Health Depression

[checkraiseulite]

I've been back from my exchange semester for 2.5 months now and I just can't get over my feeling of..emptiness, sadness, loneliness. I can't get out of bed in the mornings and when I do, I end up sleeping during the day anyway. My friendship group dynamic has totally changed since I got back, mostly centred around my best friend of 10 years who I have never had a fight with before. I feel completely betrayed by her and I can't even face her to have a conversation with her. I don’t leave the house unless I have a specific appointment that involves other people relying on me. I’m not myself at work – I didn't tell anyone there when it was my birthday because I knew they'd make a fuss that I didn't want. I don't even really feel like going to the football anymore, mum’s dragged me there a couple of times since I got back and I know she will this week, which is probably good for me. I don't answer the phone anymore, even though I know it'll be my nanny or aunty or someone who will be nice to me and would like to hear from me.

I have been completely disenchanted by my university since seeing how different it can be, I've been lumped with mostly online classes, in fact I have 2 on-campus hours per fortnight. I haven't done any work outside of those 2 hours for at least 3 weeks now, maybe 4, I’m losing track of the weeks. It’s getting to assignment time and I still can't do anything. I've got 5 units (including the 3 I have this semester) remaining in my 4 year degree and I have an HD average, I've never got less than a D, that'll change this semester. I left the easy classes for the end, I’m doing a first year subject and I won't even do well at that.

I've been seeing my uni counsellor for the past month or so, she’s just referred me to my GP because she thinks I need medication. She was setting me goals that I couldn't reach, really easy goals too. Couldn’t do the two 10 minute walks she wanted me to go on, couldn't get up at 9am like she wanted me to. I set my alarm on my dresser, got up for 20 minutes, back to bed. I play volleyball which is always the highlight of my week, but even there my mind goes blank and I completely mess up at times because of it. I managed to live in New York for 5 months and pretty much maintain my weight (I don't weigh myself, but I felt roughly the same), I've put on weight since I've been home for sure. I'm dreading the warmer weather because all I feel like wearing are things that cover everything. I'm ashamed of myself.

My mum keeps trying the ‘there are people out there much worse than you’ line and I get angry at her because it doesn't make me feel happier to know that there are people with bigger problems, how is that supposed to help? Is only one person in the world allowed to be unhappy? She wants to come to my doctor’s appointment but if I have to go I want to be alone, although the idea of reliving all of those conversations that I had with my counsellor is horrible to me. I cry my eyes out at every appointment and feel even worse for the rest of the day than usual. I’m scared that someone thinks I need medication, I don’t want to need it.

Sorry to hear that you feel this way, but you're definitely not alone. Hopefully the counselling and medication help you and you can rebuild things with your friendship group.

Let your mum know that you need space to deal with this and that you understand she wants to help you but this is something you need to handle on your own.

I definitely think there is a systemic problem with tertiary education here, and a whole heap of people are very, very isolated and unhappy. What do you study?

 

[dales.girl38]

Sorry to hear that you feel this way, but you're definitely not alone. Hopefully the counselling and medication help you and you can rebuild things with your friendship group.

Let your mum know that you need space to deal with this and that you understand she wants to help you but this is something you need to handle on your own.

I definitely think there is a systemic problem with tertiary education here, and a whole heap of people are very, very isolated and unhappy. What do you study?

Thanks checkraiseulite. My friendship group are individually doing things that bother me at the moment, I'm not sure if it's because of my current headspace or if they really are being annoying. Making jokes about my budgie nearly dying on Saturday is one thing I'm not impressed about though, and helping him recover has been another layer of stress for me.

Yeah, I've tried telling her that, she still gets annoyed at me and then we end up bickering over stupid things. She is a great mum and probably thinks I should be OK with telling her anything, which is true in a way, but I do need to do this on my own.

I totally agree - there is a big problem over here. By the second week of my classes there, my teachers knew my name, they gave us regular work so that we had to keep on top of things, they noticed if we were falling behind (not that I did personally). Over here, nobody cares who I am. And it's not about no longer being the one who stands out because of my accent, it's just that nobody matters here, everybody matters over there. I'm doing a double degree with psychology and human resource management majors.

 

[checkraiseulite]

Thanks checkraiseulite. My friendship group are individually doing things that bother me at the moment, I'm not sure if it's because of my current headspace or if they really are being annoying. Making jokes about my budgie nearly dying on Saturday is one thing I'm not impressed about though, and helping him recover has been another layer of stress for me.

