How did you know

[pentecostal girl]

I have a question for you guys......how did you know that you were depressed? I'm known as a happy go luck person who never frowns, but I really don't feel like that. My parents are pastors and we have recently moved. I used to live in AR and I LOVED it there. I had the most wonderful friends, and an amazing college roomate, but when God calls you must go. I've tried my best to look on the bright side of things and to put on a happy face, but the truth is that I really miss home ALOT. I really miss friends and I've literally cried myself to sleep several nights. We have a few young people at our church, but we just don't "connect" the way I did with my friends. Sometimes, I just feel like this big loser and I literally sit there and talk myself down. I just feel like I'm always having to put on a face so that I can please everyone else. Has anyone ever felt that way? It's kind of like you don't want anyone to see what's really going so you hide it behind a smile and a joke. I don't know if it's because I'm depressed or if I'm just...something, I don't know. I felt this way sometimes in AR too about the whole hiding behind a smile and a joke. I guess I just needed to get this off my chest, it's been bugging me! Thanks for listening, guys God Bless

 

[BohemianChris]

Behind a smile there can be an ocean of sadness.


I'm diagnosed with depression, though I don't believe it. I believe I am sad and lonely, but not depressed. Maybe you should see a doctor and let them decide if you're depressed. Psychopharmacuticals have come a long way and can really help.

Best,
Chris

 

[lawtonfogle]

I was the other way around, never diagnosed, but I think I was depressed, but I do not think it was the chemical imbalance type. But I kinda figured it out when I turned suicideal. But before it happened, God had already set in motion something to keep me this side of death.

 

[Mr.Cheese]

I didn't know what depression was until it shut me down completely.
I went to get counseling cause I couldn't study. I just couldn't do it or anything. I couldn't think, concentrate, read more than about a sentence at a time.

I turned out to be one of the worst cases they guy had ever seen. After my sessions he'd tell me to stay alive until next time. Depression is nothing that I had imagined it being.

 

[BlackRain]

i'm like that. i tend to put on a happy face. i don't want people to know that i'm not content...or happy about something. it also helps me deal with stuff, too. if i act happy eventually i'll forget about stuff and become happy. now, i talk about stuff. maybe all you need to do is talk about what's going on. that will take a load off of you. there are some things that are ok to keep between you and the Lord, but then there's stuff that should be talked about with a friend or family member.

 

[Eponine]

Yes, I definitely can relate to what you're talking about. I'm doing better since God came into my life, but there's still a lot of pain in my heart I don't talk about a lot because I figure nobody really needs or wants to hear about it.

 

[Galilean]

Sometimes I just want to tell people who have these problems...'just be thankful you aren't me'....because I'm pretty sure I'm beyond help and I almost just know that things will only get worse, don't be fooled into thinking that there is rock bottom because there is no such thing. Things either get better or they just continue to get worse and worse for the rest of your life, thats just how I feel because that's what's happened to me and I don't see how the future can hold anything else but decline.
I feel 'trapped' because I feel that I should commit suicide but I just can't bear to do it.
Finally it's all caught up to me and its got to the point where I am going to have to leave school without even the slightest qualifications for a career, and I could be homeless within the next month.
It wasn't until now that I started to think: what about homeless people, or people in mental institutions who are just totally hopeless. There's no hope for them, even if they're fervently religious, look at all the homeless guys preaching on street corners, it seems like God definatley dooms people
and no one can help the hopelessly insane they don't want to even try they just don't even think about it, when was the last time you saw someone or something reaching out to people who are in the darkness depths that it is humanly possible to be in.

 

[pentecostal girl]

Sometimes I just want to tell people who have these problems...'just be thankful you aren't me'....because I'm pretty sure I'm beyond help and I almost just know that things will only get worse, don't be fooled into thinking that there is rock bottom because there is no such thing. Things either get better or they just continue to get worse and worse for the rest of your life, thats just how I feel because that's what's happened to me and I don't see how the future can hold anything else but decline.
I feel 'trapped' because I feel that I should commit suicide but I just can't bear to do it.
Finally it's all caught up to me and its got to the point where I am going to have to leave school without even the slightest qualifications for a career, and I could be homeless within the next month.
It wasn't until now that I started to think: what about homeless people, or people in mental institutions who are just totally hopeless. There's no hope for them, even if they're fervently religious, look at all the homeless guys preaching on street corners, it seems like God definatley dooms people
and no one can help the hopelessly insane they don't want to even try they just don't even think about it, when was the last time you saw someone or something reaching out to people who are in the darkness depths that it is humanly possible to be in.

Galilean,
I don't believe that anyone is hopeless!! Secondly, I don't believe that God dooms people either(John 3:17 ). I believe that God has a designed plan for everyone, but sometimes it's just rougher for others to get there. I don't know your whole situation or why you feel that things are hopless, but I do know that we serve a God that gives hope to the hopeless. Jeremiah 29:11"For I know the thoughts I think towards you, Says the Lord, thoughts of peace not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." There's also another part of a verse that has really helped me in my situation...in Hosea 2:15 it says, "There I will give her back her vineyards and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.." The word "Achor" means trouble! In other words God's gonna turn around what was meant to harm you and turn it into good. Galilean, I understand how you feel, because I've felt like that a time or two, but it helps so much to dig into the word and pray without ceasing. I don't want to have to go to doctor and get anti-depressants because I'm believing that God can heal me, I know He can. I don't want a few "short-term fixes", I want a life changing fix! Galilean, you are special and you do have a future. A future and a hope that can only be found through Jesus Christ.I'm not just saying this to say this...God does have something amazing in store for you. There's a reason why you're going through what you're going through.God can take a trial(s) and turn it into one of the most beautiful blessings you've ever had! Job is a perfect example of this!! I'll be praying for you and I hope you have a blessed week

 

[pentecostal girl]

i'm like that. i tend to put on a happy face. i don't want people to know that i'm not content...or happy about something. it also helps me deal with stuff, too. if i act happy eventually i'll forget about stuff and become happy. now, i talk about stuff. maybe all you need to do is talk about what's going on. that will take a load off of you. there are some things that are ok to keep between you and the Lord, but then there's stuff that should be talked about with a friend or family member.

