Dealing with depression?

[dabis]

I go to the University of Arizona for whoever asked.

[tyven]

wtf U of A is heaven on earth. smoke some weed and pummel some bitches. find a guy named nick ventura, he is the sage of Sigma Pi fraternity, become his friend and rush Sigma Pi. you will be good as gold.

[Devek]

Look at it this way.

When you die, one of two things are true.

1) It is the end. If this is true nothing matters.
2) It isn't the end. If this is true, it isn't so bad.

Killing yourself is a safe bet. Call it Devek's wager.

[Shuemue]

wtf U of A is heaven on earth. smoke some weed and pummel some bitches. find a guy named nick ventura, he is the sage of Sigma Pi fraternity, become his friend and rush Sigma Pi. you will be good as gold.

There's a teen road movie waiting to happen right there!

[Bunnykillah]

So many people fake depression for attention that I don't believe anyone that says they are. I cant log on to my facebook account without viewing a list of emo/depressed statuses each and every day. Some people have no idea how shitty life can really be I guess.

[dabis]

I really doubt I am "faking" my depression. When it gets to the point where you are thinking of suicide, I think it's a pretty serious matter. Judge me as you please though, this is your internet.

[tyven]

i just dont think you understand how lucky you are to be 19 years old, have parents that love you, and enrolled at an amazing university. i would trade places with you in a second bro.

im chalking it up to one or or a combination of:
fat
gay
broken heart
meth problem

[MisterBob]

lol @ some of the retardation in this post.

19 year olds can be relatively hormonal, it's quite possible for a chemical imbalance to result in depression. It's also possible for people his age to be depressed by something other than "chicks lol".

Also, of course it's all in his fucking head. It's depression. Where did you think it came from, his leg?


And to the OP: If you're depressed, stop talking about it on some useless forum and go get help.

[Neosutra]

Get real medical help. Depression in alot of people is very much a chemical stimuli (not just a state of mind). You can literally be "fine" as a state of mind, but your brain/body is telling keeping you in a depressive state that can make you do some bad things.

There are some good prescriptions to combat chemical depression, and some good therapy/activities to counter mental anxiety/problems.

[Xajii]

there is a vast amount of ignorance in this thread.

PM'd the OP for what it's worth, but let me say this:

good circumstances != good life.

i have loving parents, go to a good school. i have friends. i'm not fat. i'm straight. i am smart and people know it. i'm still horribly depressed. it's not a joke, and people don't often "fake it". OP sounds like a legitimately depressed individual from his posts.

"medical help" is an option but you have to consider a lot of things. one, what you can afford. two, how you will make use of it. messing around with medication during a semester is bad idea because its possible something they try you on will really fuck up your diet, sleep, mood or all. therapy only works if you make it work. and it takes a lot of it.

[Yuri-G]

So many people fake depression for attention that I don't believe anyone that says they are. I cant log on to my facebook account without viewing a list of emo/depressed statuses each and every day. Some people have no idea how shitty life can really be I guess.

being depressed can be, and often is, completely unrelated to how great or how shitty your life is. in fact, a lot of times, people with severe depression will get stuck in a loop of feeling bad because they know their life is relatively decent and they have no right to feel that way which makes them more depressed which make them feel even more guilty for feeling depressed, etc. and that shit just goes on forever.

to the OP: if you are having suicidal thoughts, DEFINITELY get help. ASAP. suicidal thoughts are never a joking matter, although that won't stop a fair number of posters on here from laughing at you anyway.

[Bunnykillah]

I really doubt I am "faking" my depression. When it gets to the point where you are thinking of suicide, I think it's a pretty serious matter. Judge me as you please though, this is your internet.

Don't believe I was judging you. Just stating what I think/my experience. If you to the point of killing yourself than what are you doing on a message board when you could be seeking help? When people get to the point of suicide then getting help is the only real solution. There really is no other option. Posting about it on a message board is just reinforcing my point.

[Aloe]

You're too young to start a dependence on antidepressants, if its doctor recommended then so be it.

Get help or talk to someone (as everyone else has suggested)
It could be just the winter, or SADs, get some exercise.

[tyven]

Yuri G your life sounds like great times. cheer up

[Neosutra]

Lets be clear, when I said medical help, I meant get laid.

[Kaeko]

Not all depression is 'your fault'. There are any number of biochemical reasons you can become depressed. That's why psych meds work in the first place. You should never assume you need actual meds, but if you do in fact have a case where it's heavily biochemical, you aren't going to will your way out of it that easily.

That being said, you should talk to someone. If this is a 1.5 year old thing it's probably not going away by you doing nothing at this point. Others have already mentioned good places to look. Don't necessarily rely on your friends to help you through this entirely - it's not something the average person is equipped to deal with over long periods of time, as I'm sure your friend can tell you.

On a random note, it's very common for teens to go into depression after high school and their first year of college. Sometimes people are at risk for depression and it only takes an environmental stimulus to set it off (moving out on your own, new school, divorce, kids leaving parents for college, etc.). I should probably also point out that these 'transitional periods' in your life are also the most likely times a person will fall in love too.

