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Dealing with Depression
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 To be depressed means to feel like you are at your very bottom, you¶re low. It¶s

not the same as just being sad for the moment or having the occasional ³blues´ like

having a bad day at work. Depression can be mild, moderate, or so serious that it

affects your everyday living.

I am an example of a person living with depression. When I was in the 6th grade I

became depressed. My mother noticed a sudden change in my attitude when she held

me back in the 6th grade. I stopped caring about certain things, I always had an attitude

and I went from being a happy kid, to a kid that really never smiled or hung out with

friends like I used to. Before I got held back in 6th grade, all through my elementary

school years I had good grades and loved school. Entering middle school and then

attended a new school I started getting bad grades, not horrible enough to be held back

but my mom held be back anyway. I started hanging out with friends more and cared

more about them than school. So she held me back because I didn¶t get the grades I

was getting in elementary. After she held me back I kind of resented her a little bit and

that¶s when it all started. I managed to pass through middle school but in high school,

the depression got worse.

My mom noticed that I continued to be restless during the night. I couldn¶t sleep a

whole night through; even to this day I still can¶t sleep through the night. Every day I

would wake up and not know what kind of mood I would be in. My depression reached

its all-time high when I was in my freshman year in high school, which got to the point

that I didn¶t want to live and even tried committing suicide. It all depended on what that

day brought. Some days I would be happy, other days I would be mad at the world and

everyone in it. If I was in a happy mood, and someone said the smallest thing that I
didn¶t like it could not only ruin my mood but ruin my day. Though I was still in

counseling my mom took me to the family doctor and he prescribed me an anti-

depressant. I was taking the anti-depressant for a couple years and decided that I didn¶t

need it anymore.

Many people living with depression make bad judgments or choices in life. They

also they feel hopelessness or unmotivated. I felt negative thoughts all the time and also

looked at the worst in every situation. I was looking at the world through a dark window.

That¶s what I came to realize with my high school years. They were the darkest

moments of my life. I really look back, now that I¶m 27 years old I feel that I would have

tried to do many things differently but not sure that I would be able to because I had no

control over what I was feeling at that particular time in my life.

Depression is a very serious mental disorder that you don¶t have any control

over, only though medication/ counseling to cope with it. Most doctors and experts will

tell you that there are millions of people in the world with depression and many of them

don¶t even know that they have the disorder. The disorder also can affect your family,

job, relationships, or your everyday lifestyle. While talking to my doctor, he gave me a

handout that shows some statistics of people with the disorder, and almost 15% of

people with severe depression end up committing or tries to commit suicide. There are

18 million people a year that get diagnosed with depression, that¶s more than people

that get cancer.

Now that I am older, I am taking a drug called Fluoxetine. I must say that it is not

the best drug out there, I haven¶t really tried that many drugs, but my doctor suggests it.
I honestly don¶t think it works because I seem like I am more relaxed when I¶m not

taking it. I really don¶t have a sex drive while on the drug and it makes me feel like I

have a lot of caffeine in my body. I still wake up every night feeling paranoid, usually I

wake up around the same time every night and can¶t go back to sleep for a couple

hours. My attitude is pretty laid back but I still feel down some days

Though I found out that having a major depressive disorder you may feel all

these symptoms I feel, also in our book it says that you may feel deeply discouraged

about the future, dissatisfied with your life, or socially isolated. I try to keep a positive

outlook on my life because I do have 2 kids at home with me and they bring me

happiness.

³Therapy tends to speed up your process of getting through depression and

eventually turn into normal sometimes without professional help. Getting back to normal

doesn¶t mean that the fight is over, usually after you get back to the normal state you

will eventually have another episode within two years.´ p473. Stressful events related to

work, marriage and close relationships often proceed in depression.

³Bad moods feed on themselves, when we feel down we think negatively and

remember bad experiences more than we remember good experiences. We also can

break the cycle of depression by reversing our self-blame and negative attributions, by

turning our attention outward, or by engaging in more pleasant activities and more

competent behavior´p.479.

Depression is common in today¶s world; a lot of women get postpartum

depression (PPD) after having a baby and can last up to a year or more. Women get
PPD after carrying a baby for so long, or have problems with the birth. There hormones

change so much that it causes PPD. The disorder is usually mild but in some cases can

lead into a major depressive disorder. Which my sons mother fell victim to when we had

our first son. She just felt worthless and worried that she wasn¶t going to be a good

mom. She was stressing herself out over everything and didn¶t want to go anywhere or

do anything. It was a hard time trying to get her out of the house. Also her self-esteem

was very low.

³Depression-prone people respond to bad events in an especially self-focused,

self-blaming way´ p.478. Some people look at things differently that is why some people

don¶t get depressed as much as other people. If you fail a mid-term or a final, some

might take it as that test was hard, while the some might take it as they are dumb and

think that it¶s their fault. They will blame themselves so much that it puts a damper on

their whole attitude.

Depression can change your whole life depending on the seriousness of the

disorder. I had my worst moments but since then I haven¶t had any serious episodes. I

try to keep positive people around me and look at the best in every situation. I will not let

depression take over my life and hate everything and everyone because of it. When I

feel myself getting down I came up with my own methods to write everything down that I

am thinking or feeling, then I look back at what I wrote down and see exactly what made

me feel those feelings to try and avoid what made me feel that way so I don¶t feel that

way again. I can say that it works for me but everyone is different. I have a little brother

who is going through the same thing I went through and we talk on a regular basis to try

and help each other get through our tough times. Since mood disorders does run in
families. ³The risk of depression and other similar disorders increases if you have a

parent or a sibling with the disorder´ p 475.

Depression results from many factors. Negative thinking and thoughts may cause

depression making someone feel that they are alone in the world. Susan Nolen-

Hoeksema believes that women are more vulnerable to depression because when tend

to over think situations with a vague experiences.

³Self-defeating beliefs and self-blame surely do support depression, but they also

cause it. Before or after being depressed, people¶s thoughts are less negative. If you

temporarily put people in a bad mood or sad mood, their memories, judgment¶s, and

expectations suddenly become more pessimistic´ pp 478-479.

To some it all up, depression can come from anything or anyone. It depends how

you take certain situations. The best thing to do is stay positive and try to avoid what

terrible feelings you have. If you had a hard break-up or divorce, the best thing you can

do is say to yourself that ³You will get over it and life will go on.´ It¶s not the end of the

world and with the right help you can concur anything.

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 References

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