Sinking fast for no apparent reason

MistressPandora

Gods, I don't know what's wrong with me. My entire family will be home for Christmas (including my brother in England with wife and 2 kids, and another brother in Botswana with wife and 3 kids), I have a fairly ok job, a great boyfriend, and loads of friends who do such great things for me, but still, I feel so down. Whenever I have a bad day, I just sink into my depression. I suffer from depression anyway. Any hints or tips to help me cheer the hell up? I feel like I'm struggling and I don't know why.
In case anyone's wondering, I am currently seeking help with my depression, but I'm on a 2 month waiting list.
I hate the winter. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it...

tinkerbell

maybe keeping yourself occupied with all your friends and boyfriend will help you keep your mind off things, at least til you get past the 2-month waiting list stage that is

MistressPandora

I haven't been smoking regularly anymore, and definitely not by myself anymore. But yeah, I will give it up.

po0k

Google for herbal things/foods that give your ceratonin a kick in the arse.

And go for a run now and again, get the blood going

Silent Grape

lord, christmas/winter/my birthday suck for me so much, with no real definite reason. i just get so so low. it happens to lots of people who dont even suffer from depression. i just feel like hibernating in my bed untill february. anyway, love, i cant say much, just keep pulling through,i just try to keep myself busy to ward off the depressing thoughts/actions. im sure you are already, but being open with friends really helps too. i recently self harmed and everybody found out for varous reasons, and i couldnt believe how amazing my friends are.

good luck, you've obviously got strength to deal with depression, you can deal with christmas ick too x

The_Conductor

Hiya- a lot of people suffer from depression around this time of the year. There are a lot of labels for it- including Seasonally Adjusted Disorder (SAD) etc. In essence- the shorter days and the lack of sunlight cannot but have an effect on people. What I find helps is taking lots of walks (when the weather permits) and actually getting out and about as much as possible. Some people advise to take vitamin D supplements (but be very careful about taking anything- even vitamins- taking too many can be worse than having a deficit).

If you tend to be stuck indoors, a cubicle rabbit like the rest of us, do your utmost to get a little time to yourself, in the early afternoon- go out get fresh air, make the most of the daylight.

I know it doesn't exactly sound like a revolutionary idea- but it can make a difference.

Take care of yourself,

S.

the_syco

Sleep in on your days off, be lazy, and go for nice walks with the other half.

Also, watch mushie feel-good films (Ice Age, Brother Bear, etc). They usually do the trick for me

DublinWriter

MistressPandora wrote:

Gods, I don't know what's wrong with me. My entire family will be home for Christmas (including my brother in England with wife and 2 kids, and another brother in Botswana with wife and 3 kids), I have a fairly ok job, a great boyfriend, and loads of friends who do such great things for me, but still, I feel so down. Whenever I have a bad day, I just sink into my depression. I suffer from depression anyway. Any hints or tips to help me cheer the hell up? I feel like I'm struggling and I don't know why.
In case anyone's wondering, I am currently seeking help with my depression, but I'm on a 2 month waiting list.
I hate the winter. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it...

Seroxat/Prozac and the later 3rd generation SSRIs should be used as a last resort only. GP's in Ireland hand them out like Smarties.

If the winter is your problem, then you probably have Seasonal Affective Distorder (SAD). You can buy special lamps that you sit in front of for an hour or two a day that will make your body produce the right levels of Melatonin if that is indeed your problem.

ferdi

DublinWriter wrote:

.If the winter is your problem, then you probably have Seasonal Affective Distorder (SAD). You can buy special lamps that you sit in front of for an hour or two a day that will make your body produce the right levels of Melatonin if that is indeed your problem.

i hate this ****. the basic emotion of saddness, which we must all experience and deal with (some more than others), is given fancy names which enable corprate scum who couldnt give a **** about human beings to sells junk such as lamps and dangerous prescription drugs.

original poster - you are just sad. it happens to all of us. there is no cause, no magic fix. sadness comes from not knowing answers to questions we have deep within and we will never know the answers to the really important questions, so as a result, we get sad from time to time.

this is my personal opinion and has no basis in established medical practice or theories .

MistressPandora

Originally Posted by DublinWriter
.If the winter is your problem, then you probably have Seasonal Affective Distorder (SAD). You can buy special lamps that you sit in front of for an hour or two a day that will make your body produce the right levels of Melatonin if that is indeed your problem.

ferdi wrote:

i hate this ****. the basic emotion of saddness, which we must all experience and deal with (some more than others), is given fancy names which enable corprate scum who couldnt give a **** about human beings to sells junk such as lamps and dangerous prescription drugs.

original poster - you are just sad. it happens to all of us. there is no cause, no magic fix. sadness comes from not knowing answers to questions we have deep within and we will never know the answers to the really important questions, so as a result, we get sad from time to time.

this is my personal opinion and has no basis in established medical practice or theories .

