Depression and other mental illnesses.

[ApeShapeDeity]

For the entire of my memorable life, I've suffered from clinical depression. To clarify, this isn't the same as feeling blue cos something went wrong. Often there is no discernable cue. It's a chemical imbalance, which, incidentally the drugs that do work cause intollerable side effects. Such as constant neausea, erectile disfunction and painic attacks to name a few.

Indeed, the statistics say that 1 in 3 people in modern western culture suffer a genuine mental illness in thier life.

I get by, by way of focusing on specific tasks, calming down the anxiety that comes with depression and never, ever bothering to try to "be like everyone else".

In my own way I manage things, but wen I describe what it's like living my life, people either don't believe me or come out with something really sensitive, like "Fuck, I'd have killed myself." or "Harden the fuck up!"

It doesn't help to talk about these things in that context. So, anyway, I'm at peace with my problems as much I suppose I can be... but what about you????

 

[xcgillx2]

I've had allot of depression for a while but I cam to terms with it and got on but the worst I've had is at a friends party when I was told by allot of people and partly seen some footage that I was full on shouting and arguing with my self but the scariest part is that I remember nothing about it and even though it's worrying I find my self shrugging it off as a joke whenever people bring it up just to get them to let it go

 

[Scrubiii]

I have never been diagnosed but I believe I may have a mild form of aspergers and/or OCD. Aspergers because I have never been very good at understanding or dealing with other people, and find I never really pick up on non-verbal cues during a conversation. I never notice when an actor/actress displays a lack of emotion during a performance, even when other people find it glaringly obvious. The prime example of this is Oblivion. I have heard a lot of people complain about how the camera zooms in on an NPC's face during a conversation and how disconcerting their blank stare is, something I never even noticed until it was pointed out to me. Even now I have no issue with it.

OCD because I always adjust my TV and computer volume so it is a multiple of five, and often add or remove words from a document so the word count is a multiple of five. In Minecraft I stack my items to 60 instead of 64 because, in general, numbers that are not multiples of five irritate me. All of my books and games are arranged by alphabetical order. I always keep my keyboard and mousemat parallel to the edge of my desk. I'd go on but by now you probably get the point.

I don't know if either of these are actually the result of a genuine mental disorder, or just introversion and a preference for order.

 

[Odbarc]

What sucks is how unsympathetic and completely un-empathetic people are about my personal mental disabilities.

Toughen up isn't the best advice, it's more like; Soften up everyone else.

 

[LobsterFeng]

I don't get really depressed. I get really bad anxiety. Usually over nothing. It causes me to stand up and pace around my house all the time, drives my family nuts. I was also diagnosed with Autism back in 2006. I still haven't decided for myself whether or not I believe I have it.

 

[BENZOOKA]

I was depressed for couple years, mainly for quite a few reasons that I've shared on other threads. It's been almost a year, since I started feeling better. Didn't get diagnosed but I was so depressed that I'd rather not even think about those times.

Social anxiety, or whatever subcategory of it it actually is that I have, has been far more worse though. It's cost me a lot. It's kind of inconsistent, but I've felt very anxious in social situations from when I was a small kid. At times, going to buy groceries has been a nearly impossible task, with my heart racing when just driving and a pedestrian glances at me. Not to even mention the part where I have to pay for the shoppings. But then, on other occasions, I don't feel anxious at all, and I don't care about these things.

I've been playing poker with a loose group of buddies for years now; sometimes I can talk shit and be funny for the whole evening, and other times, at worst, I can't stop thinking about what all the few other people think, so I can't concentrate on anything else and I just want to get the hell out of there.

Few things do change my views and the way I feel though, like adrenaline (after sports, hard work), caffeine, alcohol, cigarettes, if I've had to do something courageous before, and so on... I've also got a few simple mind tricks, but they're kind of silly to be shared, and for the part, they only work on mild anxiety for the most part, if even then.

The funny part is, that no-one else doesn't really know about this. I try to hide it the best I can, which doesn't really make sense. Although it would be way too anxiety-inducing if people knew about it, at least that's how I see it, no matter if I want it or not.