Yeah, I've tried telling her that, she still gets annoyed at me and then we end up bickering over stupid things. She is a great mum and probably thinks I should be OK with telling her anything, which is true in a way, but I do need to do this on my own.

I totally agree - there is a big problem over here. By the second week of my classes there, my teachers knew my name, they gave us regular work so that we had to keep on top of things, they noticed if we were falling behind (not that I did personally). Over here, nobody cares who I am. And it's not about no longer being the one who stands out because of my accent, it's just that nobody matters here, everybody matters over there. I'm doing a double degree with psychology and human resource management majors.

well, you definitely wouldn't be the first person to come back from a bit of time away in a different environment to question what you see in a lot of your friends. i've been there and done that.

i don't know your situation, but perhaps you should look at moving out as well? coming back into the family home after doing your own thing for a while might just be adding another layer of stress.

re uni everything here is so polarised. it's either non-existent or completely contrived. the whole system is geared towards making it as easy as possible to get the bit of paper at the end of the degree at minimal cost to the provider. conceptual learning, critical thinking and actual participation are definitely not priorities. this is crazy when i'm sure for a lot of people what you learn at uni has little to no relevance to what you do on the job (finding this out first hand at the moment).

 

[dales.girl38]

well, you definitely wouldn't be the first person to come back from a bit of time away in a different environment to question what you see in a lot of your friends. i've been there and done that.

i don't know your situation, but perhaps you should look at moving out as well? coming back into the family home after doing your own thing for a while might just be adding another layer of stress.

re uni everything here is so polarised. it's either non-existent or completely contrived. the whole system is geared towards making it as easy as possible to get the bit of paper at the end of the degree at minimal cost to the provider. conceptual learning, critical thinking and actual participation are definitely not priorities. this is crazy when i'm sure for a lot of people what you learn at uni has little to no relevance to what you do on the job (finding this out first hand at the moment).

I can't really justify the expense of moving out at the moment, I don't work regular hours and I would struggle at some point. I will probably move out in the next year or two though, and would now if money was no object.

Everything at my uni seems to be about cutting costs - two of the classes I'm in now were originally running on-campus, then they moved them to online because there "weren't enough people" (one is a core subject for a popular major ).. so it's more like this way they can re-use pre-recorded lectures and just pay someone to occasionally monitor the discussion boards. The main reason I'm looking at doing post-grad is because I feel completely unprepared skill-wise to enter the workforce. I get more out of my current job than I get out of my degree.

Each of my classes that I had overseas had at least 10% of the grade based on participation and I can honestly say I remember a lot of what I learnt over there. I walk out of an exam over here and my mind erases all memory of what I essentially memorised, rather than learned.

 

[nicky]

What a shame our unis are so far behind. Essentially all the academic positions here go to people who've done their post grads in the US or the UK.

 

[checkraiseulite]

What a shame our unis are so far behind. Essentially all the academic positions here go to people who've done their post grads in the India, Pakistan or China

Edited to reflect my experience.

 

[checkraiseulite]

The main reason I'm looking at doing post-grad is because I feel completely unprepared skill-wise to enter the workforce. I get more out of my current job than I get out of my degree.

I don't think this will change, whether you do post-grad or not. A sign of an intelligent person is they're only too aware of how much they don't know. A byproduct of this is quite a high-level of self-awareness and a predisposition towards depression/anxiety.

 

[nicky]

WHAT?

No way.

 

[checkraiseulite]

WHAT?

No way.

I did comm/law. Without exception all of my finance lecturers were from the sub-continent or chinese.

They were all probably quite switched on in their fields, but were invariably terrible teachers and most were barely fluent in english. I think one thing we struggle with here is knowing the difference between being good at something, and being good at teaching others how to do things we are good at.

Law was a bit different (when I could drag myself out of bed to go), and yes, quite a few lecturers had PhDs/LLMs from the top US/UK schools. The framework they were forced to teach in however probably negated a lot of the benefits picked up there where by all accounts they have very different teaching methods.

 

[CLUBMEDhurst]

Saw the doctor today, he wants me to try Sertraline, at this stage for 3 months. Does anyone have any experience with this? He gave me sleeping pills in case they keep me awake.

Have read the last coupla pages and feel for ya. Sertraline's a pretty good SSRI without a huge side-effect profile. Don't know if your GP advised, but there can be an increase in anxiety after commencement (which settles within a week or two).

