Beyond the Blues
Understanding depression is difficult; hear from Psyche's community of peers on their experiences with this mood disorder.
How Do You Know If You Are Lost?
Life, it's hard. Everyone may repeat that phrase sometime within their lives, followed by a reason or excuse. The reason could be that life is hard, because of money, or because of what people have done to them, or the hand they've been dealt. I've felt all that too, but there's a simple thing to remember: life can always get worse, even if it's difficult to see how, the trick is to see the lights worth the sight.
By Joseph Barrett8 years ago in Psyche
Misery, In Regards to My Body
My body has done a flawless job at disappointing me. Even though we come together and make one final being, we don’t think alike, and we don’t agree on anything. And with that, it’s easier to be at war with the chaos that is my body. It’s easy for me to disassociate myself from my physical attributes because I feel like a stranger in my own skin. While the human body is supposed to be a comfortable place to release vulnerabilities, like the deliverance of tears or staring at oneself in the mirror questioning who they are, I have never felt so distressed. I can’t trust my body because it hasn’t given me much reason to rely on it, and that frightens me. I know it’s normal for people to feel insecure in their skin from time to time, some more than others. However, I am the exception.
By Jules Busshardt8 years ago in Psyche
Living With Depression
I have depression. And no, I do not mean the "casual sadness" that tends to hit some of us during the holidays, or even that of which hits us whenever something saddening happens in our lives. I have depression, full blown, clinical depression. But what exactly then is depression, if not just being sad a bunch, you ask? Why can I not just go outside more, take some vitamins, exercise and socialize more, that would help, would it not? The best way I can explain it is that it is not that easy. Depression is the constant and severe feeling that you are not good enough and that you never will be good enough. In fact, it convinces you that you never really were good enough in the first place. Depression is a loss of hope, a loss of courage, a loss of a will to live. It is a festering, nagging feeling that cannot be shaken so easily. Sure, I could go outside more, take my vitamins, "get help." But those are all just temporary, short-term fixes to a prominent, long-term problem. Even after trying all of those things, I would still have those terrible thoughts in the back of my mind, I would still have depression.
By Arielle Adornetto8 years ago in Psyche
When Postpartum Depression Hits
Pregnancy is supposed to give joy, gratitude, and love... so why didn't I feel any of those things? When the Bough Breaks You hear people talk about it, and if you've been pregnant, your doctor or midwife probably brought it up briefly during your pregnancy, and during your postpartum appointments. It's probably not something you think will impact you, especially if you've been lucky enough not to have any experience in having mental health issues.
By Letitia Lou8 years ago in Psyche
Living Through The Days
It's hard — living each day with this feeling inside, living each day with these thoughts, living each day just to get through. I never knew how much this feeling could affect anyone to a point of no return. I live this way. My life has revolved itself around anxiety and depression. Waking up isn't the same as before. Going to work is so much harder. Seeming happy is the toughest.
By Lindsay Garcia8 years ago in Psyche
Feeling Something
It's waking up and feeling sad, but then feeling content because at least you are feeling something at all. This sadness is something that sometimes comes with know discernable reason. You can wonder, and over analyze, and try to find a reason for your emotions... but this only creates a larger pit of despair. Then the room darkens, and the guilt falls into place.
By Alexandria Chernenko8 years ago in Psyche
Suicide Is a Permanent Solution to a Temporary Problem
We've all heard the saying before, right? "Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem." I find this particular quote rather debatable. Why, you ask? The leading cause of suicide is depression. People claim that the problem is "temporary" when in reality, depression doesn't go away. It may go away for weeks, for months or even for years. However, it doesn't disappear forever. Depression is a crippling mental illness. It makes it difficult for you to get out of bed every morning. It makes you want to sleep all day and other times, you're up all night and all day with painful thoughts and feelings. You either stop eating altogether or you eat too much and too frequently. You start to lose interest in the things you used to enjoy. You cry all the time. You start to push loved ones away because you think they couldn't possibly understand what you're going through. Some people resort to self-harming.
By Katie Schmidt8 years ago in Psyche
Living with Depression and PTSD
I have thought long and hard regarding writing about my experience with mental health issues. Often, my self-deprecating depression will stay my hand at pressing "publish," or my PTSD will conjure up some crippling flashback to the past. But today, it felt right to talk about it; it felt right to share this with the world. Depression and PTSD take many different forms for many different people, so I don't by any means claim to be an expert. The goal is to show anyone in a dark place, anyone struggling to cope, that they are not alone.
By Catriona Boardman8 years ago in Psyche
Making the Climb
All my life I have struggled with this sensation in my chest, well sort of in my chest. It was really centered right above my stomach and right below my sternum. For my whole life I walked around with this little black ball inside of me, I could feel it there, right underneath the surface of my skin. It always made me feel out of place somehow.
By Brittany Dolliver8 years ago in Psyche
Depression and Its Effect
The dictionary defines depression as "a condition of general emotional dejection and withdrawal; sadness greater and more prolonged than that warranted by any objective reason." Yet, the truth behind depression is more than just a definition. It is like a cloud over your emotions. It isn't pinpointed to just one or two emotions. And, when you do feel something, it is almost amplified. It is like a burning sensation, crushing you from the inside out. There are days where everylittle thing can be blocked out by depression.
By Brianna Fischer8 years ago in Psyche
