Posted by Rzip on October 17, 2000, at 13:51:43
In reply to Re: Something has invaded and changed us. , posted by Nibor on October 17, 2000, at 10:31:56
> Nibor,
I loved your excerpt on "The Experience of Depression". It is precisely how I felt, the hollowness and the bitterness. The verge of either falling over the edge into suicidal idealizations or to hold on and struggle to find traces of hope in those dark intense moments. I have been on both sides and I am grateful for those who helped me to hold on by channeling out of my internal abyss and seek help from the Professional community.
You know, at this moment, right now I feel full of hope. But there is always these lurking thoughts that I am fooling myself. What if instead of walking away from the edge of the cliff, I am actually sliding down the slope to the infernal beneath. How does one know that one is not depressed on this moment? How do you differentiate the self-inflicted lies from reality?
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX > The Experience of Depression
>
> Everyone knows what depression feels like. Everyone feels the blues at times. Sadness, disappointment, fatigue are normal parts of life. There is a connection between the blues and clinical depression, but the difference is like the difference between the sniffles and pneumonia.
> Depressive disorders are "whole person" illnesses; they affect the body, feelings, thoughts, and behavior. The depression itself can make us feel like it's useless to seek help. The good news is that eighty to ninety percent of people with depression can be treated effectively, but the bad news is that only one sufferer in three seeks treatment. More bad news is that almost half the American public views depression as a character defect, rather than an illness or emotional disorder. Still more bad news is that only half of all cases of depression are accurately diagnosed, and only half of those receive adequate treatment.
> We confuse depression, sadness, and grief. But the opposite of depression is not happiness but vitality—the ability to experience a full range of emotion, including happiness, excitement, sadness, and grief. Depression is not an emotion itself. It's not sadness or grief, it's an illness. When we feel our worst, sad, self-absorbed, and helpless, we are experiencing what people with depression experience, but they don't recover from those moods without help.
> The hallmark of depression is a persistent sad or "empty" mood, sometimes experienced as tension or anxiety. Life lacks pleasure. People with mild depressions may go through the motions of eating, sex, work, or play but the activities seem hollow; people with more severe depressions withdraw from these activities, feeling too tired, tense, or bitter to participate. There is often a nagging fatigue, a sense of being unable to focus, a feeling of being unproductive.
> People with depression usually experience a lowered self-esteem. In a depression, you may feel that you are a helpless victim of fate, but you also feel that you don't deserve any better. Feelings of guilt, shame, and hopelessness are common.
poster:Rzip
thread:990
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20001011/msgs/1205.html