Do you often get falsely accused of being depressed?

Post Reply New Topic

The other day I accidentally revealed to some nurse that I don't like my job and that I am not going to bother with graduate school because I have no clear goals in life, and the nurse, being very keen, insisted that I went to see a psychologist, even though I clearly explained to her that I had no intentions of doing so.

The nurse probably reasoned: "well, this guy is depressed, it doesn't matter that I am not qualified to diagnose mental illnesses, I know he is depressed (mentally ill), so obviously he doesn't know better than I do, so my ethical and professional duty is to convince him to see a psychologist at all costs, and it doesn't matter if in my effort to convince him to see a psychologist I talk to him condescendingly, because he obviously has mental problems and since he has mental problems he won't be able to pick up on my condescension, so no harm done, and even if he somehow manages to detect my condescension and feels hurt, he is a loony, and a sane person, like myself, obviously should not care what a loony thinks about her, because loonies are unintelligent and for almost all matters, irrelevant."

I am not depressed, I just see things the way they are given the reality of my life. Let's see: I am not a genius (fact), I don't possess any rare talent (fact), I am not socially connected (fact), and I don't have a wealthy family (fact). It's next to impossible for someone in my predicament to do really well in life.

Being aware of the fact that my chances of doing really well in life are next to none does not mean I am depressed.

In fact, I believe that thinking that I have a realistic chance of doing really well in life is not only naive but also delusional thinking. And even if I am depressed, which I am not, but for the sake of discussion let's suppose I am, I'd rather be depressed and in touch with reality than euphoric and living in fantasy land.

Those few words is all a medical professional needs to hear to label you with depression.

I was misdiagnosed with severe depression because I was a little stressed out when doing a test to see if I had dyslexia.
Never once did I say I didn't have goals though, the first thing I said to my next psychologist is that I had both short term and long term goals. The label of depression was dropped.

my mother and sister think i'm depressed sometimes because i'm not acting in a humorous manner or am acting apathetic. sometimes i just don't care, man.

Where to begin....

A) The nurse was simply doing her job. That italicised rant about what you assumed she was thinking is complete BS.
B) Everything following the italicised portion would lead me to believe you're extremely depressed.

People may not agree with this but it's not how you feel that matters- it's how others perceive you that does. After all, perception is everything.
All you had to do was kindly thank the nurse for her concern, tell her you would definately consider her advice and promptly forget it after leaving the office.

Depression gets thrown around A LOT and it sucks because the people who really are depressed then get sort of brushed aside because people get convinced that depression isn't a valid mental illness because its so overdiagnosed.

I was hospitalized recently after having severe panic attacks. The diagnosis? Depression. The reasoning?

I didn't smile and admitted to being overwhelmed and so on.

....uh... okay.

Depression NOS (not otherwise specified), I might add... which basically translates to "we're just going to throw out some BS to try to get you to take some medication that we've been seduced into giving you"

> it doesn't matter that I am not qualified to diagnose mental illnesses, I know he is depressed

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh I feel your pain.
Been there, a lot. My mother was a social worker... she liked to diagnose me. An employment consultant diagnosed me. Others have. They like to push meds. They want you to have a happy face -- about the things normies are happy about. Those things don't make me happy. Often they make me mad. Most often I had no response to things that were important to other people -- just as they had (and have) no response to what matters to me. So I get labelled with this and a strong recommendation of nut drugs.

Life has not been easy, but that doesn't mean I'm depressed. It means I'm seeing clearly. Sheesh.

Yeah. I got slapped with that one. They called it a "flat affect" just because I didn't ooh and aah over some nurse's "ADORABLE SHOES! OMG!" or chime right in on their ridiculous chitchat. Well excuse ME but I thought it was weird when they couldn't appreciate the theoretical math symbolism in a poem I wrote or carry on a conversation with me in medieval French. Those lunatics!

So... because I don't feel like cooperating with their world, I must be depressed. Okay.

Constantly. Especially by my family and close friends. Although, most of the time I am depressed, haha. They hardly notice my good moods.

i was working for the mental health services last year. People make the diagnosis of depression without really thinking; when they're not qualifies to make it. The result is that depression is given as the lable for a whole range of problems, poor adjustment, anxiety, normal sadness (everyones mood fluctuates, but we don't all become clinically depressed when our moods are at there lowest), etc. The result is that, as a diagnosis, its trivialised. what you said to the nurse if definatly not enough, on its own, for a diagnosis. Humour him/her and see the psychologist and i hope you can see things more possitively, but try not to become preocupied with a possibly wrong diagnosis. Being told you have depression is depressing!

If I tell the nurse I don't want to see a psychologist I want her to shut the hell up and stop talking over me.



lol



I feel alright. That's what matters.



I could have done that, but then I would have felt like I submitted not only to the nurse but also to a false diagnosis. I think the fact that I engaged the nurse in an argument and questioned her judgment proves that I am not depressed.

Am often accused of being depressed. Have been told that I give that impression because of my lack of facial expression and my social isolation.

Yes.

People keep asking me if I'm "alright" even when I'm quiet and fine working out things on my own.

Having people come up to me in a store and asking if I need help when I'm busy trying to find something/blot out all the distracting Muzak/chatting is especially irritating. This is a shame because they are really nice friendly people who think I need help. Remove all the people/ distracting Muzak form the shop and I'd find what I was looking for in a couple of minutes. It's also easier and less disorientating if the layout of the shop isn't changed every other week too. I feel much more satisfied and comfortable if I've found items on my own in a quiet shop.

Even when I'm quietly happy by myself, people say I look "miserable" then walk off.

But, when I'm really miserable, people don't seem to care or say I'm exaggerating things to get attention.

I try my very best to project myself and my feelings, but it doesn't always work.

I really don't like upsetting other people, but unfortunately, sometimes I upset them unintentionally.

I often hear people say I look sad, or depressed. I hear that for years, as far as my memory goes, actually. Maybe I look sad, I don't really know. But I hear it mostly because I ''never laugh''. I can laugh, and can have fun, but I just don't like the jokes of my classmates. I think they aren't funny at all, even more, plain boring. When everyone laughs, I mostly don't. I don't like their jokes, but it makes me look depressed. Especially when I'm drawing complex mazes with a pencil silently, and not listen to their ''funny'' remarks.

I was reading my mum's emails the other day, and she's been saying that I seem depressed cos I stay in my room all the time. I am so angry, that's BS! I'm very happy, I love life, I just don't like the same things as other people do. For example, my mum is always wanting to go for walks on Scarborough beach. WHY? Scarborough beach sucks, the very SKY there is depressed this time of year, it rains, it's cold, and it's incredibly boring. Beaches are only nice when the sun's out, and when it's in Spain or somewhere. Why does this sentiment mean I'm depressed, for God's sake?!

OMG, I do that too! When I'm bored in class I just draw spirally mazes on the whiteboard in my planner, then I normally get told off for not concentrating in class, which sucks cos I can listen and draw at the same time, and even if I can't it don't matter cos if the class is boring, I don't care what I'm missing.

No. No one cares enough to notice.

People sometimes say to me "a penny for your thoughts" when all I was doing was zoning out into space in a meditative stance.