I know for sure I'd probably feel better if I told someone, but I'm just afraid they'll be disappointed in me. Everyone has this image of me and how I'm supposed to be and if I'm not that I feel that I'm disappointing them.I'm sure they probably wouldn't think that, but I'd feel that way if I were to tell someone.....do you get what I'm saying?? So that's why I've been posting on here, it kind of helps, although I'm sure it's not the same being one on one with a person.....it will just have to do for now. Plus, I know God can help me through anything, so I'm relying on him

 

[Amélie Unbound]

There is a difference between clinical depression, which is when you're sad on an ongoing bases for no particular reason and from what I understand is caused by a chemical imbalance, and being sad and grieving because of a major change or loss in your life. It's okay to feel sad when you've moved away from your home and your friends. It's not a condition! You're going through a normal grieving process. You will get over this with time, and with God's help of course. I am no expert, but I worry about people who go on antidepressants when their reason for being sad is legitimate. God created us to have a wide range of emotions. Sadness is an appropriate emotion in your situation. It's not necessarily unhealthy, and shouldn't necessarily be stifled or medicated. Just keep praying and turning to God in your sadness. Ask Him to heal you of your grief, to help you adjust to your new home, to give you a happy life where are you, to provide good opportunities for you, and to bring the right people into your life whom you will develop friendships with. I will pray for you too. It will be okay.

God bless you!

 

[Apples of Gold]

Behind a smile there can be an ocean of sadness.

Best,
Chris

How profoundly true.........

 

[BohemianChris]

How profoundly true.........

 

[MaryBurwell]

This situation is what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 6:19-21- "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will be your heart also."

There are plenty of Christians who have gone before you who have had similar experiences. The important thing is to look for the opportunities in the change. The important thing is to be optimistic.

Romans 8:28- "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." God has a plan in all of this. You just have to trust Him.

One of the best examples I think is Joseph. He was sold into slavery to the Egyptians by his brothers because they were jealous. Think about how depressing that must have been. He made the best of it and he never let it get him down. Don't lose heart. Be a soldier. Joseph ended up doing great things in Egypt and he ended up saving the lives of the same brothers who had sold him into slavery and being reconnected to them. I'm sure there are plenty of things you can learn in your new home and many new friends who will add to your understanding of the world. You still have your old friends. You might learn many things from this new experience that will add to your relationship with your old friends. You have a new type of relationship with them now and can get to know them in a different way. You can still contribute to their lives, though.
Evrything is a matter of how you look at it. When God had lot and his family to leave Sodom and Gommorah, Lot's wife wasn't willing to let go of her old life. She left her heart there instead of taking it with her and as a result she turned into a pillar of salt. Don't let yourself turn into a spiritual pillar of salt. Look ahead. It is okay to keep the good memories of the past but look to the future for hope. You haven't lost anything really. Anything that can be taken from you never really was yours in the first place. It was all an illusion. You have everything to gain, nothing to lose.

My parents sent me away when I was 15 for a year and I cried every day for the first 2 months there. I just have to trust God that it happened for a reason. It made me a stonger person in the long run. The important thing is to always look ahead. The past is in the past. It is hard because of the stablitiy issue, but Jesus is all the stability you need, really. Nothing can separate you from the love of Christ. Trust God. He has a purpose in all this for you- He just hasn't revealed what it is yet. Keep an open mind and heart to all the new people you meet and new things you will learn about and experience. This is a new opportunity- it may not be what you think you want- but God knows what is best for us. God knows what we really want and what will make us happiest in the end. Don't let anyone or anything steal your joy in Christ from you. All you really need is your joy in Christ.

 

[ArmouredSaint]

I have a question for you guys......how did you know that you were depressed? I'm known as a happy go luck person who never frowns, but I really don't feel like that. My parents are pastors and we have recently moved. I used to live in AR and I LOVED it there. I had the most wonderful friends, and an amazing college roomate, but when God calls you must go. I've tried my best to look on the bright side of things and to put on a happy face, but the truth is that I really miss home ALOT. I really miss friends and I've literally cried myself to sleep several nights. We have a few young people at our church, but we just don't "connect" the way I did with my friends. Sometimes, I just feel like this big loser and I literally sit there and talk myself down. I just feel like I'm always having to put on a face so that I can please everyone else. Has anyone ever felt that way? It's kind of like you don't want anyone to see what's really going so you hide it behind a smile and a joke. I don't know if it's because I'm depressed or if I'm just...something, I don't know. I felt this way sometimes in AR too about the whole hiding behind a smile and a joke. I guess I just needed to get this off my chest, it's been bugging me! Thanks for listening, guys God Bless

i understand some of what you're saying but then i'm in some weird numb state & i'm not hiding anything anymore.for me,my reaction to others pain and sadness has changed.it's hard to feel anything.blurred sensations,trouble feeling anything other than im looking for peace.if i seem odd to my family and friends,i assume they by now understand im just that lost.i have a hard time with crowds right now so i've quit work.for you though there sounds like a caring of what others may find,so im sensing you really want to feel better.im sure i'm not the norm here and others do feel like you.i cant recall when this mattered to me though