Depression

[tricol]

Work gets me up in the morning but otherwise I just CBA

Yip, been like that mostly for a long time now. Even moreso recently in a job that is tough to do because we can't sell much (well known supply issues).

I got out on all my bikes this weekend, road bike on Saturday with the new local club and met some new people, then a quick blast on the MTB and the Trident on Sunday. Still felt down and out come the end of Sunday. But, this is how it has been for 15+ years. I can get myself out to do the things I know make me happy, but the feeling is short lived and quickly gets replaced afterwards.

[Docca]

I remember working on a ward for ‘treatment resistant affective disorders’ - long time ago, but people with depression/mania etc that didn’t respond to treatment ( read: medicine).

Things have moved on a pace since those days and now psychology is more mainstream, and has benefitted a great many people.

IME chronic anxiety is more treatable with better outcomes than chronic depression. The former can exploit more treatment modalities that are focussed on behaviour and response, the latter? Well, ultimately for some it’s about normalising how you are.

That’s not to say that science won’t catch up, but for now there remain as many people who are resistant to treatment for depression as there ever has been. Well, more now due to scaling access and population size- but you get what I mean.

Whilst it might be therapeutic to diarise every time you’ve felt down, there is also a trap to fall in to whereby you become defined by the very thing you’re trying to escape. Typecast in some miserable play with no 3rd act.

[Wscad]

What is the difference between anxiety and depression? My take on it is.......

Anxiety = worry about stuff

Depression = effed off about everything

What’s the difference?

[weeksy]

What is the difference between anxiety and depression? My take on it is.......

Anxiety = worry about stuff

Depression = effed off about everything

What’s the difference?

I expect anxiety isn't constant, but triggered.

With depression I think it'd be more a continuous thing

[Wscad]

[Screwdriver]

What is the difference between anxiety and depression? My take on it is.......

Anxiety = worry about stuff

Depression = effed off about everything

What’s the difference?

Anxiety is very common issue when someone is worried about a particular situation.

Depression is a chronic mental illness where part of the brain isn't working properly. A typical issue might be its inability to produce dopamine. That can have multiple causes but it isn't anything you can do much about other than seek a medical intervention. Another cause for depression can (I think) be related to a psychological trauma or become a chronic issue relating to stress. That form of depression can be "treated" with counselling.

One thing I did learn is that "stress" is a fantastically harmful situation for your overall wellbeing. Not just in terms of your state of mind but it can have very real physical effects on your body. Many years ago when my own illness manifest itself by switching off a section of my visual field, I had countless appointments with opticians before I finally managed to persuade someone to look for a brain related cause.

During the optical examinations the optician asked if I had recently been under any stress. Yes I reply, "Oh, that would explain the scarring on your retina". I mean WTF!! Seriously? Stress can do that? Yes. Apparently it can, worse things too but we digress.

Having been through the mill of brain related disease, it is my firm belief our medical system has no idea what's really going on and actually take pot shots at it to see if that helps... I think I got "lucky" with Methylprednisolone having a quite extraordinarily positive effect, though I am off it now, they need to find a long term solution that doesn't have such catastrophic effects everywhere else! (It's been a tough month!).

[Tigs]

I didn't read the whole thread (so sorry if it has already been said) .. but make sure you are taking Vit D - it really is a game changer in terms of mood - and wellbeing (particularly if feeling low hits about this time of year when it is dark and dingy)

Personally I think anxiety is often naturally fleeting, but people over think and get stuck in the moment (if you think about how your body feels when you are anxious - or excited they are pretty similar - but one is 'bad' and one is 'good' .. you can 'reframe' those feelings that is what CBT tries to do).

For me a the key to depression is reaching out and lifting yourself out of it - but it is hard to catch and once you fall down the rabbit hole clawing your way out - is tough

OP I hope your feeling better or still talking

[Yorick]

What is the difference between anxiety and depression? My take on it is.......

Anxiety = worry about stuff

Depression = effed off about everything

What’s the difference?

My expensive specialist said there's a triangle.
One point stress.
Next depression.
Next anxiety.

They are separate but overlap a bit.

But no doubt the RTTL mental health expert will override my opinion.

[Potter]

Everyone has their own malady or their own way of dealing with it.

Personally I think anxiety/worry comes from not feeling in control, because if you're on top of things then you don't feel anxious about them, so when people say don't worry about stuff because you can't control it anyway, I think that feeds their anxiety even more. If I thought I couldn't do anything about a recession or prepare myself in any way for any impending crisis, then I'd probably off myself.

We all worry about something, but you can be proactive, solve issues and then push down the list so you end up worrying about smaller stuff and whilst you're still going to worry, you won't worry as much.
So for example if you're worried financially, then find a way to shore up your finances, then you'll move to the next worry down the list, which might be your health, so you do things to try and improve your health, exercise, eat well, etc....then eventually you've worked your way down your list and you're worried about which shoes to wear tomorrow, which is still a worry, but it's a lot less of one than worrying about whether you're going to lose your house because you can't pay bills.

IMO worry/anxiety through having no control, and no hope of fixing any problems, leads to depression, because if you spend all your time living on a knife edge then it's going to eventually drag you right down.

[Buckaroo]

Potter's last comment has reminded me of some elements of a couple of workshops I used to run.

First off: without a a sense of control (direct or indirect) and predictability, anxiety will occur.

Then: only focus on things you can influence and not on things of concern. By focussing on the former, the latter is reduced.

If I had time and risked boring you all, I could write volumes about just these two principles.

But the meaning is self explanatory.