I wouldn't go making any major study/work decisions ATM, as you're probably viewing most things through a negative prism. Hopefully the meds work. Good luck

 

[Smiling Buddha]

I'm not qualified to comment on whether or not people should take drugs to 'fix' their depression. To be qualified to make such a comment, you need to be working in the very industry which benefits from prescribing pills and scheduling regular counseling sessions. What would I know, I have nothing to gain whether or not anybody does or does not take drugs for depression.

With that caveat out of the way, my own personal opinion is this: situational depression (i.e. feelings of loneliness/worthlessness/hopelessness/failure) brought on by changes to somebody's circumstances or perspectives ought not be treated with drugs until every other reasonable avenue has been tried and failed. Other reasonable avenues include, in my opinion, a healthy diet (full of vegetables and devoid of processed foods), plenty of exercise, and a sustained effort to build new relationships with fellow humans.

I definitely think there is a systemic problem with tertiary education here, and a whole heap of people are very, very isolated and unhappy. What do you study?

There is no doubt in my mind that the modern university in this country is for most students an estranging and often-lonely place. What I don't know for certain is whether it was ever the vibrant community one is led to believe it once was, or it has always been this way. I can't help believe it must have been different - better - at some point in the past. I suspect that the influx of foreign students, coupled with the influx of poor (i.e. non top quartile) students into the system over the past few decades has played a huge role in the decay. Topic deserves its own thread.

 

[CLUBMEDhurst]

I'm not qualified to comment on whether or not people should take drugs to 'fix' their depression. To be qualified to make such a comment, you need to be working in the very industry which benefits from prescribing pills and scheduling regular counseling sessions. What would I know, I have nothing to gain whether or not anybody does or does not take drugs for depression.

With that caveat out of the way, my own personal opinion is this: situational depression (i.e. feelings of loneliness/worthlessness/failure) brought on by changes to somebody's circumstances or perspectives ought not be treated with drugs until every other reasonable avenue has been tried and failed. Other reasonable avenues include, in my opinion, a healthy diet (full of vegetables and devoid of processed foods), plenty of exercise, and a sustained effort to build new relationships with fellow humans.

There is no doubt in my mind that the modern university in this country is for most students an estranging and often-lonely place. What I don't know for certain is whether it was ever the vibrant community one is led to believe it once was, or it has always been this way. I can't help believe it must have been different - better - at some point in the past. I suspect that the influx of foreign students, coupled with the influx of poor (i.e. non top quartile) students into the system over the past few decades has played a huge role in the decay. Topic deserves its own thread.

Don't recall a drop in educational standards following the Whitlam Govts free education in the 70's (which allowed the poor access to tertiary education)

 

[checkraiseulite]

I'm not qualified to comment on whether or not people should take drugs to solve their depression. To be qualified to make such a comment, you need to be working in the very industry which benefits from prescribing pills and scheduling regular counseling sessions. What would I know, I have nothing to gain whether or not anybody does or does not take drugs for depression.

I don't think people take drugs to solve their depression. It is more of a management thing, and for a lot of people there is no question it helps.

You do raise an interesting point though, but not one that is unique to this issue. If you were to analyse most businesses/professions there is an inherent conflict of interest between customer/client and the provider.

 

[checkraiseulite]

Don't recall a drop in educational standards following the Whitlam Govts free education in the 70's (which allowed the poor access to tertiary education)

there is a distinction between educational standards and personal experiences. it is definitely arguable that people benefit more from how they experience and learn things when they're the age of a typical undergrad, than what they actually learn.

 

[Smiling Buddha]

Don't recall a drop in educational standards following the Whitlam Govts free education in the 70's (which allowed the poor access to tertiary education)

Firstly, I didn't make any comment about educational standards.

Secondly, by 'poor students' I meant 'people who didn't actually do all that well in high school', not 'people from LSE backgrounds'.

If you only got a 70 TER, what the hell are you doing at a university?

I don't think people take drugs to solve their depression. It is more of a management thing, and for a lot of people there is no question it helps.

Semantics.

As for how many people it helps, I would love to see some metastudies of the peer-reviewed literature as to the efficacy of drugs for treating situational depression, particularly if those studies are comprehensive enough to track what affect the drugs had when background situational factors were and were not dealt with also.

 

[dales.girl38]

Have read the last coupla pages and feel for ya. Sertraline's a pretty good SSRI without a huge side-effect profile. Don't know if your GP advised, but there can be an increase in anxiety after commencement (which settles within a week or two).

