puddingmouse wrote:
That said, I love my life. I love myself. Depression is just an illness I've inherited, it isn't me. I think it has made me quite tough in some ways, though. I wouldn't be the same person without it (though I would definitely choose to not have it if I could). It's not like AS, where I'd have to seriously think about whether I'd keep it or not - depression is an illness and it is painful. In some ways, it can be like AS, in that it can be hereditary and permanent.
I guess they like to prescribe SSRIs to people going through temporary crisies, so that is why 'depression' is so widely diagnosed. The temporary kind where you go through a bad time in your life should probably have a different label from the version that you have for life.
I agree on all counts here - I love life too, and I'd get rid of the depression if I could. I'd also prefer a different label because I feel they are so different. Depression always comes out of the blue for me, often at high points in my life (when I'm feeling really happy or everything's going well for me) and then screws up everything. It goes on for months and by the time I've recovered I've lost all the ground I've gained and have to start again. Depression because of sadness and depression because of genetic illness have different causes, and thus I think distinguishing the two is important. Someone who sinks into depression due to sadness may well only experience it once in their lifetime. If you have depression as a genetic illness you will have it time and time again. Although treatment is the same, causation is different, and if the two were separated then it would be easier for researchers to focus on means of prevention (cure) for genetic depression (I don't think sadness induced depression can be prevented, although once it occurs it can be "cured"/"treated"). I could be wrong I guess.
Well sadness is a normal human emotion, so yeah if someone starts getting depressed due to sadness then chances are its because maybe there was a death of someone close and they are having a hard time getting over it....or maybe a relationship ended badly. So yeah a lot of people assume depression is the result of having a hard time getting over something....so anyone with depression should just 'get over it'. I think its kind of hard to get over something that does not have a direct cause.
04 Jun 2011, 1:43 pm
I'm sorry to hear. I just hope your ways of keeping it under control aren't hurting you mentally, or physically. I have been there, done that and what you do now, follows you later when you've got your depression all under control.
