Posted by Katia on October 24, 2002, at 21:32:26
In reply to Dysthymia, why don't they screen people at school , posted by janejj on March 15, 2002, at 9:55:54
Hi Janejj,
I know it's been awhile since you wrote, but I can totally relate to your story, except for the fact that I've been depressed for over twenty years and am just coming to the realization. I'm 32 yrs. old and have numerous heartaches and crisis' in my life I attributed to what was causing me to be so tormented and sad; I've cycled through numerous double depressions, still w/o realizing that I had something that could be treated. I thought it was my fault and I hid it away from people, trying so desperately to "get it together" and drinking to self-medicate. I too am bitter, not only for the lost years, but for the lost jobs, relationships, and ALL the unnecessary suffering in silence. I've recently started on ADs for the first time. Celexa for two months, which didn't work; now Effexor for over a month. It might be working, but not completely. I sleep so much and feel groggy and tired if I have too much social interaction (like depression). I also have been constipated. What has your history of meds been? HAs it been successful for you?
Thanks.
Katia> Hello,
>
> my doctor says he's pretty sure that I have dysthymia and looking at the symtoms i realise that I have been depressed for a very long time and i didn't even know it, until i slipped into a major depression. Why don't they screen people for this disorder ? How are you supposed to even know otherwise ? i always thought that I just had a kind of depressive nature and i really couldn;t pin down what it was that I was depressed about. I've had some major things happen to me in my life, so i always attributed my feelngs to those things.
>
> Now i look back and realise I have been depressed since I was 16, 6 years. I'm just angry that i couldn't have sorted this out earlier and not slipped into a double depression, I wish that they had screened me. I used to cry when i went to see the careers advisor at school, she must have thought i was a little strange, but i had all these emotions and I just wanted to let them out. I wish that i had seen a mental healthcare proffessional instead, at least they might have realised what was wrong with me.
>
> I can't believe that I have been living this way for so long and thinking that it was normal! Now i am on prozac I feel happy, i can't remember ever feeling like this for a long period of time. So now I know that i wasted so much of my teenage years being depressed.What a waste, I'm feeling very bitter.
>
> janejj
poster:Katia
thread:19893
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20021022/msgs/31634.html