Oh, and never been diagnosed. I've stayed up for many nights during the few month periods of my worst anxiety (and depression), spanning over the years, thinking how I'd go about telling someone close, and especially about going to the doctor, but time and time again I've ended up in not being able to do it, for because of what everyone else would think, and so on... Such a silly cycle, but I can't help it.

I could go on forever, but anywho; good luck to OP and everyone else. And feel free to PM me if you wish. I'm no expert, but can discuss about anything.

 

[frizzlebyte]

If you suspect you have depression, go to the doctor. They really can help you. Either therapy or medicine (or both) would help your quality of life. You CAN get better.

And if you tolerate it generally, the benefits of medicine outweigh the side effects.

 

[manythings]

For the entire of my memorable life, I've suffered from clinical depression. To clarify, this isn't the same as feeling blue cos something went wrong. Often there is no discernable cue. It's a chemical imbalance, which, incidentally the drugs that do work cause intollerable side effects. Such as constant neausea, erectile disfunction and painic attacks to name a few.

Indeed, the statistics say that 1 in 3 people in modern western culture suffer a genuine mental illness in thier life.

I get by, by way of focusing on specific tasks, calming down the anxiety that comes with depression and never, ever bothering to try to "be like everyone else".

In my own way I manage things, but wen I describe what it's like living my life, people either don't believe me or come out with something really sensitive, like "Fuck, I'd have killed myself." or "Harden the fuck up!"

It doesn't help to talk about these things in that context. So, anyway, I'm at peace with my problems as much I suppose I can be... but what about you????

Apparently there are several diet options that can help improve the symptoms of depression along with regular exercise. It's meant to be at least as effective as most anti-depressants with none of the side effects. General malaise and an inability to experience "love" for friends and family is another one of those bizarre side effects.

OT: I might have clinical depression or I might just really hate the universe in general but I'm not going to seek treatment until I'm alone somewhere else since I know every fucker in 10 miles would hear about it here and have to root around to see what they can find out.

Gossiping people... few things sicken me more.

 

[LikeDustInTheWind]

OCD because I always adjust my TV and computer volume so it is a multiple of five, and often add or remove words from a document so the word count is a multiple of five.

I do this kinda thing with multiples of 5, mainly 25 (AKA 5 times 5). I also highly prefer odd numbers over even numbers unless they end in 0. I think it might be very mild OCD or just me being weird.

 

[Doclector]

I have been diagnosed With aspergers, which made things worse in my opinion, i'd rather be known as eccentric than retarded, and now that is how any employer who I become forced to tell about it sees me.

I'm also crippilingly lonely, distrustful, paranoid, stuck in my past bullying experiences, and pretty damn miserable, but I don't want depression or whatever the hell it is, going on my record as well, so I'm not going to get that diagnosed. I've lived with it long enough anyhow, I can deal with it, and besides, I have more important things to pursue than unattainable social stuff such as girlfriends and like, as I am incredibly ugly and that is all anyone cares about, though to tell the truth, they'd only find a damn wreck even if they did look further than skin deep.

At least I have my creativity and film talent, that I can, and I'm determined that I will, succeed at.

 

[Xerxesrogue]

I have struggled with depression huge parts of my life, and about two years ago I was assigned to a mental hospital, and spent 3 months over the cause of half a year in there. The period around that time it completely consumed my life, and I was lost in it for most of the time. Only pretty recently have I started to understand how ill i really were, as when thinking back at things, like my friend wouldn't let me walk to close to streets, barely eating, and my body pretty much shutting down. Only walking the 10 meters to my room at the mental hospital took me several minutes, and I pretty much barely breathed. During that period, I also made myself some pretty nasty scars on my arm, and I now have an overwhelming fear of damaging them, bleeding out, and to fall back into that state of mind.
Since last autumn, or so, I have pretty much gotten all past depression though, and it's really a relief I appreciate dearly.

Last year I was also diagnosed with a light form of Asperger's, not that I pay it that much thought, especially since my ability to socialize and interact with others have only increased by time, as I have gotten a good relationship with some neat friends of mine.