Depression sufferer

[MrLJB]

Hi there

I just wanted to get my first blog down. This is a good idea. Hopefully we can all help each other.

I've been depressed for about six years now. Im studying for a Masters degree but can't finish the dissertation because I've been so depressed. I've just been putting it off and off and it's just gone on and on. Fortunately, the university has been very supportive and kept on extending the deadline for me. I can choose to opt out and finish with a Diploma which saves me the distress of worrying about finishing the dissertation, but then I feel disappointed and try to resume work on the dissertation. But then I don't do anything and find myself caught in the same dillemia. Urgh!

I'm extremely ruminative about some unpleasant events from the past which I just can't shake off. These are things which are years ago which I dealt with at the time but really bug me and make me feel angry and upset. They just go on and on, all day long. Because of this excessive rumination, I find it really hard to concentrate and focus on things, which goes back to the dissertation situation etc.

There's lots more to talk about but I just wanted to do a first blog and get down the main things that bother me. It'd be nice to hear from anyone.

[jpars]

Hi there, I am a champion ruminator too and can make some suggestions I actually find hard to follow but allegedly they work with practice maybe you know them already.

A bit of googling will give you tips on how to retrain your mind. The 'stop' technique comes up frequently where you tell your mind silently or out loud, to stop. It was a Cambridge University website I found this on first of all to help students and they said you may have to do it hundreds of times a day to get back to concentrating on the job in hand.

There are lots of tips and tricks out there including using CBT ideas, either with a practitioner or from books. To be fair I am actually overloaded with advice on how to stop worrying because I find it hard to write my worries out clearly, there seem so many of them, or sometimes I can't think of any. Having a specific time in the day to exclusively worry is another technique - worry time.

With being depressed for so long, are you on medication? - if not, then that might help.

It must be difficult for you because of the strong feelings you are experiencing, and it might seem there is a lot at stake with your studies too, so you need a way of taking the pressure off and getting things in perspective. CBT is the only thing I know of that claims to help you do that. My experience of it isn't great but I get the idea of it and I have other illnesses that interfere with my concentration.

As you can tell, I'm not sure on advising about traumatic events from the past which might need specialist care. Maybe someone else might know?

Take care of yourself

[Hidden]

Hi there

I don't often write on this website as I tend to use the Action on Depression one, so if you haven't seen that one it would be worth a look.

I can identify with ruminating over things from the past - I'm not sure whether you mean the recent or distant past. If it's things from the recent past ie adult life then I agree with the last reply, CBT is likely to be of help, if it's about things from very long ago then I would suggest psychodynamic therapy, your GP can refer you for either of these or there are self help books on Amazon for the CBT approach.

Hope things settle down for you,

Suexx