Depression and Life! Ways to get over it...

Alright folks, it's high time I penned this down. I have been meaning to write this for a while now and thought I'd let you guys know it. As a disclaimer, I'll let you know that this post is not to seek sympathies, but rather an attempt to let other people who face this, cope up with it.

5-6 months ago, my life was on the highs. I could, easily be, one of the coolest guys you'd meet. Infact, many people told me this. I was investing in property, buying cars and doing a lot of charity. All this, at the little age of 17. I was working with affiliate marketing, with adsense and god knows what else. I had goals i was moving towards and i was achieving them with a slow but steady pace.

I had begun getting this instinct of moving my business offline. Since I was worried, I might get targetted by another Internet dot com bubble burst. I became a target of sweet talks and me and another guy were victimized in what could be possibly the biggest fraud, I have seen in my life. I virtually lost everything and was under debts (the story might be interesting to many of you, but am not comfortable sharing it). It was only lately, i began swarming up and slowly regaining my earlier moment. During the downfall, I faced a condition what those white-coat guys term as Clinical Depression.

I am writing this post, to quite possibly, help other's who're facing a similar situation, since after talking to a few old friends on the internet and sharing my thoughts with them, I just found out that they faced a similar situation at times.

What is Depression ?

It is nothing but an illness which involves your body, mind and your mood. It strangles your thoughts and affects your way of dwelling. It affects the way you eat, the way you sleep and most importantly the way you think.

What are it's causes?

In my cases, it was a huge monetary loss. In other cases, it could be romantic losses, marital problems or other family problems, divorce, seperation, death of someone you love, loss of job, moving far away from a loved one etc.

What are it's symptoms?

- People with Depression are often Sad, anxious and increasingly worried.
- They often face decreased energy levels and are slowed down in their work.
- They lose interest in activities which they once enjoyed a lot.
- They may either face insomnia, or sleep for hours or get up earlier than usual.
- They may either lose their appetite or contradictorily overeat and gain a lot of weight.
- They feel worthless, hopeless, guilty, helpless and pessimist all the time.
- Thoughts of Self-harm, of death and even of killing onself.
- They're not able to concentrate, make decisions or remember anything.
- They feel restless throughout are frustrated all the time.
- They cry excessively.
- They Suffer from Chronic Aches and/or physical problems that are not affected by treatment.

Is this thing treatable ?
My doctors told me, yes they are! However, most people avoid visiting a doctor for depression. It can be a variety of reasons. Sometimes, they're too ashamed of themselves or think that the doctor might call think of them as a loser. Other times, they're just pretty sure they won't be able to tell whatever they want to, to the doctor.

75% of depressive occurance will treat themselves overtime, without any treatment within 6-10 months. But if adequate treatment is not provided, these people can face the same situation yet again in their lifetime. Hence, it's best to seek medical advice.

How to combat it? (From my personal experience...)

- Maintain a diary or a blog.
This thing actually works. I was too lazy for a diary, so I setup an anonymous blog on wordpress.com and would blog 2-3 times daily about everything good that happened with me earlier. I would feel good when i read it laters.

Also, I read on one of the sites that if you've got a friend who's facing depression, create a list of all the good things in him/her and hand it over.

- Having a great relationship helps
This can be your girlfriend or just one of your best friends. Someone, you can share your feelings with, someone you can confide in.

But remember, the person at the receiving end is a human, at the end of the day. And it's difficult encountering a depressed person who's frustrated all the time. So if they react weirdly, understand that you have done something that you shouldn't have.

Make it a point, to keep that one person happy, spend time talking with him/her and trust me, you will begin to feel better.

Get a Job - Involve...

My uncle runs an old age home in the same town that I reside in. I used to go there and spend time with the residents. I helped him keep accounts. Would go with him to get the food supplies, the blankets etc., helped him plan the utilization of the donations received and in other such things. This kept me busy and made me feel good.

Self harm or suicide is not the solution
When that feeling of hopelessness grapples you, you start getting this feeling that killing yourself or hurting yourself is a viable solution to get away from the problems. But believe me, it isn't.

Whenever such a feeling gripped me, I used to think of my family & my girlfriend. What would happen to them, without me? I would ask myself, do you really want to do this? Why not try being happy again? How about asking for a bit of help before taking such a drastic step? And it worked always...

Identify your problems, and think of the good things. If it's your family, tell them that all this is throwing you on such a road, if it's your girl, talk to her, if it's something else, think of solutions.