I wouldn't go making any major study/work decisions ATM, as you're probably viewing most things through a negative prism. Hopefully the meds work. Good luck

Thanks ClubMedhurst, I started my medication this morning (half a tablet for the first 3 days) and the chemist said that it'll probably give me an upset stomach (I did feel a bit sick, but that might just be because I am expecting to) and that it won't kick in for 3 weeks and to not give up in a week or two if it's not working yet.

I've been on exchange for only two weeks and I'm terrified of going back home it's just so much better overseas. I'm already looking into doing my masters here as well.

Anyway I feel for you dales.girl38, hope things turn around as I've been down and out once before, and things really do get better but you have to be patient about it. Good luck and keep us posted

Thanks treefingers, I'll be sure to update how I'm going on here.


Where are you on exchange? Soak it all up and experience as much as you can. It only gets better from the first few weeks

 

[nicky]

With that caveat out of the way, my own personal opinion is this: situational depression (i.e. feelings of loneliness/worthlessness/hopelessness/failure) brought on by changes to somebody's circumstances or perspectives ought not be treated with drugs until every other reasonable avenue has been tried and failed. Other reasonable avenues include, in my opinion, a healthy diet (full of vegetables and devoid of processed foods), plenty of exercise, and a sustained effort to build new relationships with fellow humans.

I have had situational depression before and not taken drugs for it because i strongly believe in exhausting all other options before going down the drug path, which comes from a personal bias against them - so yeah totally agree with you on that one. However, i know people that go down the drug path and it serves the purpose of getting them back on track then they come off them again.

At the end of the day people need to do what's going to work best for them and only they can determine what that is.

 

[checkraiseulite]

Semantics.

As for how many people it helps, I would love to see some metastudies of the peer-reviewed literature as to the efficacy of drugs for treating situational depression, particularly if those studies are comprehensive enough to track what affect the drugs had when background situational factors were and were not dealt with also.

What 'helps' in this context is incredibly subjective and definitely varies in the short and long terms.

 

[CLUBMEDhurst]

Secondly, by 'poor students' I meant 'people who didn't actually do all that well in high school', not 'people from LSE backgrounds'.

If you only got a 70 TER, what the hell are you doing at a university?

My mistake

 

[checkraiseulite]

and a sustained effort to build new relationships with fellow humans.

without being facetious in this day and age how would you recommend people do this?

 

[CLUBMEDhurst]

I have had situational depression before and not taken drugs for it because i strongly believe in exhausting all other options before going down the drug path, which comes from a personal bias against them - so yeah totally agree with you on that one. However, i know people that go down the drug path and it serves the purpose of getting them back on track then they come off them again.

At the end of the day people need to do what's going to work best for them and only they can determine what that is.

GPs are far too ready to start dishin' out meds for what can generally be described as normal human responses to certain situations (bereavement, relationship split, loss of job etc.). In these cases if normalising the experience and providing the person with some supportive counselling should be the first step (unless, of course the person's in a mental health crisis). However, these major life-stressors are often the precipitants to clinical depression. Unfortunately the latest edition of the Psychiatrists Bible, The Diagnostic Statistical and Statistical Manual vol. V (DSM-V) has actually pathologised grief. In previous volumes, major depression could not be diagnosed until 2 months following the bereavement or if the symptoms were severe. In the DSM-V, MD can be diagnosed 2 weeks after the bereavement.

The research suggests that SSRI anti-depressants are as effective as placebo for mild to moderate depression (for which research recommends CBT as an effective psychological therapy). Anti-depressants are extremely effective in the treatment of major depression. I've yet to find a copy on the 'net, however this is from the DSM-IV

DSM-IV Criteria for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)
• Depressed mood or a loss of interest or pleasure in daily activities for more than two weeks.
• Mood represents a change from the person's baseline.
• Impaired function: social, occupational, educational.
• Specific symptoms, at least 5 of these 9, present nearly every day:
1. Depressed mood or irritable most of the day, nearly every day, as indicated by either subjective report (e.g., feels sad or empty) or observation made by others (e.g., appears tearful).
2. Decreased interest or pleasure in most activities, most of each day
3. Significant weight change (5%) or change in appetite
4. Change in sleep: Insomnia or hypersomnia
5. Change in activity: Psychomotor agitation or ******ation
6. Fatigue or loss of energy
7. Guilt/worthlessness: Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt
8. Concentration: diminished ability to think or concentrate, or more indecisiveness
9. Suicidality: Thoughts of death or suicide, or has suicide plan

 

[Smiling Buddha]

GPs are far too ready to start dishin' out meds for what can generally be described as normal human responses to certain situations (bereavement, relationship split, loss of job etc.)...

