In need of advice...?!
Question: Okay. So I am 18 and I get really down in the dumps a lot. Sometimes I just can not help it and Its like a emotional pain that just hurts really bad. Sometimes i think physical pain self inflicted would feel better. It scares me sometimes that i think this way. I want to talk to my friends about it but they just think its stupid and that i can snap out of it. I have tried to do this. Its just like it is a part of me i cant rid myself of. It affects the way i feel all the time i am always tired and i hurt. I do not ever feel happy.I have even gotten to where i just sit at home in my bedroom. My friends are getting mad at me cause i am not like i used to be and i never do anything. I just cant help it. If i do its because i dont want to disappoint them but i never feel good enough to hang out. I even snap at my mom and sister sometimes just when they are being concerned. Some people think i suffer from depression, but I do not know what to think...I am so tired of feeling this way
Answers: Okay. So I am 18 and I get really down in the dumps a lot. Sometimes I just can not help it and Its like a emotional pain that just hurts really bad. Sometimes i think physical pain self inflicted would feel better. It scares me sometimes that i think this way. I want to talk to my friends about it but they just think its stupid and that i can snap out of it. I have tried to do this. Its just like it is a part of me i cant rid myself of. It affects the way i feel all the time i am always tired and i hurt. I do not ever feel happy.I have even gotten to where i just sit at home in my bedroom. My friends are getting mad at me cause i am not like i used to be and i never do anything. I just cant help it. If i do its because i dont want to disappoint them but i never feel good enough to hang out. I even snap at my mom and sister sometimes just when they are being concerned. Some people think i suffer from depression, but I do not know what to think...I am so tired of feeling this way
Hey, as someone who's been there, I know its tough.
First of all, I myself am bipolar and it doesn't sounds to me like you are, simply that you are experiencing a period of clinical depression. Bipolar tends to be partly hereditary but you can still develop it even if no one in your family has it. However, it usually involves both ups and downs, periods of manic energy and happiness in between in the periods of lethargy and sadness.
In your case you just got the downs! You're not alone, you're not crazy or weird and there is hope. Its difficult for your friends as they probably don't understand what you're going through and they just want the old you back without too much craziness.
Its not your fault that you can't just 'snap out of it', depression is a serious illness that's a combination of psychological and chemical factors.
The urge to turn emotional pain in physical pain is not unusual either, scary as it sounds. When your brain can't cope with something and can't get rid of it you seek to turn it into something more manageable. For a lot of people this equates to physical pain. Be very careful with this because following that instinct is the route to self-harming behaviour.
Whether you want to go down that path is your own choice to make. I would highly not recommend it as it can be addictive and dangerous but if you get to the point where its the only option left then its not the end of the world.
For most people who suffer from depression it is usually either a one-off thing at point in their lives or an occasional period that they go through. In either case, the day will come when you don't feel so bad, when a little energy will come back and when you will feel like yourself again. I know its hard to picture at this point as the first thing depression takes away is your sense of time and future, i.e. hope.
I've found it particularly frustrating too when none of the normal things you enjoy seem to help any more. This also confuses your friends as they don't understand why you're suddenly not interested in anything. If you can find anything that still makes you feel a little better, hang on to it.
As many other people will no doubt tell you, there are treatments out there that can help you return to yourself. Some variety of counselling or therapy obviously, is the simplest one. Even if it doesn't directly help, just sitting and talking about life to someone who understands can help you keep going. And of course there are a great deal of anti-depressant medications out there now which can make a lot of difference. Be careful how you approach this, sit and talk to your doctor, ask about options, side-effects, length of treatment etc. Don't let anyone just shove pills at you and go "here this will make you better".
Its also a good idea to try and talk to your friends and family, to explain what's going on, how things work. If you can find some straightforward pamphlets or information off the internet to pass around that can help too to make them realise its not all in your head. Its much easier to keep going when you have support.
sounds like it might be bipolar 2 Talk to you Dr
You probably have some form of depression. talk to your doctor, they can referr you to people who can help.
well for one, it is normal to get down and out sometimes. especially at such a young age. your going through allot of changes and the moods just kinda come with it. Bipolar is not necessarily hereditary. My mother has it. She is the only one in the whole family that has is. Just try and emerge yourself in things that make YOU happy. and sports? hobbies? anything.. just worry about making you happy. Seek God also. If you knock on his door, he will call upon you. He is what has helped me get through the hard times. I'll keep you in my prayers. Things will only look up from here.
Go see a psychologist. Your medical doctor can refer you to one. You don't have to put up with feeling bad all the time. A psychologist can help you. They won't automatically put you on drugs. Lots of people go to therapists. It's okay.