Depression; Your views on it.

[dreamer676]

[Haley]

Depression is a terrible beast.. Ugh... I had it in my early years of high school. Councilors were waving red flags furiously and urging my dad to send me to therapy. He refused subtly, saying our insurance wouldn't cover it and whathaveyou. Depression.. Nothing seems to go your way, life seems to have no meaning, and you figure- "whats the point? give me a cliff. I just want to jump and get OUT."

I always felt like I was trapped. There was no route to happiness ever- and if one was close, subconsciously, I pushed it out and away- because I was afraid of it. more as afraid of change. This blurry gimmick was all I knew. My prince (and I say prince because even though I was a pest and incurable, he always stood by me and at least tried) actually told me I was throwing away happiness. He was the best councilor one could ever ask for. He knew my environment was to blame.

Always rainy Seattle and a racist bigot home was no place for anyone to live, especially when I'd be grounded for watching a show because it had a gay person in it.. He knew my father was the root. But he also knew the people I was with- and he was with- never could help- they pushed me a way at any sign of weakness and need. He kept close to me. One day, he too couldnt stand me anymore, and we fought. We decided to just distance ourselves- but we cared about eachother a lot.

When he had to move, I was devastated and in a blurr. I completely gave up. Who else could give me the time of day? Who would want to? I was failing all my classes, I wasnt charming or good looking, and.. well... I was just unpleasant.

Lucky, I moved across the state tot he sunny side- the world changed for me. I live with my mom now- I dont understand how such a miracle of a change occurs. The sun shines, people are (oddly) attracted to me, and I have all A's.. It's surreal.

But some people cant find their cure.. Like my friend Jacob.. He's also schizophrenic, so that helps nothing.. I try to be with him as much as I can, but like I did for Jordan, he's wearing me down.. I dotn know how to help him find his cure..

[vampirebox]

While I believe MOST depression is truly mental, some of it can DEFINITELY be attributed to physical maladies - ie, PMS or bi-polar.

It can definitely be treated, and anyone that isn't getting treated for it, or growing out of it (I know a lot of teens can be pretty depressed, but again I think that's largely mental) really needs to consider their options.

[Azel]

Depression is caused by chemical imbalances in the brain, just like any other mood disorder. It's also highly genetic. My aunt has it. I have depression too. I've had it since I went to college... the "trigger" was a bad case of Lyme disease that forced me to drop out of my first semester. I was actually kicked out (well, asked not to return) by my first college since they had no provisions for seriously depressed people. It was awful.

I'm currently on four different medications for depression and related illnesses. I struggle every day to remind myself that when life seems bleak it's the depression talking... not me. I don't consider myself a melancholy person; I think I'm a happy person with a terrible illness that causes my natural well being to be compromised.

[vampirebox]

[OMG MY FACE]

Okay, I don't want to come off like a dick ( and, of course, I include this disclaimer because I already know that I will ), but depression is something that everyone goes through in high school. In your teenage years, your hormones are off balance, and that surely contributes to chemical imbalances that make you moody, makes you more inclined to go into severe mood swings that leave you oftentimes feeling utterly hopless, sad, and miserable.

In adults, depression may be a disease, I guess, but I'm not sure how much stock I want to put in that theory. It seems like everything these days is a disease as far as Medical Science is concerned. The reason? So the pharmaceutical companies can market you a new wonder-pill that you will eagerly spend your hard-earned money on for that forced feeling of not-caring about your depression. Depression isn't a disease. I'm sorry to break it to you, but that's the truth. Of course when you're in a state of depression there is a chemical imbalance. When you're in love, there's a chemical imbalance too. When you're happy, there's another chemical imbalance. But we don't consider those diseases. ( Well, some emo kids might think that love is a disease, but they're just bitter [ and I'll have you know I grew up in a better time when there were no emo kids, no scene kids, all we had were a few 'goth' kids and those were extremely rare cases, not like today where everyone is part of some scene, and ALL FEMALES ARE SUDDENLY BISEXUAL { Yeah, I said it. People need to stop following trends. But that's another topic, isn't it? Maybe I'll start a topic on that at some point or another. We'll see. }

So anyway, if you're depressed, here's some tough love ( *braces for flaming in return* ):

Your case is hardly unique; In the history of the world you are not the only one who's parents don't support their hairstyle and clothing choices; who's girlfriend's parents doesn't want you going out; who's had their heartbroken; who was cheated on.

People have gone through it, time and again, and again, and again; and yet the human race perseveres. You'll make it through.

Now I'm not saying that you don't have a right to be sad, to be depressed- you do! But PLEASE don't claim it's a disease. It's not genetic. Not in families. It's a HUMAN thing. We get sad. It affects other aspects of our lives.

Let me rephrase one more time: YOUR SITUATION IS HARDLY UNIQUE.

What does this mean for you, the depressed one crying in your room all alone? It means that we can ALL RELATE TO YOU; You have support systems all around you. Believe it or not, your mom, your dad, your brother, your sister... they've gone through it. They can help talk you through it. They can be there for you.

Does it ever make you wonder why when you go online to your forums, to your friends you've never met, and "Wow, they just relate to me so deeply, so personally." That's because you don't have the same walls up with them as you do with your family and friends. You'll tell people online, on Midorea, on AIM, wherever, things that you won't tell people in real life, because they can't judge you. And if they do, who caress? You don't REALLY know them.

I feel like I'm off topic, but I feel like we're in a society where everything is a disease, and there's pills for everything, and that's NOT something that we need.

I'll end here; I'm sure someone will respond and I'll have to defend/elaborate further.

[vampirebox]

[OMG MY FACE]

Like I said, while cases like that may exist, I'm not really willing to put too much stock into them. Chemical imbalances are the result, not the cause. Humans run on chemicals and the things we feel are results of the amounts of chemicals our brains process at any given time.

[Azel]

[vampirebox]

[Azel]

[vampirebox]

[Azel]

I just posted this is the Mushrooms thread, but I'm studying art... I'm going to major in Printmaking, with a possible Illustration minor.

How about you?

[vampirebox]

Lol, JUST saw that post.
Well now that is just too cool. I love printmaking (although I've only done it maybe once or twice, and in high school at that!)

I was going to be an art major, but instead I chose Computer Science... now I'm a biology major. :] Who would have guessed with my interest in mushrooms and birds and all lol

[Azel]

Printmaking is awesome! I love how easy it is to make multiples of my work that way.

I was studying biology (and other sciences) for a while, at the school I went to first... I'm definitely going to take the Coastal Ecosystems class offered here next year.

I have to go off to class now... talk to you later.