Please don't overlook this question. Previously depressed people, experts..help?Am I...?

Question

I know you've probably heard all this before but i really need/want help. I feel dead inside. I have no energy. No matter how well my day goes, deep down i'm always sad-it's like i'm always going to be sinking in sorrow. I just feel like i can't go on. Hiding my feelings from everyone is so exhausting, but i can't tell anyone. My friends just don't understand and my parents don't take me seriously. The counsellors in my reach don't take me seriously either, because i'm so young and i don't really have a reason for being so upset. It's like i have no energy. I can hardly think. What's happening?

Answer 1

If I was a young person and my parents didn't take me seriously, I'd be depressed too. Maybe it is time to determine your psychological type, and look at the interpersonal dynamics of you and the people in your life.

Don't be too quick to believe that something is "wrong with you". The pressure in this country for everyone to be the same is crazy. Insecure people will try to run your life if you let them, even though they are hardly qualified to do so.

The reason I say it is time to learn about your psychological type is the introversion/extroversion factor. Extroverts are energized by the world outside themselves, while introverts find that dealing with the outside world can be draining. If you are forced to deal with the world in an unnatural way (and at times, we all are), it will affect your energy level. By recognizing an issue, you can learn ways to cope with it.

Answer 2

Hi Von. I am so sorry to hear what you are going through. I know the feeling, because I have been clinically depressed, too. I could not concentrate on my assignments, I was never happy no matter what, I did not have energy to do anything or go anywhere, and I could not even cry! It was like being at the bottom of a black pit, and the walls were too steep to climb out on my own.

You said that your friends, parents, and counsellors don't understand, which makes me think that you told them how you feel... but you also said that you "can't tell anyone" and you are hiding your feelings. Does this mean that you started to let people know how you feel, found that they didn't react the way you were hoping, and then decided to hide your feelings?

The most important thing you can do is share your feelings -- completely -- with someone who can help you. This means an adult such as your parents, a psychologist, a counsellor, your pastor/rabbi/whatever, etc. Don't just say "I feel down" ; instead, say exactly what you told us in your question: "I feel dead inside, I'm always sad, I can't go on, I'm sinking in sorrow, I can hardly think". Just as all of us on Yahoo! Answers understood you immediately, the adult you choose to confide in will understand you, too.

Right now you still have enough energy to ask for help, so you need to do it NOW. A little bit later might be TOO late.

Please understand that if depression goes untreated, it gets worse and worse. Your brain gets trained to think in the same negative, self-destructive patterns, and the longer this training goes on, the harder it is to change. Thoughts like "Everyone would be better off without me" actually start to sound more and more logical as time goes by, and you just can't see that they are not true at all!

There IS hope, though. For me, hope came when I made myself an appointment for screening at my HMO. I had to wait a whole month (can you believe letting someone suicidal wait a whole month?!), but I got my appointment, was assigned to a doctor, got Prozac, and eventually got better.

Until you get help, you can check out this great website: http://www.psycom.net/depression.central.html
It contains loads of information about depression. You can also sign the guest book. (That's how I met another depressed person, and we became good friends and support one another through tough times.)
Check out this page: http://www.psycom.net/depression.central.sites.html
For a list of depression-related websites.

Answer 3

I hope these can help.

* Do not set difficult goals for yourself or take on a great deal of responsibility.

* Break large tasks into small ones, set some priorities, and do what you can when you can.

* Do not expect too much from yourself too soon, as this will only increase feelings of failure.

* Try to be with other people, which is usually better than being alone.

* Participate in activities that may make you feel better.

* You might try exercising mildly, going to a movie or a ball game, or participating in religious or social activities.

* Don't rush or overdo it. Don't get upset if your mood is not greatly improved right away. Feeling better takes time.

* Do not make major life decisions, such as changing jobs or getting married or divorced without consulting others who know you well. These people often can have a more objective view of your situation. In any case, it is advisable to postpone important decisions until your depression has lifted.

* Do not expect to "snap out" of your depression. People rarely do. Help yourself as much as you can, and do not blame yourself for not being up to par.

* Remember, do not accept your negative thinking. It is part of the depression and will disappear as your depression responds to treatment.

Answer 4

The lack of energy is a clear sign that something's not right. See if you can talk to your school nurse or your family doctor. If there's no apparent reason for your feelings, then perhaps it's a biological imbalance or perhaps a nutritional imbalance. It truly is exhausting to try to hide that and yet still be feeling it. Depression can happen to anyone of any age. Keep asking for help. Until you get help, be especially good to yourself, eat right and get plenty of rest. Best wishes.