[Screwdriver]

It is a very different thing from depression of course. Anxiety can be exactly the response you were hoping for. Any speed demon or adrenaline junkie will admit it. It is the anxiety generated by the danger which gives them the kick they are looking for. I say "they" but we all like to push the limit now and then.

[Noggin]

IMO worry/anxiety through having no control, and no hope of fixing any problems, leads to depression, because if you spend all your time living on a knife edge then it's going to eventually drag you right down.

I don't disagree with this (or the rest of the post)

BUT

Not all depression is caused by anxiety. There are so so SOOOO many reasons/causes of depression



I've suffered in various forms all my life (well, I can remember feeling what I now know is depression in my early teens, so most of my life). Mostly I can 'manage' it and it doesn't take over. Riding bikes kept it at bay massively

The physical causes are (to me) the weird ones. These I am struggling to control. It's why I've not replied to post on this thread for awhile - if I can't control my issue and I can't be positive about my issue, I don't seem to have much to say that's positive for anyone else

My life is good. Things are going well. Future looks pretty great TBH - especially in comparison to the last 5 and a bit years! But I'm not happy. I am having to WORK at being positive - work really hard, which isn't normal. I KNOW things are positive, so why do I not feel that way. I know life is good, ok, it's not easy, but I've had five seriously shit/tough/difficult years and everything I've dealt with in that time could cause serious depression totally outside the fact that my brain seems to be wired that way anyway. But, if it's ok, even pretty good, why can I not BE positive.

Thing is that I do know the (probable) reasons. But it's difficult to get the balance needed with help from doctors on the things that aren't balanced. And that does piss me off. I'm not anxious about it. But I am pissed off! Equally, pissed off is a smidge better than sad or depressed - I think



EDIT - turns out there may be another medical issue (another FFS) that has similar symptoms to menopause. Just got to find out when I can see the doc and maybe I can get rid of the sads by curing the second medical issue FFS (Pretty sure they are connected, but FFS )

[DefTrap]

Everyone has their own malady or their own way of dealing with it.

Absolutely there's typically a pyramid of shite literally everyone is dealing with. Health issues are the worst ones and the ones you have least control of fixing. But absolutely as soon as you solve the most pressing issue the next assumes importance or a new one crops up.

I'm sure it's rare to be worry free.

[Docca]

What is the difference between anxiety and depression? My take on it is.......

Anxiety = worry about stuff

Depression = effed off about everything

What’s the difference?

My expensive specialist said there's a triangle.
One point stress.
Next depression.
Next anxiety.

They are separate but overlap a bit.

But no doubt the RTTL mental health expert will override my opinion.

If that’s me, then no I won’t ( nor am I a mental health expert).

Your conversations with your specialist are yours and not everyone is the same. It’s remiss to make absolute statements, such as ‘all depression is caused by this’ or ‘anxiety is a result of that’.

Correlation does not imply causation. For example; the cost of a therapist is relative to their knowledge.

Depression manifests itself in certain ways. It’s not always anger, it’s not always sadness and it’s not always lethargy. And other stuff.

Anxiety is easier ( it just is) because you deal with the behavioural response.

Beware any therapist that doesn’t review outcomes regularly from which to seek an improvement ( and discharge) schedule.

[Cousin Jack]

When I get depresed about something (usually something I have no control over) I sit down snd imagine the worst case scenario (eg house getting reposessed). Then I mentally plan my wsy out of that hole (and there always is a way out, hard but not impossible).
After that the origial problem, which is much less extreme than the worst case I have just imagined, doesnt seem so bad.

Works for me.

[Yorick]

This thread was interesting to me at first, but now it's too heavily moderated.

So I'm off

[weeksy]

This thread was interesting to me at first, but now it's too heavily moderated.

So I'm off

The thread was moderated to keep it purely on topic. If you'd like to discuss this via PM you're welcome to do so.

It's a sensitive subject and i moderate very very few topics, i could probably count on one hand the topics that have had it in the last year, but this one is worth keeping so people can discuss the issues without dragging it into something else entirely.

[Buckaroo]

What is the difference between anxiety and depression? My take on it is.......

Anxiety = worry about stuff

Depression = effed off about everything

What’s the difference?

My expensive specialist said there's a triangle.
One point stress.
Next depression.
Next anxiety.

They are separate but overlap a bit.

But no doubt the RTTL mental health expert will override my opinion.

If that’s me, then no I won’t ( nor am I a mental health expert).

Your conversations with your specialist are yours and not everyone is the same. It’s remiss to make absolute statements, such as ‘all depression is caused by this’ or ‘anxiety is a result of that’.

Correlation does not imply causation. For example; the cost of a therapist is relative to their knowledge.

Depression manifests itself in certain ways. It’s not always anger, it’s not always sadness and it’s not always lethargy. And other stuff.

Anxiety is easier ( it just is) because you deal with the behavioural response.

Beware any therapist that doesn’t review outcomes regularly from which to seek an improvement ( and discharge) schedule.

Elizabeth Kubler Ross model has some merit, especially if you have some idea of what triggered your depression.
I've got a couple of quite useful charts that help you to understand and potentially chart where you are at in terms of thinking, likely behaviour and progress.

I need to learn how to post things if there's an interest.

[Greenman]

I'm starting to think happiness doesn't just come from having everything you want, instead it comes from not having too much to do, or maybe in this case not too much to think about, worry about or conform to! Simple Living!

At the end of the day we all come from the same place and all have our own individual purpose in life, it's not up to anyone in any stage of their life or yours to judge when that purpose is applied! Just live and see what you are meant to be!

[Wscad]

I’ll be putting a post up about stress it’ll be a long read but I need to let you know what I’m going through. It’s a effing madhouse here at wscad house