Excellent post, especially the 'pathologising grief' bit.

without being facetious in this day and age how would you recommend people do this?

It has never been easier to find people of similar interests to oneself. I am surprised how few people I know have tried out meetup.com. Check it out if you already haven't. Then there are less direct ways to find people, such as this very forum. If you see somebody is in a similar location to you, don't be afraid to PM them and see if they want to catch up over a beer before a game. I met one of my best mates in Brisbane via this very site.

I know that actually approaching people, online or irl, can be difficult for some people. I was lucky in that I played a lot of sport growing up so mingling with new people has always come naturally to me. At the same time, other character flaws and certain circumstances have meant that I've never had a full book of close friends, so last year I made a conscious effort to try to meet more people and build a network. I have been amazed at how receptive so many people have been to offers of coffee and lunch dates. Topic is worth another thread but it is almost as if people are so desensitised to human 'contact' via social media that genuine human contact - people taking an interest in their life story - is a pleasant surprise to most people (our age at least).

If you want to meet new people, there are thousands of other people out there who would like to meet you. If you need to improve your interpersonal skills, there are myriad books and methods out there to try, and I can't recommend HTWFAIP enough. Sure, there are plenty of boring people out there, and if you make an effort to get to know more people, you will often walk away from a cafe thinking 'that guy is a no-hoper' or 'I'd rather sit in silence than listen to that girl ever again'. But just like trying to pick up, meeting new people and potentially making new friends is a numbers game. You put in the effort, and I mean actual effort, and you'll make new friends, I have no doubt.

And as social creatures, I think we need real friendships. Not this bullshit 'comment on facebook when it is your birthday' 'friendship' that pervades our society today. It is ridiculous to me that we teach kids in school how to find the area between the x and y axis but not essential life skills such as how to take an interest in other peoples lives and build relationships with our fellow man. And I say that as somebody who thinks that mathematics is a beautiful and underappreciated thing.

 

[nicky]

I have wanted to post in this thread for a long time. Have typed my story many times but then just couldn't post it. I don't know why. Maybe, and this is me thinking out loud, it was just that to include one part I had to include another part and eventually it was too long and too much and ra ra ra.

Anyway, its probably truthful to say I am a long time sufferer of depression. Have had 3 major episodes, 1983 (18), 1996 (31) and 2009 (44). Not going to say that each one was easier than the one before. In fact, each one was worse and more damaging. The only difference was I had more knowledge.

Long story short. In 2011 I had to get out of the black hole so I decided to do Uni online, with the goal of attending one day. Enrolled through Open Uni and decided that it would be wise to do their essay writing unit first. The subject of the main assignment was basically whatever you liked. I started researching a certain subject when I stumbled on perfectionism.This may not be news to some but I found this article to be very helpful.

"Negative Perfectionism: Examining Negative Excessive Behavior in the Workplace" by Leonard and Harvey. ( I dont know how to post the entire PDF)

This part in particular gave me a lot to think about.

