your views on deppression?

[vickista]

not that i actually suffer myself, but i have a friend who has been getting really down over the last few months i thought it was nothing to worry about, but i recently found out shes begun cutting herself. im not sure how to deal with it, and she has confided in me for help and im totally losing it, anyone care to express their views on the situation?

[Randetica]

tried cutting a few years ago, didnt work for me

ill get some anti depressiva soon

[vickista]

tried cutting a few years ago, didnt work for me

ill get some anti depressiva soon


how'd u get help?or how'd u know u needed help?

[Randetica]

i knew i needed help since i couldnt leave house alone anymore
ill start a therapy soon

[abcdefz]

Cutting yourself is a pretty good sign that you need help. Confiding in someone is a pretty good sign that you want help.

Your friend should call a local counseling center and arrange an interview. Tell her she doesn't have to "settle" for any counselor wwith whom she doesn't feel comofrtable, but then, once she finds that person, to do the work the counselor suggests, and stick with it.

Finding the right person and then having perseverance are the trickiest parts. Thank your friend for confiding in you, but now it's her job to get to work on this.

[vickista]

i knew i needed help since i couldnt leave house alone anymore
ill start a therapy soon


how'd u brake the habbit of cutting?

[Randetica]

i only tried it one time
cause people were saying it makes them feel better
didnt work since i never thought anything was my fault (!)

[vickista]

i only tried it one time
cause people were saying it makes them feel better
didnt work since i never thought anything was my fault (!)


Oh, umm i thought u did wat other ppl do, like my friend does it wenever she feels really angry or really upset etc.which unsurprisngly is happening more and more often these days.

[Randetica]

i know

at one point i just tried everything that could make me feel better..

[checkyourprez]

a quasi buddy of mine here at school is always depressed. thinks the world is stacked against him. which is a little true, but the fact that he dwells on it so much just multiplies it by like a 100. long story short last week kid starts balling at this party, talking about killing himself and going to the thug mansion in the sky (funny, but sad). next night he ended up getting arrestted for something downtown and they sent him to a pysch ward. i think hes dropping out of school too, its a shame was 3 and 3/4 years into it.

but yea, i suggest you find someway of helping your friend before he turns out like mine.

[ampm]

I'm too tired to answer this question. I need to roll up into a ball and lay down.

[enree erzweglle]

Careful. It's noble to want to help, but it takes a strong person to be effective in that situation and to not get lost in the drama of it. It's not easy to be a friend to a depressed someone else.

Probably, it's going to be hard to give your friend what she needs v. maybe what she wants, and it'll be hard for you to know the difference yourself.

[alexandra]

i'm not even sure how to define depression, 'cause i think i've only been in touch with self-pity and getting emo quite often.

[voltanapricot]

A close friend of mine is depressed and she needs to get help. But I can't force her. It's sucky and heartbreaking.

[burbboi]

My ex-girlfriend had depression. I'm not sure if it was 'mild' depression or something more serious. I found out 3 months into the relationship when she just burst into tears while watching a movie.

What movie you ask? ANCHORMAN. That sort of tipped me off that something was going on I didn't quite know about. I still remember the scene for some stupid reason. It was the one with all the news teams getting together to rumble. I asked what was wrong and if there was anything I could do for her and she just kept sobbing and eventually ran from the room. This was to repeat itself too many times to count over the next 18 months. Shortly after the first episode I went to seek out information explaining what depression was all about. I found a few interesting pamplets on it and was quite disheartened at what I learned from them.

Depression basically invokes feelings of hopelessness and self-doubt where the cause isn't really explainable. It seemed to be a sporadic sort of thing with my ex. She would go weeks all bubbly and projecting a image of happiness and jubilation. Talking with friends, going shopping, dinner with the family..all that jazz. But she would just crash once in awhile. She would shut people out and and want to be alone for days at a time. I felt like she was lashing out at people including myself without reason. Eventually after educating myself I came to realize that she couldn't really help it. At the time her father felt close enough to tell me that his wife also suffered from depression with episodes similiar to what I had encountered and that he wasn't going to sugar-coat anything for me...if you want this to last it was in no way going to be easy.


We broke it off after dating for 2 years. The resentment I felt towards her just kept building up until it boiled over. I just wasn't strong enough to hold the relationship together in light of everything that had happened. She is a beautiful and thoughtful person most of the time. This might seem a little chiche but it truly was a case of 'Jekyl and Hyde' sort of relationship with us. Couples have spats once in a while. Hell if they don't something is truly fucked up there...but mentally this all took it's toll on me over time and I just had to distance myself from her for awhile.


We still get together for lunch once in a while to catch up. She is taking better medication than she was before which seems to be making life more bearable for her. Modern medicine in this case has been a blessing for her, and for that I am very thankful.

[cookiepuss]

there are definetly a variety of ways to treat depression, with medication, counseling, natural and holsitic supplements, etc. The great thing is that there are many options to explore, on the down side that also means you might have to try a variety of combinations before finding what works for you and your body chemistry. I feel it's usually best to start by seeing a counselor and have them do an evaluation as to wether you need medication. a primary car physican can also help a person make that decision as well. For most people a combination of counseling and medication works well.

Personally:
I suffer from depression. I have been on and off medication and in and out of counseling. recently I had to make a dificult decision about going back on meds. I really didn't want to, because I don't like the idea of being dependent, but I came to realize this is what I need right now. I have noticed an improvement since I have started meds, and so has my family and friends. I would like to do conseling also but I haven't found the right conselor yet and since I'm uninsured cost is an issue.

[jackrock]

It goes on and off for me, but some poeple, even with cousilors, feel slightly embarrased to talk about it, or with their parents, or even friends, even though they know they have to talk about it... not mentioning any names

[vickista]

It goes on and off for me, but some poeple, even with cousilors, feel slightly embarrased to talk about it, or with their parents, or even friends, even though they know they have to talk about it... not mentioning any names


well i told her she shld see a counsellor because it seemed like the obvious thing to say, but she doesnt want to.

[ms.peachy]

Careful. It's noble to want to help, but it takes a strong person to be effective in that situation and to not get lost in the drama of it. It's not easy to be a friend to a depressed someone else.

Probably, it's going to be hard to give your friend what she needs v. maybe what she wants, and it'll be hard for you to know the difference yourself.

I second that. It's sort of like how you don't jump into the water when someon is drowning and flailing around, because of the danger that they will just drag you under with them - much better to throw a life preserver. Of course, you can't make them grab hold of it, is the thing.

A friend with depression can become very needy, and can become unwittingly quite manipulative. For example, if you choose to spend time with some other friends without her, she will accuse you of abandoning her, that sort of thing.

I'm not suggesting that you should turn your back on your friend, only that it is not your responsibility to "save" her, only to try and help her. You could try looking for some online resources for her, or go to the library or a bookstore and explain your situation to someone ther - they can perhaps help you find a suitable book to give your friend. And, although you may not like doing this, if it gets to a point where you are truly afraid for her safety, you may need to tell a trusted teacher or one of her parents what is going on. (Yes, she may well be angry with you and accuse you of breaking her trust if you do this - but in time, when she is well, she will hopefully feel differently.)

[monkey]

i believe in therapy. i believe meds can help some. i believe meds has done nothing but turn me into an evil 8-eyed monster, so i hate it, but i know it can help some. but therapy is goooood.