Items Tagged With depression

I've been there; I've done that. I've suffered from depression nearly my whole life, although I've only been treated the last few years. I know all the stages you go through when you're waiting those six interminable weeks for your antidepressant meds to start working. So, as my gift to you, since I know your mind might be kind of cloudy if you're depressed right now, I've compiled this list of suggestions. I hope they give you some moments of relief. Just so I'm not accused of discriminating against non-depressives, you all who don't suffer from depression can feel free to check out my suggestions too. Someone pointed out to me that it takes some people more than six weeks to feel much better. That's definitely true. Everyone's different, and some people could even take fewer than six weeks to feel normal again.This page is divided the way it is as just a general guideline.

Ways to Help a Depressed Person

• Listen. Keep in mind that the depressed person isn't communicating well right now, and is probably speaking slower and less clearly. Be patient and don't interrupt.
• Take care of little tasks like feeding the cat or doing the laundry. (This suggestion applies if you don't live with the person. If you do live with the person, you probably have to take on all the tasks).
• Along those lines, remember that the depressed person is not being lazy. Think of when you're really sick and you can barely get out of bed to go to the bathroom. That's how a depressive can feel all the time.
• Learn everything you can about depression. Knowledge is power and understanding.
• Take it seriously if the person talks about suicide. Call their doctor for advice on what to do.
• Make sure the depressive is keeping doctor appointments and taking his or her medication.

Ways to Help Yourself

• Take care of yourself. Depression can be "contagious." Get out and do something for yourself alone.
• Recognize that your feelings of anger, frustration and helplessness are valid. Talk to a therapist for help in dealing with them.
• If you are in a sexual relationship with this person, don't take it personally if they have lost interest in sex. Sexual drive is one of the first things to go when you're depressed. Offer hugging and cuddling without an expectation of sex.
• Know when to let go. After a certain point, especially if the depressed person is not getting help or taking their medicine, there's nothing you can do. You have to move on with your own life.

Web Pages

• The Purple Elephant in the Room: Talking to Someone with Depression
• Best Things to Say to Someone Who is Depressed - Self-explanatory
• Coping with Depression as a Family
• Depression Fallout
• Families for Depression Awareness
• Helping Someone with Depression
• If You Know Someone Who's Depressed
• Self-Help Advice for Depressed Patients: What My Family Can Do
• Suicide Prevention - Sharon Caron
• Ways to Help a Depressed Person - NIMH
• What to Do When a Friend is Depressed: A Guide for Teenagers
• What to Do When Someone You Love is Depressed
• Worst Things to Say to Someone Who is Depressed - Self-explanatory

Mailing Lists

• This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it - Email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it with the words "subscribe bpso" in the body of the message. Subject line may be left blank. This mailing list is for people who are " in an intimate, loving, caregiving, or nurturing relationship with a bipolar individual. This includes, but is not necessarily limited to, spouses, significant others, parents, children, near relatives and close friends. The important factor is that the relationship is close enough that the subscriber is significantly affected by the disorder. People whose relationships with bipolar individuals have ended are also welcome, so long as they remain concerned with the role played by the illness in that relationship."

Women suffer from unipolar (as opposed to bipolar or manic) depression in greater numbers than men do; twice as much by most estimates.

Causes

The reason or reasons why women have unipolar depression more frequently than men is less definite, due to a great extent to the fact that we don't fully understand what causes depression, whether in men or women. Depression is a highly individual disease. Each case is different. One person's depression may be wholly chemical, while someone else's is brought on by events and stressful factors in her life. Yet another person may suffer depression due to a combination of chemical and environmental factors.

Several theories have been brought forward to explain the greater frequency of depression in women. At this point it is difficult to either completely discount any of them or to point to one and say, "That's it!". There is no question that women have to deal with a greater number of risks to their physical and emotional well-being than men. We have yet to learn to what extent each of these plays a role in depression in women. Until then, it is wise to be aware of these potential risks, in the same way we are aware of risk factors for heart disease or high blood pressure.

Two things happened today that made me want to pound my head against a wall, Charlie Brown-style. The first was that I got an email from a woman who said that she is suffering from severe depression, but that friends and family want her to try to "talk herself out of it", and not get involved with medication and therapy. Now, it is not unusual for me to get an email from someone who either (1) feels they should be able to handle their own depression without treatment (2) feels that someone close to them should be able to handle their depression on their own, or (3) is being talked out of seeking treatment by family or friends. These emails never fail to raise my blood pressure a few notches.