What do you think it means to be depressed?

Question

I know its monday so you should be able to distinguish this more honstly, and better, we can all get the monday blues but what is it like to be depressed. I thnik we are too casual with the term at times.

Answer 1

What does it "mean" to be depressed or what is it "like" to be depressed.

What does it mean? It means you're in deep ****.

What is it like? That's easier. What are the physical symptoms?

Symptoms of Depression
One of the most recognized symptoms of depression is a profound feeling of sadness, hopelessness, or emptiness. You may be surprised to learn that people with depression often experience physical symptoms too.

In general, if you've been experiencing some combination of the following emotional or physical symptoms for more than two weeks, and it clearly interferes with your life, and it is suggested you seek help.

Emotional

Sadness throughout the day, nearly every day

Loss of interest in or enjoyment of your favorite activities

Feelings of emptiness or hopelessness

Feeling stressed, nervous, or overwhelmed

Trouble concentrating or making decisions

Feelings of worthlessness

Excessive or inappropriate feelings of guilt

Irritability or restlessness

Thoughts of death or suicide


Physical

Fatigue or lack of energy

Sleeping too much or too little

Change in appetite or weight

Aches and pains

Headache

Back pain

Digestive problems

Dizziness

Some risk factors for depression include:
A family history of depression
Death or illness of a loved one
Stressful conflicts, such as fights with family members or disputes at work
Physical, sexual, or emotional abuse
Major life events, such as moving, graduating from college, changing jobs, getting married or divorced, becoming a new parent, or retiring
Financial difficulties

It is important to seek help if you think you are depressed.

Answer 2

Depression is a state of mind that sees the world as being mostly negative rather than positive. It is a learned behavior that becomes habitual after so many years of thinking of the world in this negative manner.

It is very difficult for the depressed person to self correct this habit they have been taught to have. The reason for this is because the world actually appears to be the negative place that they see, do to the way they are choosing to view it. The depression and the negative world that they see as the reason for it, appear to be actual reality rather than a choice that they are making.

Given enough time this negative focus can alter brain chemistry and create a self-perpetuating condition that is referred to as clinical depression. This condition is often treated with psychoactive drugs that alter the personality of the subject and make them feel better for a while, but this pharmaceutical high seldom lasts. It is often necessary to change medications frequently and this can be difficult to manage.

The only real solution of a permanent nature is to alter the thought pattern that is causing the depression. This is not a simple matter. There are some who have had success with psychotherapy, but most practitioners of this craft have been wooed by the drug companies into towing the party line and spouting the brain chemistry diagnosis that can only be corrected with the products that they sell of course.

This is very convenient for the drug companies because they make billions every year keeping people dependent on the drugs that they sell.

One little known method that some have had success with is a book called the course in miracles. If one can actually focus enough to use the book as it was intended to be used it can correct these thought patterns that are causing the depression. This is not an easy thing to do and it often requires some support from others. Still many have had success with the method that it teaches. The only draw back to some may be the Christian terminology that the book uses. I personally am turned off by references to God and other religious commentary do to the number of bigots who seem to always wrap their bigoted ideas in the bible and religious terminology. This is just one of my phobias and may not be such a big deal to others.

The book costs less than a week’s worth of most antidepressants, and the time to read and practice what it says is actually the biggest investment. You don't have much to loose. You learned how to look at the world in a negative and depressing way. Is it so impossible that you could learn to see it in some other way? It won’t make the Drug Company CEO. A multimillionaire but it just might give you the peace that you have been seeking.

If I can be of any help email.

Love and blessings
don

Answer 3

Depression... over done these days... everyone is depressed at some time or other... well not everyone but lets say over 99% of people

people can be depressed for no reason what so ever (which makes the girlfriend asking "what's wrong" really frustrating because there really is nothing wrong) but that's a different topic lol


to be depressed is to be unhappy... unhappy to a dangerous level where nothing can change it
depression is not only mental but physical you can feel sore because you are depressed

depression is some thing i believe most people just have to learn to deal with and way too many people are getting medicated for it that don't need to be

another thing i believe brings on depression is the fact that we have too much spare time... we no longer have to cut wood or grow our own food... so now we have way too much free time and all we do is sit around, which makes us bored... bored leads to "what's the point" which leads to depression

i'll cut my long winded answer off there because i don't see myself ending it other wise lol

Answer 4

Very true we are too casual about the use of the term "depressed".
People are diagnosed & treated for depression far to casually when often (but not always), it is really just the old fashioned "feeling very down".
Lifestyle or events in life can very easily lead to feeling very low..this is called "reactive depression". The causes have nothing to do with a chemical imbalance in the brain & therefore to take antidepressants to alter what is a perfectly normal chemical balance more than often leads to feeling very ill from the antidepressants.
If you complain to the doctor he/she will usually tell you to keep on with the tablets for a few weeks because they haven't had time to "kick in" or put you on a different "family" of antidepressants...absolute baloney in my opinion....it's often outside factors which are causing the depression. If (& it's a big if) these can be changed then so will your so called state of depression.
Then we come to clinical depression when there is a chemical imbalance in the brain..this is not just feeling "very down" when you have this it is absolutely dreadful..if you have it, you know about it!.. believe me! Only people who have had it, appreciate the feeling & know how terrible it is.. & without medical help there is not a darn thing you can do about it to help yourself.

Answer 5

I fight clinical depression with Prozac.

Depression doesn't necessarily mean "sad". It means ALL your emotions are depressed. You are unable to feel as happy, scared, sad, ashamed, ...whatever, as you know you are capable of.

The danger of the condition is that many people who have it don't even care enough to try to fight it.

That's when a loved one has to step in and rag them until they do. Finding the right medication can be a journey as well. There are four different methods for treating depression and many different drugs within those four methods.

A qualified medical doctor can advise you and prescribe medication if he/she feels you would benefit.

If you think you are affected with this condition, do not be ashamed or buy into people telling you that you are weak. They just don't know. It runs in families like diabetes. Would we tell a diabetic their pancreas is "weak" and to just get over it?

I think not.

Good luck.

Answer 6

I have a muscle disorder,and part of that illness causes depression,depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain,a lot of day i don't feel like getting out of bed ,i don't want to leave the house,don't want to see people,i just want to stay away from people and situations where i may have to interact with someone,I'm on 2 different antidepressant meds,and some times they don't help that much,but them staying in constant pain doesn't help much either,both of them just drain me of energy

Answer 7

depression can be medical at times. for just the blues, it can be personal circumstances that are getting us down, or the situation of the world in general. mark 4:19 tells us about the about the dangers of dwelling on these thoughts. come to know jehovah and you'll be miserable for lot less time

Answer 8

It means you let conditions of life change your attitude. I never heard of Monday blues. Have a positive attitude. You can cry with pity about people, but if it's just about the fact that it's Monday sounds kind of silly to me. Don't have pity on things that can't change.

Answer 9

It's when the world has lost it's meaning and you just wanna drop dead. When you feel like crying and can't stand the company of the others, when you hate light, love darkness and feel sooo bored.. and you think it's easier to be dead than alive. That's how I feel when I diet hehe, then mental health gets more important than weight and I grab some ice-cream

Answer 10

the general meaning of depression is a mood disturbance characterized by exaggerated feelings of sadness, discouragement, and hopelessness that are inappropriate and out of proportion to reality. A person who is depressed is anti-social. The person stops doing their usual activities, they are always thinking they aren't good enough and have thoughts of death.