Need help

[Lisa O]

I'm new here and this will be my first post. To be honest I don't know where to begin. I'm skipping the introduction because I'm not sure anybody wants to know me. But I need to vent because I don't what to do. So here goes nothing.

I've been really depressed for the past few years and I know I should be used to it by now but I'm not. Every day feels like another battle that I can't win. I can do everything right and still get it wrong. I don't understand why I feel this way. I've been in and out of institutions for a while and nobody takes me seriously. I've been to the therapist but it's not helping me and I'm on the medication but it seems to be making it worse. I feel alone even though I'm not and it's ruining my relationship with my loved ones.

I don't like living with this. It's haunted me for the past years and every day I wish it could be over. I have a good family, good friends, and a good partner but still I don't know how to be happy.

 

[jannikitty]

Hi Lisa, welcome to Christian forums! There are lots of people here who feel or have felt as you do so you are not alone in feeling depressed. But the good news is that the scriptures are full of helps for those who are depressed, especially in the Psalms. Actually the psalmist spends a lot of time just venting as you have done. You may find Psalm 40: 1-3 helpful:

I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
2 He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the Lord. (ESV)

or Psalm 139..too long to quote.

and I found when I was facing six months of chemo some years ago I could identify with Psalm 88 as to how I felt and found the answer in Psalm 89. Reading some of these things does strengthen us if we are will to try it. But if we don't trust or believe it will make a difference it won't. It's not magic..it is just comforting and sometimes if we really focus and hear the Word of the Lord it can completely change our life.

Most of all if you haven't done so you need to tell Jesus you want Him to be your personal Savior and repent of any wrong doing you have in your life in order to get right with God. I know I attended a church for years and had never done that. Going to church alone is not going to do it for you although you surely can find God there; but mainly it has got to become a personal connection between you and God as you accept that Jesus died for you, your sins, and accept and believe him as your Savior.

Peace and prayers for you!

 

[jsimms615]

I'm new here and this will be my first post. To be honest I don't know where to begin. I'm skipping the introduction because I'm not sure anybody wants to know me. But I need to vent because I don't what to do. So here goes nothing.

I've been really depressed for the past few years and I know I should be used to it by now but I'm not. Every day feels like another battle that I can't win. I can do everything right and still get it wrong. I don't understand why I feel this way. I've been in and out of institutions for a while and nobody takes me seriously. I've been to the therapist but it's not helping me and I'm on the medication but it seems to be making it worse. I feel alone even though I'm not and it's ruining my relationship with my loved ones.

I don't like living with this. It's haunted me for the past years and every day I wish it could be over. I have a good family, good friends, and a good partner but still I don't know how to be happy.

There are a couple of things you can do. Giving medication to people who are depressed is assuming that there is some type of chemical imbalance. That is not always the case. Many antidepressants raise the serotonin or other brain chemicals in your brain because these chemicals have been found to relate to mood. If you have been taking them for a while they can be dangerous to stop cold turkey, so if you plan on stopping taking them do so under doctor's supervision.

Try developing a mental health toolbox of skills and things you do to help you with your mood. Just google mental health toolbox and you will come up with a number of sites that will tell you more. For example, part of my tools to help me stay healthy is exercise. I also have diabetes, so monitoring that is important since high blood sugar can affect mood. Other things you can do to add value to your life are things like spending time with friends, listen to music, read a good book, watch a good movie, so sit in the sun, have regular devotionals.

I am an introvert, so being around people is very draining for me and I have to build in alone time or I get extremely irritable. It isn't that I don't like people, but I find groups and large crowds to be extremely draining. Knowing what energizes you and what doesn't help also.

 

[AlexBP]

Hi Lisa,

I know how you feel because I suffered from major bouts of depression for many years. Throughout my childhood and college years I was in and out of psychologists' offices many times, on and off medication, and often disrupting my personal life while this happened.

First of all, concerning the issue of medication, if you truly think that the medications are making it worse rather than better than something needs to be done. Talk to the doctors who prescribes it about switching medication, changing dosage, or something else.

One tactic that I find works extremely well is this. Think about which situations make you the most depressed and which make you the least depressed. Take a sheet of paper and write them out. For example, it may be that spending time alone makes you more depressed while being with friends makes you less depressed. Keep the list about you. Whenever you feel a bout of depression coming on, look at the list of things that make you happy and choose one of them.

Whatever happens, don't despair. Those of us who suffer from depression are often seized by a strong feeling that things will never get better. However, this is only a feeling, not a reasoned conclusion. In fact, things often do get better. I am a much happier person now than I was then, and someday you will feel the same way.

 

[Greenleaves]

I'm new here and this will be my first post. To be honest I don't know where to begin. I'm skipping the introduction because I'm not sure anybody wants to know me. But I need to vent because I don't what to do. So here goes nothing.

I've been really depressed for the past few years and I know I should be used to it by now but I'm not. Every day feels like another battle that I can't win. I can do everything right and still get it wrong. I don't understand why I feel this way. I've been in and out of institutions for a while and nobody takes me seriously. I've been to the therapist but it's not helping me and I'm on the medication but it seems to be making it worse. I feel alone even though I'm not and it's ruining my relationship with my loved ones.

I don't like living with this. It's haunted me for the past years and every day I wish it could be over. I have a good family, good friends, and a good partner but still I don't know how to be happy.

Hi Lisa and WELCOME! Depression is a very difficult cross to carry. I try to remember how heavy the cross of Jesus was (but even if it is so, I have to admit that I forget it sometimes).

If it's possible for you, it might perhaps help you to try to imagine what a big family the Christian family is. Many in that family suffer and still Jesus is with them in their sufferings. Jesus never promised us that it would be easy to be a Christian, but he promised to never leave us. (I sometimes forget that too).

May be it would help you to have "prayer times" (that helps me). Morning, dinner and evening. You can write them down and use the same every day or just let your alarm on your mobile remind you that it is time to thank God for the good things and ask for help from the bad things.

Journaling, using a mood chart and so on might help. So do often physical exercises and relaxation exercises too. To be depressed might sometimes be a full-time job in the here and now, every day. But it is possible to either live with it or to make progress!

My very best wishes for you!