"Quadrant III: Imposter Behavior
The imposter phenomenon was first suggested in the literature by Clance and Imes (1978). Clance and Imes defined the imposter phenomenon as “an internal experience of intellectual phoniness that appears to be particularly prevalent and intense among a select sample of high achieving women” (p. 241). They attributed this phenomenon to early family dynamics and societal sex-role stereotyping. Over the years, research has indicated that the imposter phenomenon is not gender-specific, and gender is no longer seen as a contributing. characteristic (Bussotti, 1990; Harvey, 1981; Langford, 1990; Topping, 1983;
Topping & Kimel, 1985). In later research, Clance (1985) redefined the imposter phenomenon as the feeling of inauthenticity that is frequently experienced by many high achievers (not gender-specific).
Harvey and Katz (1985) described imposter-phenomenon sufferers as individuals who, despite objective evidence of competence, feel that they have fooled everyone into thinking that they are smarter or more capable than they are in reality. Imposters believe that their success is undeserved and that
future successes are not likely (King & Cooley, 1995). They attribute success that has been earned to luck, hard work, or contacts; and they believe that, rather than deserving the success, they have fooled everyone into thinking that they are intelligent. As high achievers who have recognition but do not believe that it is deserved, imposters think that people overestimate them and that they have succeeded only by accident. This situation results from setting an internal standard of perfection, but
seeking feedback from the social environment. Once again, perfectionists with a strong self-concept can cope with this misalignment and are able to move on to the next task.Perfectionists with a weak self-concept are less able to deal with the misalignment and may experience frustration and anxiety as
they attempt to perfect their task performance with the hope of continuing to receive positive social feedback and to avoid negative feedback. This need may manifest itself in behavior that is often attributed to what is termed the imposter phenomenon. The following proposition is offered:
Proposition 5. Perfectionists with a high, weakly held selfconcept, coupled with inner-directed goal setting and socially based feedback-seeking behavior, will display imposter behavior.
The most prevalent cognitive symptoms of the imposter phenomenon include reluctance to accept credit for accomplishments, feelings of selfdoubt, and a tendency to attribute success to external causes. The most prevalent affective symptoms include depression, anxiety, sadness, fear of
failure, and guilt about success. As Hirshfield (1982) pointed out, imposters lose the sense of reward and joy that ordinarily accompanies success. These individuals have difficulty accepting and enjoying the success that they earn. Many handicap themselves by stumbling through life and setting
unrealistic goals that they can never achieve. Feeling like an undeserving person can be dangerously self-fulfilling, and these individuals are particularly susceptible to self-defeating actions, such as alcohol or drug abuse (Furnham, 1998)."

All the best to everyone.

That is quite fascinating SK. It reminds me of the Dunning Kruger effect, which i've been reading up on because it goes a long way to explaining alot of the dynamics at my work.

The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which unskilled individuals suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly rating their ability much higher than average. This bias is attributed to a metacognitive inability of the unskilled to recognize their mistakes.[1]
Actual competence may weaken self-confidence, as competent individuals may falsely assume that others have an equivalent understanding.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning–Kruger_effect
The bold is similar to impostor phenomenon (not quite though)

 

[skipper kelly]

That is quite fascinating SK. It reminds me of the Dunning Kruger effect, which i've been reading up on because it goes a long way to explaining alot of the dynamics at my work.

The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which unskilled individuals suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly rating their ability much higher than average. This bias is attributed to a metacognitive inability of the unskilled to recognize their mistakes.[1]
Actual competence may weaken self-confidence, as competent individuals may falsely assume that others have an equivalent understanding.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning–Kruger_effect
The bold is similar to impostor phenomenon (not quite though)

Thanks nicky. Sounds interesting. I will read up further.

A little story as to how I stumbled across this subject. As mentioned earlier I started Uni as a way of getting out of that black hole. That coupled with a long held desire to see what is was like after being a year 10 drop out in 1980. So off I started. First assignment was a short essay worth 5 - 10% of the overall mark and due in week 2. It took me forever but I got there. Then the waiting started for the result. Got that a couple of weeks later. Result 70%, comment "Good Effort" plus the feedback sheet which just circled the boxes. That was it. I was dumbfounded not by the result but the feedback, or lack of it. My expectations, obviously too high, were that this is Uni and is supposed to be high education. At the time, I thought I had learned nothing from this. I was asking, where is the feedback as to what I did wrong. How can I learn from my mistakes if I'm not told what they are. So, after contemplating giving it away, I decided that was the worst thing to do. So I set myself to do the main assignment on Feedback at Uni and the impact on students etc etc. The classic FU at the boss. (turns out she taught me the biggest lesson so far). Anyway, while searching for negative feedback I stumbled on that article. I became fascinated by the subject and have kept researching it ever since, although it has nothing to do with my current study. Life changing really. Have learned to relax and now want to live and enjoy who I am and what I've got without worrying about who I am not and what I haven't got. I say that not in a capitalistic sense but more about expectations and judgement and not worrying about how I am perceived.

You know, at 48 you are supposed to have your shyt together, but whatever, it is never too late. It's good to feel happy again.

Thanks nicky for reading my earlier post and responding with another idea to look at.

 

[TheFreshBanana]

I know depression is defined by a state of low mood for a long period of time. I've been diagnosed with depression before and it did go on for a while. Having conquered that part of my life, I do find that my mood is fine most of the time, but I do go through quite depressing moods, very similar to the ones I was having. The only difference is generally I can pick myself up after a few hours to a few days.

Is this still classified as depression?