Take part in activities, involve yourself, exercise a lot, maintain a balanced diet, avoid drugs and alcohol and it should help you a lot.

Have fun, enjoy your life and let me know if you need any sort of help.

Regards,
Abhishek Tripathi

Some Important Links
- Overcoming Depression and Finding Happiness.
- A rest stop from depression and thoughts of Suicide.
- Self-Harm - The Explanation
- All about Depression.
- Recover your life forums

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- Disclaimer -
Nothing in this post is supposed to be taken as a medical advice. If you're facing depression, it is best you consult a professional doctor who can help you get over things. I know they can, they cured me.
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Abhishek, it took great courage for you to share this with us. I really hope things get better for you. If you ever need to let this out and talk more about it just feel free to pm me anytime. No one in a depression should ever feel as if they are alone. I kind of felt this way when i lost almost a quarter of a million dollars during the stock market crash 7 years back. My way of getting through this was prayer and god, and im sure everyone else has their own antidote to get through those times. I will say a prayer tonight that things start to get better for you .
My prayers work much better for others than for myself

 

In my case, it was prayers as well. But i believe, god does help who help themselves. And i had to do something to get over it.

I suggest seeking medical advice, always!

 

Good read. Sorry to hear about your clinical depression. I have had it for 4 years. Pretty bad. I have taken everything for my depression, it never goes away though.

 

Not a lot of interest, it seems!

 

That actually works. Leave no time to depressive thoughts or they will deeply get to you.
Get yourself something to do, and it will be a definite win.

 

Abhishek, that is really awesome that u came out of it... I am also fighting with some depression in my life. Still getting over it. But it is not easy.

 

Last week, i consulted my doctor and he said i too suffer from Depression ( + i have high Blood pressure & High Cholesterol ) .

But I cant feel anything, I am as happy as anyone out there. He said generally ppl with o+ blood group is having a greater change to get depressed. But I dont know how much true is that!

Now I am on medication ( atorvastatin 10mg & Nebivolol 5 mg daily )

Any qualified doctors out there to comment and advice me on diet & exercise ?

 

Very sorry to hear. Hope you have a speedy recovery from it.

It was nice talking to you Amit. I understand what you're going through and I, seriously, advice you see a therapist. I was about to tell you this, but you went offline.

It sure does. Keeping yourself involved is the solution.

Cheers to all the replies.

 

hi

nice sharing -Abhishek

thanks

 

Have you ever notice that a depressed person rarely laughs or that people that don't laugh don't really get to love either?

 

Depression is a choice. Unfortunately, that choice leads to not being able to enjoy life for its simple things and also for its grandest things.

 

nice article ,, depression is a mental issue that strong people can overcome but sometimes even the stronger of the minds falls down....

 

really nice read!

some more points that can help dealing with it

yoga and meditation
creation of support groups,cultivating concern for others.
relaxation and physical activity
taking in lots of liquid..water and juices
positive thinking
humor
Music
in the end no body wants it but in life we come across situations in which inspite of our best efforts we cannot avoid, i know its not easy but we have to face them.

cheers

 

Ways to help depression...

Hmm one possible way would be to vote for Ron Paul
another would be to donate to his campaign today...
and finally the last would be to digg this so more people can know!

 

sorry to hear about that abhishek..

Whats your situation now ? Had your doctor told you that you are cured ? OR still on medications ?

Wondeful advise I must say

 

Depression is not a choice. Why would anyone chose a vicious cycle that never ends. Depression comes from bad life experience such as : death in the family, loss of job , even loss of large sum of money etc...



-Abhishek- i feel for you. I suggest you get back into circulation by helping others , it will help with your depression and take your mind off your problems.

 

I understand your support for Mr. Paul, but weird that you chose to post this here...

Thinks are improving a lot at my end. I am not completely cured, but yeh am in a better state. Though, am still on medications.

Great contribution. Thanks Razi

What you say is quite controversial. For some it's a disease, for others it's a choice. A choice to run away from responsibilities.

For those of you wanting to no more about this statement, you guys should read A. B. Curtiss's "Depression is a Choice". Written by a former depression sufferer and a practicing psychotherapist, this book takes a unique look at depression and it's causes.

Abhishek

 

I find having pets helps a lot aswell.

There always making me happy.

So there a good way to overcome depression.

 

@joey112, Truly said.

But considering the apartments we have here in India. Having a pet isn't feasible, always.