Wow, hang on, hang on! Yes, I am sad. Yes, it does happen to all of us. But all I'm really looking for is a way to cheer up, not to fire up people's blood. I have attempted many many solutions, but the winter is not the root of my problem. I've suffered with depression for many, many years, even during the brightest days of the summer. I'm just asking how other people cheer themselves up when they're down, so maybe it'll help me.
I know there is no cause for my sadness, I'd just rather I didn't sink any further.
Thank you everyone for your advice, I'll do the best I can.

KdjaCL

Go to spain(somewhere warm) for few days around this time every eyar , its cheap and will cheer you up.

kdjac

DivX

To the original poster.

I find that a change of routine can help in times you are feeling down, granted if you felt really down it wouldn't work, but try to hit it before it reached that low level.

Plan things for the future and have thinks to look forward and aspire to. Confiding with a close friend can also help to try and identify the problem, and you may discover that there isn't anything really a serious problem in the first place.. Avoid drinking too much, doesn't really improve anything, and probably make you feel worse in the long term.

I'm only suggesting the above from personal experience and probably have no benefit for you, but you will hopefully find a coping mechanism that works best for you, we've all been there from time to time.

Look after yourself, and remember discussing a problem is good.

ven0m

DivX wrote:

Plan things

Best laid plans etc etc etc.....


::: ven0mous :::

Sleepy

I found the answer to this myself in a poem by Kahlil Gibran, so I included it in my sig, the last line being the relevant one:

"For in the dew of little things, the heart finds it's morning and is refreshed."

I think that simple line holds the key to happiness: taking joy in the silliest little things: the baby sitting across from you on the bus smiling happily; watching strangers meet and writing a mini-biography for them in your head; a cute guy/girl that smiles at you; feeling your pupils dilate in wonder when you see a great painting/piece of art; anything else that can make you smile.

Learning to experience the joy in these simple everyday things are what gets us through the monotony of daily life, or at least it is for me...

mycroft

MistressPandora wrote:

Wow, hang on, hang on! Yes, I am sad. Yes, it does happen to all of us. But all I'm really looking for is a way to cheer up, not to fire up people's blood. I have attempted many many solutions, but the winter is not the root of my problem. I've suffered with depression for many, many years, even during the brightest days of the summer. I'm just asking how other people cheer themselves up when they're down, so maybe it'll help me.
I know there is no cause for my sadness, I'd just rather I didn't sink any further.
Thank you everyone for your advice, I'll do the best I can.

I'm sorry but Screw Ferdi, depression is a recognised medical condition, and you don't have to justify yourself to him. Ferdi your attitude of just get over it, and don't acknowledge the depression is one of the reasons we have a suicide rate that so high it's the main cause of young male death in this country (note Pandora I'm not suggesting you're suicidial, or male, or even young, it's just through bitter experience I know how damaging his attitude is)

I've a friend who suffers from SAD, badly, literally can't cope with winter, and has to adjust his schedule to get the maximum amount of light.

Winter and christmas esp, are difficult, it's a load of weight and issues you aren't even aware were a problem can surface causing a great deal of stress under the surface.

Ignore muppets who suggest going to spain or medicating yourself, the first is not pratical and the other is not advisable if you're about to start therapy, besides prosac takes about six weeks to show any effect

I don't know if you know him but this guy has been writing a regular column every tuesday in the guardian's supplement (it's only 80p pop out and buy it or read his column here . He's a suffer of depression, a recovering alcoholic, and former self harmer, he's a firm believer in the effectivness of yoga to cope with depression.

You have an illness, you have to approach it with a regieme of self help using discpline, I can't tell you what works for you, you have to find it yourself and work at it.

ferdi

i know depression is real, believe me i know, i'm not lecturing anyone i'm giving an opinion and its as valid as yours so dont shoot me down ever again, kapeesh?

mycroft

ferdi wrote:

i know depression is real, believe me i know, i'm not lecturing anyone i'm giving an opinion and its as valid as yours so dont shoot me down ever again, kapeesh?

Or you'll..........

You posted an opinion I posted mine, your opinion just had the misfortune of being wrong and damaging, I corrected it, now take your macho swagger and toddle off to another thread.

Oh and Ferdi, abuse via rep, tut tut, Admins don't like that.

Gordon

Ehh mycroft "screw Ferdi" is an abuse that I don't like.

You know, you can both make your opinions without petty bickering. Just a thought.

Oryx

ferdi wrote:

i know depression is real, believe me i know, i'm not lecturing anyone i'm giving an opinion and its as valid as yours so dont shoot me down ever again, kapeesh?

Dont like getting involved in flaming issues, but your first post didn't read as if you accepted depression as a valid complaint, even though here you confirm you do recognise it. If you have ever suffered from it you will know it goes way beyond sadness, and leads to a feeling of total disconnection from everyone, which is especially acute at holiday times when everyone else appears to be having a whale of a time.

My fight against it involved mentally saying to myself 'im doing this for me' and taking time to do what I wanted, be it chilling out or reading or partying, the main thing being that i was not trying to please anyone else, just be content with myself. Of course my experience is different from anyone else.