. Although you could argue that you'd have to be predisposed towards it in order for it to come on so it's a bit of a murky area.
  • Agent_Llama 1 Mar 2009 11:04:48 3,691 posts
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    I seem to recall reading somewhere that certain people are more predisposed to it if your parents etc also have it. Myself it is something I developed at the age of about 20, 21 and its been with me ever since (27 now).
  • dufftownallan 1 Mar 2009 13:29:55 4,723 posts
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    Agent_Llama wrote:
    I seem to recall reading somewhere that certain people are more predisposed to it if your parents etc also have it. Myself it is something I developed at the age of about 20, 21 and its been with me ever since (27 now).
    ditto. just about the time of splitting up with my first gf...

    i dont want to come accross all saintly etc but i recently called a charity in inverness called birchwood highland, its a voluntary organisation that helps people with mental difficulties.

    ive been wanting to do some sort of voluntary work for god knows how long, but you know whats its like, its just something you never get round to. in saying that, i just called up on a whim one time and its very easy to get involved in so if its something thats always been in the back of your mind then id seriously suggest just phoning an orginisation and putting your name in the hat as it were.

    i'll be doing something called befriending, basically it means i hang out with one person about once a week, we can go play pool, go to the football, go to a gig or piss about listening to music, playing guitar, playing videogames etc.

    people are needed so consider it!
  • FWB 1 Mar 2009 13:33:48 56,369 posts
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    My Russian friend says there's no such thing as depression. Either you get on with your life or you kill yourself. No in between. There's apparently no such thing as dyslexia, as it can be cured with a shape blow to the back of the head.
  • Salaman 1 Mar 2009 13:58:02 24,162 posts
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    So BlizeH bumped and deleted. What's going on then?
  • FWB 1 Mar 2009 14:00:10 56,369 posts
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    Life is like a box of Japanese chocolates, you never know which one is full of fucking bean paste.
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