Depressed? Me? Nah! (My Experience of Depression)

Member Name: jimblob

Product:	My Experience of Depression
Date:	03/02/01 (100 review reads)
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“What you need is a good kick up the arse!”
“Pull yourself together man, there are many more people worse off than you!”
“Stop wallowing in self pity, just get out there and DO something!”
“What’s up with you now? you’ve got a face like a bag o’ spanners!”

These, and many more phrases, have been directed at me for as long as I can remember.
Depression is not just a state of mind, it is one of the most debilitating illnesses known, although it is an illness of the mind, it can affect your physical wellbeing also. When the black clouds descend upon you, there is little anyone can do for you, you have to recognise your problem and decide the best way to combat it. This does not mean “going it alone”, most people don’t realise they are suffering from depression until they visit their GP, usually on an unrelated matter, (Mine was pains in my legs). Their GP can, after asking some pertinent questions, see that stress and depression may be having a greater effect on their health than the ailment they went to see him with in the first place.

Symptoms of depression include, insomnia, restlessness, panic or anxiety attacks, crying for seemingly no reason, suicidal thoughts becoming more pronounced (we all have these thoughts from time to time, usually after an extremely bad upset like a death in the family, a fight with your partner, problems at work).
Another symptom of depression is, surprisingly, shopping! Some people try to combat their depression by buying themselves nice things, they then get into debt, which only fuels their depression and ultimately makes them feel worse!

There are many drugs on the market to assist in helping with depression, although some people may prefer to try a more natural remedy, like “St Johns Wort”, easily obtained from chemists and homeopathy clinics.
Ultimately these drugs can only help, not cur
e, to cure yourself usually means making a drastic change in lifestyle, a change of job, a change of surroundings etc. Look at what makes you sad or stressed, face up to it, change it, make it less important to you and compare it to what makes you happy. If you can learn to focus on the good things, and put the bad things into perspective, you are a good way there to being happy once more.

One of the most useful tools, in combating depression, is to learn how to relax in any situation.
Your GP can give you relaxation exercises to do at home or at work, it would take too long to explain them here, but take my word on it, these exercises are really good. They are easy to learn and you can do them without people around you knowing what you are up to.

Learning to spot the signs of depression coming on is a lot harder than you would imagine, usually it is the people around you, (your family, workmates etc), who can spot it first.
Listen to them, if they tell you your mood has changed, believe them, and then do something to stop the depression taking hold of you. Take a holiday from work, relax and do your exercises, physical exercise is also good, it releases endorphins that make you feel good (hence all the gym junkies ;), you will soon feel better and so will the people around you.
When you are depressed, it puts a great strain on your partner and children, as they are usually the first in line to suffer, by proxy, the wrath of your depression! Many relationships fall at this fence, so try and be aware that when you are suffering, your family suffer with you.

If you think you may be suffering from depression, don’t ignore it and wait for sunnier days, the sunnier days will be few and far between, and the dark clouds will be over you much of the time.
Go to your GP, tell him how you feel, he may send you to see a psychologist, (A kind of watered down shrink), they will help you to help yourself, and the dark clouds may ne
ver make it over the horizon again.

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