what do you find aids the symptoms of depression... i have been officially diaganosed and am soon to start attending therapy (one on one) once a week
is there anything that anyone finds helps with depression in the short time however? i need to go to sleep and do homework and go for a run and try and eat and go to school and learn and go see friends but im so scared and sad when im alone, but i need to get to sleep
does anyone have any tips ? cup of tea maybe?
does anyone have any stories about their experiences with depression
i just turned 16, im a girl and im not an emo or a goth or anything pretending to be depressed, its been diagnosed
im a smart and funny person, who tries to be positive and proactive but... i just need help right now I was diagnosed with depression some time ago, and have been prescribed antidepressants and undergone counselling. I eventually found that the best way of beating the problem is to work on yourself. I've recently begun a university course, and find that having to concentrate on my work more than helpful in controlling any negative thoughts that might try to creep up on me. I also find exercise, especially walking, very helpful. Exercise has been described as a natural antidepressant, by the way, as it releases chemicals acalled endorphins, which are responsible for elevating the mood.
Also, when you begin you therapy sessions, remember to be as open and honest as possible with the therapist, as s/he will be more able to help you if you are.
Try to maintain contact with your friends, as they can be a valuable source of support, as can your family if you let them! Don't allow yourself to be alone right now, as you need people around you to help you through this difficult time.
Concentrate on being the smart, funny person you describe yourself as and your mood will lift.
With regard to the sleep situation, have you tried a warm bath and a drink of warm milk? These are well known to relax the body and prepare you for sleep. You could also try reading something you find really boring!!
You could also try writing down a list of all your positive qualities and strengths, and read them whenever you begin to feel low.
Good luck with your studies, hope all goes well for you! Depression is not exactly a disease for most kids your age, it is a reaction to damp down your emotions so you do not freak out at all the life changes you are participating in now, and can anticipate soon. I mean some kids are truly severly depressed, but most of them are mourning the loss of the child they were, and stunned by the prospect of becoming an adult... figuring out new relationships to *everybody* - including the parents you thought would always be the same (darn them!)... and perfectly reasonably overwhelmed by all that will entail! Teens are using depression as a sort of floatation device in a sea of uncertainty that is no fault of their own, but just a season of life.
I have raised a lot of teens. 17 is ground zero for this problem, and after 3 of them I finally figured it out:
Fuel counts: Eat decently, and regularly. Do not drink diet drinks because they screw up your fuel guage. Carry snacks and fluid.
Sleep really *is* the issue. 1 Advil PM actually works.
Schedule your school work and activity demands well in advance, so you can see the bottlenecks and adjust your effort level to get stuff done without all-nighters. Make a calendar and really live by it... Don't forget to allow time for loafing - because if you don't leave time for it, you will do it anyway and end up doing all nighters.
This too shall pass - and more quickly than you think. Nobody lives in high school forever. Just about everybody goes forth and gets a life that is tolerable :) "Be in this life as if you were a stranger or a traveler on a path."
http://www.rasoulallah.net/subject_en.as... My standard post follows: There is a quiz about depression, through sections 1, and 2, at ezy build, below: print the result, and take along to your primary mental health care provider. With depression, there is a choice of possible treatment types which needs to be made, and you can decide to use either allopathy, (modern Western medicine) with its reliance on antidepressants and therapy, or alternative treatments, which I advise trying first. This is because antidepressants are known to increase the rates of suicide, homicide, and aberrent behavio(u)r, particularly with young people, and often have unwanted side effects, such as sexual dysfunction, and/or weight gain.
Tests have shown that apart from clinical (major) depression, their results were not significantly superior to those taking a placebo (inert, or "sugar pill"). Antidepressants retain a degree of long term effectiveness for only around 30% of people. There is a saying in the mental health field: "If the only tool you have in your kit is a hammer, you tend to treat everything as a nail". So it goes with doctors, and their prescription pads: handy, quick, and convenient, when trying to manage their large list of patients, and often allocating only 10 minutes to each.
Most of them are only trained to provide antidepressants and referrals for therapy, with those whose depression is resistant to those treatments being advised to have ElectroConvulsive Therapy, (ECT) with its risk of permanent, partial memory loss. Therapy, while often effective at first, becomes "same old, same old" after a while, for many people.
