Depression

[PoopShoot]

I've been suicidal sine I was about 8.  I feel for you, but I can't really help much.

[Tank]

Depression is often caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain.  It can also be a symptom of other underlying medical issues, and sometimes can be related to environmental and situational circumstances.

Only a doctor can tell you if you are depressed, though-we can only advise you what we think.  I'd make an appointment to see a psychologist, and if they feel it's a chemical thing as opposed to something else, than can refer you to a psychiatrist who can treat you accordingly.

Thanks Phil. It's difficult for me to see a school psychologist because they automatically referred me to a black one simply because I was 'black.' Yet, all she did was talk about how Jesus died on a cross (and that didn't help me AT all). I will take your advice, and try to seek help, I just thought that I never needed it. Thanks guys.

Oh F***ing joy! This guys black send him to  black psychologist! FFS!   What is it with Americans, race and religion?

I can see why Dawkins gets so pissed off when I read stuff like this. Christ I could almost spit  

[Asmodean]

Re-reading this thread... We are a sad bunch, are we not?  :pop:

OP, have you tried a doctor in stead of the psychologists? Psychologists are mostly useless to you, I suspect, since, by what I have read this far, you probably have something wrong with you that can not be talked into submission.

I've been suicidal sine I was about 8. I feel for you, but I can't really help much.

Forgive the lack of political correctness, but how are you still alive..? I've had four suicidal episodes each lasting for no more than a month or so and each landed me in a hospital in worse condition than the last... 10 years of that, and I'd be deader than Jesus.

[philosoraptor]

For the record, someone seeking care for a psychiatric illness should see a psychiatrist, not a regular medical doctor.

[Asmodean]

For the record, someone seeking care for a psychiatric illness should see a psychiatrist, not a regular medical doctor.

A psychiatrist IS a medical doctor. A psychologist, however, is not.

A general practitioner can refer you to a psychiatrist if a psychologist fails to.

[philosoraptor]

For the record, someone seeking care for a psychiatric illness should see a psychiatrist, not a regular medical doctor.

A psychiatrist IS a medical doctor. A psychologist, however, is not.

Yes, obviously.  However, a medical doctor is not a psychiatrist.  That was the distinction I was making.  Saying "doctor" without making the distinction is slightly ambiguous, since GPs can prescribe psych drugs.  Just because they can though, doesn't mean they should.

[Cecilie]

Who here is NOT a pill-popper, raise your hands!  
Don't mean I haven't suffered from depression though...
So yeah, we're still a sad bunch of people.

[PoopShoot]

I've been suicidal sine I was about 8. I feel for you, but I can't really help much.

Forgive the lack of political correctness, but how are you still alive..? I've had four suicidal episodes each lasting for no more than a month or so and each landed me in a hospital in worse condition than the last... 10 years of that, and I'd be deader than Jesus.

Fear of hell kept me alive until I discovered drugs.  Drugs kept me... in various states of mind for a while.  My kids are preventing me from doing it now, as I can't conscionably leave them without a father.  I am planning on doing the deed after they're self-sufficient, but that's another 15 years (about), so I don't know.  I do my best not to take it out on the kids and like most mental problems, it comes and goes.  There have been days where I've decided to lay in bed and die.  I have yet to will myself to death.

ETA: As for pill popping, I prefer smoking maryjane, but have been known to pop a pill or two.  I like oxycontin the best because you can wash off the stomach coating a snort it but it doesn't burn.

[humblesmurph]

No pill popper here.   There seems to be a lot of research behind the 6-step cure for depression.  I would post a link, but that would be spammy.  Basically, it's doing all the things known to help lift one's mood.  Getting sunlight, exercise, human contact, proper nutrients and recognizing and stopping negative thoughts before they spiral downward are all important.  It's called the Therapeutic Life Change program.  The book shows how the Western diet may contribute to depression and how our natural response to depression often makes it much worse.  Obviously, a book such as this is not substitute for a proper psychologists, but sometimes we work with what we can afford.

