What's it like?

[Olive Yew]

Can someone tell me what depression is like? I've been having issues with Anxiety the past two-three months, got a lot better the last two weeks... but today... Today I've felt like... I just have this like... Thick fog of emotion.... And it's not necessarily sad... Though sometimes it is... Just like generally melancholy... And tired. Does that sound right? It's been slowly getting worse the past three days...

[Lin]

Depression is very individual but it sounds as if you have it. You feel immensely sad with depression, women usually want to cry a lot, and nothing seems worth living for. Everything seems futile and you feel really useless in whatever you do. Also there are no quick fixes, either tablets or talking, it takes a while to find anything which helps with depression.

There are many types of depression too, so it is best to go to see a doctor and find out what sort of depression you have. Mine is clinical depression caused by a hormone imbalance, so mine is physical. Although it has gone on so long this time because it is the menopause that I think the depression has taken over from just being a hormone imbalance.

There are lots of distraction techniques you can learn to help with depression and anxiety. One of the best is meditation - I go to a buddha and christian meditation group and both are good. Also just concentration on slow, deep breathing can help because we usually shallow breath when we are anxious and depressed and it starts to make us panic.

I hope that you find some techniques which help you, but first make sure that it is depression which you have, so get checked out physically by a doctor first.

[Olive Yew]

When I was first diagnosed with anxiety, my dr called it Depression Anxiety. I thought it sounded ridiculous because at the time, I was NOT depressed. Well im getting that way as I start to lose the anxiety symptoms. It's like as I get rid of anxiety, depression is taking its place. :\

[tailspin]

I'm sorry to hear that Olive Yew. I can relate to anxiety and depression being a kind of see saw too. When my anxiety is low my depression is often high, and vice versa. I would definitely talk to your doctor/psychiatrist about this if the depression feelings continue or worsen. It's great you've managed to knock your anxiety on the head though. Well done! I hope the depressed feelings are just very temporary.

[newzie]

When I was first diagnosed with anxiety, my dr called it Depression Anxiety. I thought it sounded ridiculous because at the time, I was NOT depressed. Well im getting that way as I start to lose the anxiety symptoms. It's like as I get rid of anxiety, depression is taking its place. :\

I kind of feel the same way. when the anxiety is low or going away, the depression really sticks out...not fun at all.

For me, depression is pretty much how you put it, thick emotional fog. But I lose interest in stuff I actually like. I find it hard (impossible) to get 'pumped' about stuff that usually does. Just a sort of emptiness for no good reason.

[Olive Yew]

I kind of feel the same way. when the anxiety is low or going away, the depression really sticks out...not fun at all. For me, depression is pretty much how you put it, thick emotional fog. But I lose interest in stuff I actually like. I find it hard (impossible) to get 'pumped' about stuff that usually does. Just a sort of emptiness for no good reason.

Yeah and like... I'm an artist. I love to paint and draw. When I'm anxious, i'll do that as a distraction but when I'm depressed, my brain just starts nope-ing at everything

[DodgingRain]

Dunno. Depression isn't something that shows up one day and goes away the next, it goes on for years and even those that say they have recovered know its always under the surface. It's not something you wake up with one day. It's kind of like what people say being gay is like in a way, you generally know it's always been that way to one degree or another.

My view of depression is that it's like chronic sadness combined with apathy combined with anger combined with exhaustion combined with the inability to concentrate. Generally when it's in full effect I don't care about anything, I'm sad, pissed off at everyone and everything and I just want to either sleep or not exist any more. I also think a lot about doing things like not eating or drinking ever again or driving the car or motorcycle into a tree at 120mph or going and sitting on the train tracks. Doing anything when you feel like that really hard and I feel like I'm more or less irrelevant to everyone around me or they are just using me for money, etc.

When I'm depressed I don't post here as I don't care enough about myself or anything else to bother asking for help.

The anxiety is totally different. It's more of a feeling of impending doom, constant worry about things, excessive stress, and feeling overwhelmed. With the anxiety I am able to ask for help or tell others I need a break or I am feeling really stressed/overwhelmed.

I don't know that there is necessarily a pattern between the two for me. The depression is so overwhelming that I don't know that I would feel any of the anxiety when the depression is active. The depression makes me care so little about everything that I can't be bothered to worry about things (anxiety).

[Olive Yew]

So maybe my "depressive states" are just part of anxiety.. Like i've exhausted my emotions and just left feeling melancholy and emotional

[newzie]

That could be it Olive. A big issue with anxiety from what I have heard/read (and I am no expert) is that we are constantly worrying. Worrying (no matter if the fear is rational or not) causes the brain to release the 'bad stuff' or better put, to stop producing the 'good stuff' (aka serotonin and all that stuff). The more you worry, the more you deplete the good stuff in your body and overflow it with stress chemicals. Further the more you worry during the day, the more you dream at night (your biological way of trying to solve your 'problems'). The more you dream at night (REM sleep) the less restful sleep you get (where people are meant to heal).

The problem is that it is vicious cycle. The more you worry and think negatively, the worse the depression can get, the worse the depression/anxiety gets, the more depleted your body gets with the good stuff. So that is why there are many ways to 'fix' anxiety in depression. If you can break the cycle of worry, whether that is by pumping up your serotonin levels or by stopping the worry and allowing your brain to do it naturally, you will start to feel better.

That is just a really verbose way of me saying, it is not unlikely that you have depression as well. Anxiety and depression and like the dynamic duo who crash all the good parties together. The good news is, if you have slowed or stopped your anxiety, you will start feeling better soon (depression symptoms lifting), that is if you can keep your mind off of them. Hence, many people say 'keep busy' when you are feeling down, as to not let yourself dwell on the bad feelings.

And @dodgingrain, I don't think depression/anxiety can show up in one day, but it can go form mild to moderate in that amount of time. I was having 0 anxiety and depression symptoms (well maybe some VERY mild) and literally ONE day, it hit me like a brick. Also last time I was in a depression episode, it didn't lift in one day, but it only took a couple consecutive days of feeling "pretty good" before it lifted all together. Most likely because in those two days I got super optimistic, stopped worrying and moved on. Just my experience.