I now advise people to: (1.) Take 4 Omega 3 fish oil supplements, daily, (certified free of mercury) with an antioxidant, such as an orange, or grapefruit, or their freshly squeezed juice. If vitamin E is used, it should be certified as being 100% from natural sources, or it's synthetic, avoid it. (2.) Work up slowly to 30 - 60 minutes of exercise, daily. (3.) Occupational therapy (keeping busy allows little time for unproductive introspection, and keeps mental activity out of less desirable areas of the brain). (4.) Use daily, one of the relaxation methods in sections 2, 2.c, 2.i, or 11, and/or yoga, Tai Chi, and/or the EFT, in sections 2.q, 2.o, and section 53, at http://www.ezy-build.net.nz/~shaneris whichever works best for you. (5.) Initially, at least, some form of counselling, preferably either Cognitive Behavio(u)ral Therapy, or Rational Emotive Behavio(u)ral Therapy. (6.) As options, if desired, either a known, effective herbal remedy, such as St. John's wort, or a supplement, such as SAMe, or Inositol (from vitamin and health food stores, some supermarkets, or mail order: view section 55).
If the amount of daylight you have been exposed to recently has reduced, perhaps due to the change of seasons, see Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.) in section 2, at http://www.ezy-build.net.nz/~shaneris and, instead of taking around 4 Omega 3 fish oil supplements, daily; replace 2 of them with cod liver oil supplements for the winter months only! (or, as probably a better alternative to the 2 cod liver oil supplements: 1 teaspoonful of cod liver oil, with a little butter, to ensure its use; I take mine on sourdough rye bread, or toast, covered with fishpaste, and pepper, to mask the strong taste). Optimal levels are 50 - 55 ng/ml (115 - 125 nmol / L). It should be above 32 ng/ml.
Don't use medications and supplements together, without medical advice, except for Omega 3, which is safe, anytime. Omega 3 fish oil supplements: EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid (omega 3) ----360 mg.DHA (docosahexaenoic acid (omega 3)-----240 mg
Take enough supplements to attain, or exceed the levels (no possibility of overdose) of those every day, with an orange, or the juice of a freshly squeezed orange, grapefruit, or other antioxidant.
(make sure the epa is higher then the dha) important for adults... kids need the opposite levels: more dha than epa, but all are beneficial, if you can't achieve the recommended proportions.
They should be certified as being free of mercury, and if containing vitamin E, it should be shown as from a natural source; otherwise it is synthetic: avoid it! Consider having your doctor test your vitamin D levels, (60% of depressed people have low vitamin D levels!) using the 25 Hydroxyvitamin D test. Those people who receive adequate exposure to sunlight, daily, won't need the vitamin D from cod liver oil, but many people, particularly those in latitudes far from the equator, find this difficult to achieve.
If the above is insufficient for you, after several months, (unlikely) try one of the alternatives, such as the neurofeedback, magnetic, or low current electrical stimulation, or EMDR therapy, (see sections 33 - 34) keeping ECT back, as a last resort. ~~~ See insomnia treatments, in section 3, at ezy build, below. Use one of the relaxation methods, in bed, after lights out, on pages 2, 11, 2.c, or 2.i, but they can take some time to learn, (progressive muscular relaxation excepted) so learn and become proficient in their use during the day; an alternative is to use the EFT, in section 53, and pages 2.q, and 2.o, saying to yourself: "Even though I currently have a sleep disorder, I deeply and completely accept myself." (or choose your own wording) while you use the acupressure tapping.
Find out which works best for you, in the daylight hours, so you will be prepared, come bedtime. For many people, a good idea is to develop a set "wind down" routine for the last hour before bedtime, so your subconscious mind learns that it is time to put thinking aside, and prepare for mindfulness, (awareness, without cogitation/purposeful thought) or the EFT, in preparation for sleep, but the idea with mindfulness is to not even think about sleeping: just drift off, naturally, during exercising those techniques. CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!!!! yeah... dont worry about weight or anything just eat and eat, until satisfied. another thing, i used to be like dat. i had a phobia of bein left alone. i used to be depressed alot. BOOKS are good, NET is amazing, and MUSIC. always plan things and convince yourself your usefull and you have to do something. talk to a friend, if you dont have one, so what? hit a club, do something weird, exicting and NEW. |