[Asmodean]

Fear of hell kept me alive until I discovered drugs.  Drugs kept me... in various states of mind for a while.  My kids are preventing me from doing it now, as I can't conscionably leave them without a father.  I am planning on doing the deed after they're self-sufficient, but that's another 15 years (about), so I don't know.  I do my best not to take it out on the kids and like most mental problems, it comes and goes.  There have been days where I've decided to lay in bed and die.  I have yet to will myself to death.

ETA: As for pill popping, I prefer smoking maryjane, but have been known to pop a pill or two.  I like oxycontin the best because you can wash off the stomach coating a snort it but it doesn't burn.

Yeah, I think there is some hope for you... You have not (yet) reached the stage where nothing matters, or rather, where your coping capabilities are far outweighed by your circumstances. Maybe you never will. That's not a good place to be...

As for drugs (Here meaning illegal narcotics only), that is something I do not do. It's a personal thing and a long story, but I keep as far away from those as I can. All my pills are perscribed and none of them are, per definition, narcotic.  

[Asmodean]

Basically, it's doing all the things known to help lift one's mood.  Getting sunlight, exercise, human contact, proper nutrients and recognizing and stopping negative thoughts before they spiral downward are all important.  It's called the Therapeutic Life Change program.

Not to judge what may possibly work on somebody under certain circumstances, but when reading this, my thoughts generally went in "Whatta load of crap"-direction  

Here are my subjective thoughts on the points mentioned:

1. Sunlight when I'm down makes me want to go homicidal on a massive scale. The less I see, the better.

2. Exercise, while generally good for health, is likely to bring me down rather than lift my mood. Exercise always tended to do that before and I can't see why it wouldn't today. (Being physically tired is the key here - the more tired, the more miserable)

3. Human contact is good and well, but when one distrusts humans - even those relatively close - except for a few who don't really have the time for proper contact... Well, you see how a speck of social anxiety would ruin that right there.

4. I went through several degrees of proper in regard to neutrition without it having any at all marked effect on me being miserable.

5. "Stopping" the negative thoughts..? Is there an instruction manual for that?

Sorry, but I'm not buying that at all. Unless you are going through a rough patch with divorse, unemployment or the like, I don't think that there holds any water at all in regard to depression. Probably good for healthier living, but for those who are depressed due to personality disorders or chemical imbalances, the problem is usually more complex, involving social anxiety and the like which makes those steps hard to follow.

[PoopShoot]

Yeah, I think there is some hope for you... You have not (yet) reached the stage where nothing matters, or rather, where your coping capabilities are far outweighed by your circumstances. Maybe you never will. That's not a good place to be...

My childhood experiences have forced me to put logic above emotion.  It's not that nothing matters, it's that when I feel that way, my logical mind kicks in.

As for drugs (Here meaning illegal narcotics only), that is something I do not do. It's a personal thing and a long story, but I keep as far away from those as I can. All my pills are perscribed and none of them are, per definition, narcotic.  

Prescription drugs make me feel like a zombie and my mind doesn't work right.

[Asmodean]

Prescription drugs make me feel like a zombie and my mind doesn't work right.

Weird how some people describe them as such... For me, they do the opposite - make my mind work as it bloody well should.  

[PoopShoot]

Weird how some people describe them as such... For me, they do the opposite - make my mind work as it bloody well should.  

They do well for a lot of people.  I personally think it has to do with the fact that I trained my mind to function through the depression.  Honestly, when I find myself in a good mood, I can't think straight.  It's like I'm drunk or something.

[Asmodean]

My childhood experiences have forced me to put logic above emotion.  It's not that nothing matters, it's that when I feel that way, my logical mind kicks in.

What do you mean by that..?

(Hiding suicide content in spoilers. Kids may find it and find it cool, you know...   )
[spoiler:1h5vt7gi]Again, a subjective thing, but following logic, I'd probably still aspire to get very dead very fast unless of course I WAS. Logic (As I can conjure it) dictates that if the shit in your life is not outweighed by the rewards it yields, the sensible thing is to end it. And if your life's pleasures outweigh its downsides, then why are you suicidal in the first place?[/spoiler:1h5vt7gi]