Answer 5

I'm sorry to hear no one is taking you seriously and you are actually asking for help.

Ask your parents this. Tell them this 42 year old woman says to ask them this. When you are dead, will they take it seriously then? Do they realize kids often ask for help they need for over a year before committing suicide and people tell them all kinds of stupid things. Such as, Well when I was young I had it much harder then you do now. Get over it. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. I wish my life was as easy as your's is. ETC. They have no idea how overwhelmed most teens are feeling now days.

Tell your mom and dad I've known MANY people who committed suicide and they all asked for help and either were ignored or didn't get quality help to learn skills to cop with daily life better.

They them I said, someone can appear to have everything, but having everything doesn't mean you are not having problems that need real help from someone with the right set of skills. If you finally get them to agree on therapy, make sure you stay away from County Mental Health System, all they do is drug you. You need a teen therapist who specializes in teen depression. Someone who teaches skills instead of just using drugs as the cure all.

If the couselors are not listening, especially school ones, it's often because they lack the skills to really understand the various ways in which depression presents its self. Not all people go around crying or even look sad who are depressed. Not every teen can pin point why they are depressed. Not every teen who is depressed ends up getting poor grades.

Try looking up the number online for Boys and Girls Town USA. They will talk to you, they willl help you find options in your area. The phone call is free, even though it may be long distance from where you live.

Please don't give up.

If you do not know why you are depressed, you could have a medical problem. Make sure to get that ruled out. No energy, hard to thinkk, can be a sign of Mono. So make sure you ask to have medical problems ruled out. About a tenth of all people with depression have a medical problem that is either the cause or at least making it worse. Things like low vitamin B-12, Mono, a virus, etc.

You need help, do not give up. Other teens often can't understand unless they've been there. Parents are afraid to admit their child is depressed. So show them what I wrote.

No one listend to me as a teen, I nearly died from an overdose while in Junior High and I had tons of problems. No one listened to me either. I begged and begged for help and no one heard me.

Look up in your community pages of your phone book, see if they have listed any teen support lines. Call them, be honest and ask if they can help you get therapy or work with your parents to take you seriously. Many parents think teens who say they are depressed are just attention seeking. Some times you've got to hit the parents over the head to get them to see it's a real problem and if they don't deal with it you are only going to get worse.

Tell them I said, "Are you willing to risk she'll end up a suicide. Are you that sure she isn't as bad off as she says she is?"

I'll be praying they actually listen adn hear you and immediately begin seeking out a positive qualified teen therapists who does more then just use drugs, but teaches coping skills that most teens need to learn, as life is hard.

Answer 6

wow, you have alot of answers.

One. forget medication for now, start walking. connect with nature. get off the laptop, stop talking to strangers, and go outside and reconnect with the life available to you outside, its simple and might seem silly, but when you are at the level of depression you are at, you HAVE TO GET OFF YOUR ***! I'm sorry to say, its the hardest thing to take that step. Turn off your computer right now, and feel the grass or whatever it is you have there under your feet.

TWO splash some water on your face, go swimming, take a shower. Elements help. Sensation helps. Start to slap your arm if you have to to remember your alive.

THREE Take a book outside and read it, now that your body is active get your brain hopping again. Get the blood to it, spark your imagination, let the life into your mind.

FOUR dance

FIVE get a pet

SIX don't look to any other human being for answers you can find in your self

SEVEN stay off drugs if you can, all of them.

EIGHT drink tea, take vitamins, don't smoke, stretch

NINE get rest, and when you are awake, get sun, use a special SAD lamp if you have to

TEN laugh, laugh at yourself, laugh at your pain, be crazier then it, scare it away, laugh so hard you remember who is boss here!

good luck.

Answer 7

This does sound like depression to me... If parents and councilors aren't helping, try to find a church in your area. Talk to a pastor or elder, or ask someone to pray with you. If the church is anything like the ones I've been in, these people will listen to you and help you.

Answer 8

i so hate when people dont take people seriously. that makes u feel like crap. first i would check wiht your doc to make sure its not a thyroid problem. Cause thyroiod issues can cause depression. if u ever need someone to chat with im here.

Answer 9

Try this:
Think beyond your present dreams, to the dreams you will have once they've already come true.

And when you can clearly see that life and those dreams in your mind's eye; how confident you will walk and how proud you will feel--Start walking and feeling like that today.

Thoughts become things....choose the good ones!

Answer 10

i did the same thing last year. has anything sad happened to u in the last couple years? 5 of my family members died in three years and i couldnt cry i was in shock but after i cried i felt better. u might need to go see a doc.