Guide to Dealing with Depression

For some people, this journey we call life is an amazing adventure filled with days of laughter, happiness, and endless joy. Every minute there is an opportunity for new ecstatic moments. As if the sun rises each day just for their benefit. The heartaches, pitfalls and minor inconveniences of life, rarely cause there ceaseless glow to flicker. Living with their ' the sun will come out tomorrow' mentality. Taking each one of life's problems as they come, with a smile and a grain of salt.

And then, there's that other 60% of the population. Those of us who, regardless of how much we envy those people there overall happy outlook on life. And strive to conform ourselves to there happy peppy attitudes. We never quite escape that black, lonely cloud lurking on the horizon. Waiting to descend upon us, to envelop us in its bleakness, and take over our lives.

Depression has become a major problem for many of us who struggle with its crippling and debilitating physical and psychological problems everyday. From the numerous unexplained aches and pains, to the transforming darkness. Which brings on the aching unhappiness and loneliness. It changes us, it transforms us into people we don't like or want to be. Yet we're powerless to do anything to change it. Our minds being so overtaken and consumed by an overwhelming almost tangible unhappiness. All we can do is lie in bed and hope this agony will be over soon.

Anyone who has ever had to deal with depression knows exactly what I mean. When we take to our beds and have no desire to get up, to see day light or interact with our family. Our kids come home from school and are forced to take care of themselves. There's no hugs from mom, no help with homework, nothing. Our families are made to adapt and cope. While we lie in a dark room for days at a time, just hoping to die. In truth, I believe our families suffer more than we do during our bouts with depression. They want to help, they tell us to 'snap out of it' they try to get us involved in one activity or another. They think its there fault. Just maybe if they try to be a better husband, wife, sister or mom, things will improve. just maybe, it will give us a reason to 'snap out of it'. But, that's not realistic. Depression is not something we choose to experience. Its not something we go through just because our kids might be acting up or things might not be going the way we would prefer them to. Clinical Depression is caused by a chemical imbalance that begins in the brain. One which we have absolutely no control over.

However, it is considered normal to be depressed and stressed over everyday things that happen in our lives from time to time. This is called situational depression and usually the feelings of sadness go away in a day or two. But clinical depression is something else entirely. It causes us to feel worthless, despondant and empty. Feelings which can last for weeks, even months at a time. It can and does overwhelm us and interferes with our ability to live everyday life. Unfortunately, when those feelings of sadness and unhappiness descend, it can bring us precariously close to the edge of suicide.

My depression was diagnosed in 2005. When after being married 23 years, I found myself at a point in life where I felt at 37, I had wasted the biggest majority of it. After finding out my husband had been having a 6 month affair and my 2 oldest kids moving out of the house. I felt this sense of complete and utter aloneness. That surrounded and engulfed me. my life, as I had known it for the previous years, began to change. These periods of intense blackness enveloped me. I found myself, upon awakening in the mornings, feeling peace. At least for the 2 minutes it took for consciousness to overtake my mind. Then, I could feel that descending black cloud. Such a tangible presence It felt as if I could reach up and touch it. As if I could walk right into it, like a shroud of gray fog to be lost forever. I began to withdraw from my family, my church. I had no interest in doing anything other than staying in bed. Which, I would lie in for hours, even days at a time. One night I found myself standing in front of my medicine chest tired of dealing with the pain of my separation, The bleakness of my life, just tired of dealing with all the pain. Contemplating the end of it over a hand full of sleeping pills. At that moment the image of my 11 year old daughter flashed through my mind. And I knew I couldn't let myself be consumed by this thing overtaking my life. My kids depended on me to be there for them. I couldn't, wouldn't break there hearts and leave them in this world all alone.

It was at that point that I sought help from my church psychologist. Hesitant at first, scared to open myself up to the pain within. To reveal to much of the inner turmoil I had been going through to another person. After a few weeks of therapy, I was surprised to find myself feeling somewhat better after talking over the things happening in my life. He picked and prodded at my heart and mind until eventually a lot of things began to surface. Things I had kept bottled up, well hidden from the world, even myself, until that point.

In the process of releasing those forgotten memories I discovered that being a victim of sexual abuse in your childhood can and often does, offset the development of depression and other psychological illnesses when a woman hits her 30's. talking things over with my doctor definitely helped me to sort out a lot of issues id had on my mind. It made me think that just maybe, someone did care after all. Talk therapy is one avenue recommended by counselors to treat and manage the symptoms of depression. Another very common approach in treatment and one my doctor and I chose to take is the addition of antidepressants. My drug of choice was cymbalta, the wonder drug.

No it isn't a magic pill and I did experience some side effects. Such as anxiety and mood swings. An occasional headache and an overall feeling of fatigue. But adding it to the talk therapy treatment and lifestyle modification course definitely helped me in getting my symptoms under control. About a month after my doctor added the cymbalta to my regimen I began to actually experience true joy in the smallest things happening in my life. From the silly little antics my daughter constantly pulled in her attempts to be a comedian. To the pink, purple and blue wildflowers growing in my backyard. Life took on a whole new meaning. For me, the addition of the anti depressant was the right choice.

There are no easy or simple answers when it comes to depression. There are however, as many causes as there are ways to ease the symptoms. Again, talk therapy is one way suggested to treat the symptoms of this debilitating Illness. Along with healthy lifestyle changes, cultivating supportive relationship, exercise and diet, managing your stress level, and challenging any negative thought patterns you might have fallen into. Antidepressants are considered a very popular choice when trying to manage your condition.

But antidepressants are not a magic bullet. They wont cure your disease, but along with some other options, can help you get control of and manage your symptoms. Although, some people will disagree and report that there condition in fact worsened with the addition of antidepressants. These medications have been known to cause many adverse side effects. Such as nausea, insomnia, anxiety, restlessness, dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain, fatigue and headaches. Doctors report that these common medications can help you in managing your depression by raising the levels of serotonin in the brain. Low levels of this chemical have been known to bring on the symptoms of depression. Inflammation of the brain, elevated stress hormones, loneliness, bad diet, and low self esteem have also been found to be contributing factors.

If you've currently been taking antidepressants and find you wish to stop. Do not stop taking them all at once. Check with your physician and work out a tapered dose. Gradually weaning your system from the drug. Stopping antidepressants suddenly has also been known to cause antidepressant discontinuation syndrome. Some commonly reported symptoms of ads are irritability, insomnia, anxiety, flu like symptoms, nightmares, stomach pain, electric shock sensations, tremors and muscle spasms. So please do your research before starting any antidepressant drug.

Depression is a very real, very serious problem. Effecting the lives of millions of people everyday. Making no discriminations based on sex, age or nationality. Its been reported that over 40 million people suffer from some sort of depression. If you are currently experiencing any of these symptoms. Confide in a trusted family member or friend and seek the advice of your doctor. don't presume that you're just having a bad day.

Getting passed up for that promotion we worked so hard for at work or finding ourselves overwhelmed with family problems at home. Can offset a few bad days or even a bad week. But weeks upon weeks of feeling hopeless and empty isn't considered 'normal'. Sometimes, its more than just feeling sad because things aren't going the way we think they should. the longer you let it go without seeking help the further you drift into the darkness. The further you drift the harder it gets to find that person you were. Ignoring the problem doesn't make it go away, so get help! And together we can conquer this demon invading our lives.