[Kuya]

As suggested already, above all, before you even think about using pills, i would suggest seeing a therapist and letting them decide whether you should take any pills. You should be making sure it's not just some event in your life that you really haven't taken notice of, furthermore, it's quite difficult to tell whether you have a hormonal imbalance and therefore are depressed, or if you have a hormonal imbalance and therefore are depressed because something is seemingly off in your life.

In addition, exercise and a change of scenery might be good ideas.

edit: you should tell your parents that you want to see a therapist, i really do believe you should let them know, your health is really more importan than feeling like they see you different, not to mention they probably care more about you feeling better anyway. Once again, i must implore you (as a person who studies psychology) see a therapist.

edit2: as it has already been mentioned therapy isn't designed to fix your problem, it's designed to help YOU fix your problem, so you have to put effort in it, and the best way to make sure you do is by obtaining some support, as in, people who will help you keep up with the therapy, this is where your parents support and perhaps even your friends will be important. They should be reassuring you of your progress and of your will to continue. I would highly suggest informing your parents.

[Mojo]

To begin with, any of the retards in this thread saying that depression isn't a real condition probably haven't ever had to deal with it. It's very real and it's not just in your head. You should seek professional help as soon as you can and follow their advice (ask your parents if you need help financing this, I'm sure that they'll oblige.) You might get put on medication, but don't let that intimidate you. Medication isn't going to fix your problems but it certainly can help you become more mentally stable while you overcome them. I will say that there is some merit to the cynicism in this thread though, if you don't make a conscious and constant effort in improving your life and overcoming your problems, you won't ever recover (although keep in mind if you strive to get better, you will.) I'd advise against trying to put yourself in a relationship for the sake of feeling better, it probably wouldn't be a very long term relationship and can cause a lot more harm than good.

[Zeb]

i just dont think you understand how lucky you are to be 19 years old, have parents that love you, and enrolled at an amazing university. i would trade places with you in a second bro.

im chalking it up to one or or a combination of:
fat
gay
broken heart
meth problem
wasted $10 on A Crystalline Prophecy AKA Neosutritis

FTFY

[Daydreamer]

Well, I know this is general discussion, so I don't know how many answers that aren't "go kill yourself" I will get, but I thought I'd at least ask for opinions here. I've been dealing with being severely depressed for nearly 1.5 years now and because of it my social, academic, and life in general have been taking a major downfall. My best friend who no longer can take dealing with the stress I put on them with my emotions has suggested that I either get counseling or get put on anti-depressant medication, so I guess I wanted to ask if you think it's justifiable to make this decision in my life.

In terms of my problem: I'm sure my close friends have at least noticed a bit of a change in my actions and personality over the past 1.5ish years, but in terms of my parents, I haven't told them about my problems yet, and since my relationship with them has been going downhill for a while, I don't think they will come to the conclusion on their own. They are probably the people that could help me most in this process of dealing with seeing a doctor, as well as how to pay for anything through health insurance. I'm just sort of scared that their reaction might lead to them treating me differently, or even looking down upon me because I am not "normal". That being said, should I bring it up to them anyways and try to let outside methods help me with my struggle or have counseling/medication not fixed things for anyone on BG who has dealt with anything like this?

Just to clarify, I am currently 19, and I am a college student, so I'm not just dealing with some kind of teenage angst problems that might arise in a middle school/high school student. Thank you to anyone that gives an attempt at real advise to me and again, I know BG is probably the wrong place to turn, but I can no longer try to deal with this on my own because I'm currently feeling terrible at least 4-5 days a week.

I want to preface my reply with stating that I heave read 0 of the responses thus far. That being said, here I go.

I remember my first semester in college, when I was 19. I realized how hard college actually was compared to my high school, which was a joke. I also got depressed. All kinds of various reasons, but mostly school for me. Two years later I met the girl of my dreams, and I fucked it up without even knowing it. So, I eventually got more depressed. Here's how I changed -

I fucking dealt with it. I looked back into what I did and realized, YES, everything WAS my fault. School went bad because I didn't try hard enough, after badgering that girl for over a year she finally told me the reasons we broke up and...she was right. The reasons for the breakup are nothing I would have ever thought about as being bad until she told me and I thought about it, so I no longer blame just myself. But the point I am trying to make is if you are depressed you have to do something about it. Now I LOVE my life. Everything about it. I took every aspect I didn't like and sat down and thought "why does this part of my life suck, and what can I do to change it."

After months of hard work (this started last year for me, after almost a full 2 years of depression), I am awesome. I don't care what people think, I love my job, I try hard, if I want something I go for it, and if it doesn't happen, so what....other opportunities will come along.

Just realize that no amount of meds will help you until you help yourself. Think about what you don't like about your life, and just make an active effort to change it. If your friends aren't supportive....dump them, they aren't real friends. Me and a buddy of mine kinda went through almost the same thing together and helped work each other through it, and honestly we are completely different people now - and we both love every minute of it.