How Do You Deal with Depression Around Christmas? 163
SleepyHappyDoc asks: "Lots of people around the world seem to experience more sadness and depression around the holiday season, than in other times of the year. There could be any number of reasons why this is, but my question is: how do you deal with it? Have you managed to find any coping strategies or activities that make things feel less bleak?"
Various methods to try out (Score:3, Insightful)
2) Eat chocolate (add in magnesium food supplements too, if you like)
3) Use a full-white-spectrum lamp
Re:SAD bad or mad (Score:5, Insightful)
It took me a long time to accept that depression is in fact an illness, and not just me being the social reject I saw myself as. (The fact that I had (many) friends who were confused as fuck as to why I kept putting myself down never seemed to register
I'm still having to remind myself that its an illness, that its something that's going to pass and that what I feel now about myself is NOT how the rest of world sees me. But with friends/family it is possible to get past this crap (and it is crap - its just that the subjective nature of depression makes it hard if not imppossible to realise this.)
Re:SAD bad or mad (Score:5, Insightful)
The other problem is a perceived stigma attached to these things , and true enough there may be some but the stigma is a problem with the people who look down upon it , not the sufferer .
Most people these days will recognise it is an actual illness and will help you or understand , depression is more common than one would think.
SAD(seasonal affective disorder) affect around 2 in 100 people and regular depression affects around 1 in 10 of us regularly , Even conditions such as Bipolar disorder and sever unipolar depression is not uncommon (though far rarer ) , chances are you know someone with one or almost all of these conditions .
If you know someone you think may be depressed then talk to them about it and offer a friendly ear , just be careful how you word it (you don't want to put them on a defensive ).
Re:Pretty simple... (Score:5, Insightful)
Depression is an illness, has been proven and has predictable, measureable effects.
Telling people to get out sounds good, but it's just a way of blaming them instead of acknowldeging there is a problem and this often makes them mroe depressed. If the parent poster, and the others in this thread don't believe that, then maybe a little research would help.
Sadness is realistic? Depression = inner conflict. (Score:5, Insightful)
First, ask yourself if the sadness and depression is realistic. Is your connection with other people far less than is required to meet your needs? People in the U.S. culture often have families in which the members are very disconnected from each other. It's healthy to feel sad about that.
Second, depression is caused by inner conflict. To relieve depression, you must resolve inner conflict. The fake methods of dealing with depression don't work, they just delay the intensity of the problem until later.
Re:SAD bad or mad (Score:5, Insightful)
Depression will require either medication in the case of pure clinical depression .
therapy (may only be a friendly ear to talk to ) and perhaps medication if it is due to a real world experience such as loneliness or loss .
Or in the case of SAD , It may require Medication and therapy but will most likely be helped by a solar light.
A lot of people will advise just getting out and having a good time , which is great and can help
This is why it is important to see a doctor , they are trained to help people with these things (as are many nurses that help run clinics , plus a few volunteers )
Realize the true meaning of Christmas (Score:3, Insightful)
No, it's not scientific, but I can say that since accepting Christ, I have experienced very real and tangible peace, hope, and understanding that gets me through every second of every day.
If you hold even the slightest shred of possibility that God could exist, consider taking some time to simply ask God to reveal Himself to you. Don't expect a burning bush, but in your heart, ask Him to help you reveal Himself to you. Worst case, you waste a few minutes of your prescious time. Best case, your eternal destiniy will be sealed.
Re:Realize the true meaning of Christmas (Score:3, Insightful)
This does not mean however that all depressed atheist/agnostics should go out and join a church , but if you are a believer in something then remember that as well as doctors there is the members of your community to talk to .
Joining a faith is no miracle cure for depression , G-D will not just fly down and heal your depression the second you join a church , that is what doctors are there to do (well not fly down and instantly heal it
This also includes support groups and clubs not just faiths .
the main thing to do is find a doctor to help you and point you in the right directions , but don't count out the help of a community
Re:SAD bad or mad (Score:3, Insightful)
Ever heard the expression, "No matter where you go... there you are." Well---no matter what you do, you're still you. It's not always that easy to shake something off.
Depression is often biological. You don't know how many active, creative, productive, happy people I've known who have hit one of the change-in-body-chemistry ages (13, 18, 24, 45) suddenly seem to have no control over their energy level.
As for medication, nobody really relishes the idea of paying money for the rest of their lives just to function on the same level as most people. Most patients with mental problems hate taking medication, they hate giving control of their brain over to a drug, they hate how a doctor is in charge of their life instead of them---but sometimes it's necessary, and if it's done properly, a little bit of medication actually helps you regain control over yourself. Often, after some years of learning to have more power over your mood and energy, you can start to wean yourself off the medication.
I will admit that there are reasons people wallow in despair. The simplest is that it just becomes a way of life, it just becomes identity. Once you start to say, "God, well, I'm just depressed, that's why I don't do half of the things I used to," you've started to plan to never be your old self again. There are also other reasons---some people get noticed for being moody, and any attention, even negative attention (like when your friends are telling you to quit being a drag all the time), can make someone who feels isolated feel partly connected to the world again.
One word - Bourbon (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:SAD bad or mad (Score:5, Insightful)
> people with these things (as are many nurses that help run clinics ,
> plus a few volunteers )
I know a lot of folks who are anti "medication for depression" because someone they knew had a bad experience. Not all doctors are made the same. There are a lot of pill pushers out there who listen to your problems for 5 minutes, prescribe the med-du-jour, and call it good.
The trick is to find a good M.D. psychiatrist who both understand meds and does weekly therapy sessions. Finding the right med for each person is a trick of balancing side effects, and all of these med can have bad side effects. If you get it right, it can be wonderful, but gets them wrong and you will be worse than you were originally.
btw, I'm on a combination of Wellbutrin and Lexapro, and it works wonderfully for me. And I see my therapist once per month like clockwork.
jfs
Re:Various methods to try out (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Various methods to try out (Score:4, Insightful)
Of course, I'm married and wouldn't trade it for the world, but I've had years of relationships that went down the tubes because the people I was seeing at the time weren't right for me permanently. And that little subtlety can make you more depressed than anything around this time of year.