Tag Archives: life

How to Know if You Have Depression and What to Do About It

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How do you know if you are depressed besides the fact that you feel depressed? I’m talking “clinical depression.” The kind for which you need to seek professional help. The kind that if you let it go you may end up hurting yourself.

The kind that leaves you laying in bed most of the day wondering what the point of life is and how the hell you’re going to make it through another never ending insufferable day. A day that was just like yesterday; that will be just like tomorrow. One running into another like one long slow song playing in slow motion through quick sand under water on repeat.

According to the medical people there are several symptoms you need to have almost every day for two consecutive weeks to meet the criteria of being depressed. These include:

  • “Fatigue or loss of energy almost every day
  • Feelings of worthlessness or guilt almost every day
  • Impaired concentration, indecisiveness
  • Insomnia or hypersomnia (excessive sleeping) almost every day
  • Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in almost all activities nearly every day (called anhedonia, this symptom can be indicated by reports from significant others)
  • Restlessness or feeling slowed down
  • Recurring thoughts of death or suicide
  • Significant weight loss or gain (a change of more than 5% of body weight in a month)” (source WedMD)

If you have any of these symptoms please talk to your doctor about it. Depression is treatable. Many people take medication for it and many do not. Some go to therapy. Often people do both. You and your doctor will decide what the best course of action is for you.

Personally, I do both. I figure hit it with all we’ve got. What have I got to lose except some nasty symptoms that lead me to thinking about my own death. I can’t have that. I have a family. A life. A purpose for being here. We all do. You do!

Get the help you need if you think you have depression. You deserve it.

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Signs of Overthinking and What to Do About It

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Thinking about things is good, right? When we have important decisions to make we have to think about them before committing one way or another to ensure we are making the correct decision. We have to weigh the pros and cons, ask others for advice, sleep on it; you know, think about it. After all, thinking is one of the main things that distinguishes us from the rest of the animal kingdom.

Does there come a time, however, when thinking becomes a liability to our well being? I believe there does.

Signs of Overthinking

  • second guessing everything
  • analyzing things to death
  • expecting the worst
  • having insomnia
  • hating to make decisions
  • would rather someone else decide things for you
  • regretting things often
  • have a hard time letting things go
  • taking things personally
  • being a perfectionist
  • criticizing yourself a lot
  • never feeling one hundred percent certain
  • feeling tense
  • feeling like you can’t turn your brain off

What to do if you are overthinking

  • Journal – writing down your thoughts can sometimes take them out of your head and keep them out. It is worth a try.
  • Talk to someone about your thoughts – again the idea is to get the thoughts out of your head. The longer you keep them bottled up, the longer they will just swirl around in there.
  • Use positive distractions – engage in a creative hobby, something that gains your entire focus so you are no longer thinking about anything else except for the task at hand. Sometimes our thoughts just need to be interrupted by action, whether we feel like taking that action or not.

Are you an overthinker? I am. What do you do to deal with it? Leave a comment or message me on my Facebook page here.

References:

Writing Prompt: A Letter to a Stranger

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Prompt: Type an anonymous letter to a stranger detailing what you have learned in life.  Leave a link to your post in the comments to share with others.  Here is my letter:

Dear Stranger,

I suppose I have learned a thing or two over my lifetime thus far.  I’ve learned that most people can’t be trusted but a few can.  I’ve learned that opposite phenomenons are going on all of the time.  For example, people are altruistic because it makes them feel better thus actually making them selfish not altruistic.  And parents hurt their children even though they love them intensely.  And churches lie to their followers while preaching the Truth.  I’ve learned to see the world in these grays, rather than in black and white.  It has been my biggest lesson. 

I’ve also learned that I can not like someone but still care about them.  That I welcome eccentricities, but not insincerity.  That someone’s ability to be open-minded shapes every facet of their being.  And that it is quite rare to change an adult’s mind on his or her core values.

I’ve learned that some people are actually capable of unconditional love.  That sunsets make the most beautiful photographs and children are the most difficult gift I have ever received.  That a clean house, flat stomach, or big bank account doesn’t make a person happy.  And that love and health are two of the most important things in life.  Most of all, I’ve learned that I don’t know much and that I’ve got a lot more to learn.

 

What it is Like to Be Mentally Stable

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I was sitting here thinking about how I haven’t thought about the fact that I have bipolar disorder in a while.  About two weeks ago I had a day or two of feeling depressed and it reminded me of the “old days” of when I was in a true clinically depressed state of being unable to get out of bed or eat or shower for weeks on end; of when I didn’t know how I was going to make it through another day of living; of how I hoped I didn’t make it through alive.  I just wanted to die.

Thankfully, I don’t get that low for that long anymore.  I also don’t get high enough to be up until two or three (or four) in the morning writing or painting or working on any other various creative projects that always turned out to be a waste of time.  Many of the projects I start these days I finish, and they have some sort of functional goal or purpose to them as opposed to being just some sort of random jibberish.

Some major medication trials until the right combo was found and a complete overhaul in therapy to treat my childhood traumas both played a role in the stability I am enjoying today.  It takes work, effort, and the help of good and caring doctors and therapists, but mental stability can happen.

I am fully aware that one of these days I may wake up and find myself in a depressive or hypomanic state once again that lasts more than a day or two as they have been.  I dread the day if it ever comes.  However, luckily, my anxiety disorder is also under control enough that this thought is something I can let go of and simply go on living my life as is until further notice.  Thanks be to God!

Grief: A Meditation

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For a time, sometimes a long time, grief can leave you in a fog.  Memories are all you have and the pain is gut wrenching as the sobs pull the breath from your lungs until they collapse in the dead weight of your chest.  

You don’t want to, but you get up everyday and you put one foot in front of the other and you move forward, resting often, sighing heavily, straining to act.

But, you are doing this a miniscule step at a time. Every inhale and exhale is a healing force. 

Where there’s breath there is hope. Where there is hope, I will create gratitude, for where there is gratitude, I will find peace.