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**In honor of my 52nd post, I thought I would change things up a bit. I had intended this to be a funny-in-an-ironic-sort-of-way post, but I guess I’m not in that kind of mood today. Regardless, I hope you enjoy it. Maybe you can relate?**
You Know You’re Depressed When…
- There are literally billions of web pages and you aren’t interested in any of them.
- Every little thing gets on your last nerve.
- Sleep comes when (and if) it wants to, regardless of the time of day or night or what you’re *supposed* to be doing.
- You get jealous of everyone for everything.
- Basic hygiene takes a backseat to sitting around on the couch.
- “Comfort food” takes on a whole new meaning.
- You look forward to going to see your therapist, but not your best friend.
- Snowballs start to form in Hell.
- You have to psych yourself up to leave your home – for at least an hour, but preferably with a day’s notice.
- Making phone calls (even to those you love) feels like a chore; you’d rather poke yourself in the eye with a sharp stick.
- You start coming up with very creative reasons to cancel on a friend, call in to work, or skip school.
- Your favorite “mindless movie” (ie, Clueless, Legally Blonde, Airplane) doesn’t even make you smile.
- You hear your bed calling your name, but you can’t fall asleep because your brain won’t shut up.
- You just can’t handle watching or reading the news.
- You get pissed off at your cat because he’s sleeping in your spot in the living room.
- You go through a list of 50 ways to distract yourself before you find one you’re willing to do, and you’re done with it in 5 minutes. And you spend the rest of your day doing that.
- Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. have all lost their appeal.
- You can only remember the other times you’ve felt depressed; all proof of good times goes out the window.
- If someone gives you a compliment, you justify it away. Or just plain don’t believe them.
- Not even cute cat videos can cheer you up.
Please keep in mind the un-scientific-ness of this list. These are just things I’ve noticed about myself when I feel depressed or suspect it’s coming. When more than a few of these things start happening all at once, I usually call my therapist or pdoc and figure out the next steps.
Do you have a therapist? How about a pdoc (psychiatrist)? Yeah, sure, general practitioners can prescribe psych meds, but they aren’t specialists. The human brain is so complex (so are the meds), I believe a pdoc is the only way to go if you need them.
Don’t get me wrong – GP’s are great; I love mine so much, I drive 33 miles one way to see her. But my maladaptive brain needs and deserves special, technical, specific understanding, which I feel I can really only get from a pdoc.
If you think you might suffer from depression or any other mental illness, take my advice and find a pdoc AND a therapist. I’ve sung the praises of my therapist, Kim, many times on this blog so I won’t do it here. All I know is she is an integral part of my support team and I really don’t know where I’d be without her.
I’m going to go find some way to distract myself now, as I really need it today. And to think, yesterday, I felt pretty darn good. Pfft. Nature of the beast, I guess.
As always, thanks for reading.
And Keep it Real.
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This post was previously published on www.depressionwarrior.com and is republished here with permission from the author.
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Photo credit: istockphoto.com