Human beings have evolved to suffer, and we are better at suffering than anything else.

[LydDee321]

I haven't been diagnosed with depression, you just know you have it, for me anyway. I can't face my GP so I'm trying to come to terms with my feelings, and accept the way I am. It is a hard battle, one I fight every single day - but I'm still fighting and I use self-therapy - when I'm not at my worst, so I can reflect and build upon this journey of living with depression. I practice art therapy, which honestly is amazing, please draw something next time that painful despair grips your insides - it is like self-harming in the way it externalises the issue - unlike the damaged done to your skin. The rush I get when drawing the pain, or worries is unexpected until I've done it. I also like to find gems of info to help me think about human suffering as it helps me look at my feelings from a safe birds eye view - again externalising where possible. Of course these gems are debatable on whether you agree with them, but so many of us are clearly suffering so I like to think about the bigger picture when I can:

5. Human beings have evolved to suffer, and we are better at suffering than anything else.

Yikes. It doesn’t sound like a very liberating discovery. I used to believe that if I was suffering it meant that there was something wrong with me — that I was doing life “wrong.” Suffering is completely human and completely normal, and there is a very good reason for its existence. Life’s persistent background hum of “this isn’t quite okay, I need to improve this,” coupled with occasional intense flashes of horror and adrenaline are what kept human beings alive for millions of years. This urge to change or escape the present moment drives nearly all of our behavior. It’s a simple and ruthless survival mechanism which works exceedingly well for keeping us alive, but it has a horrific side effect: human beings suffer greatly by their very nature. This, for me, redefined every one of life’s problems as some tendril of the human condition. As grim as it sounds, this insight is liberating because it means: 1) that suffering does not necessarily mean my life is going wrong, 2) that the ball is always in my court, so the degree to which I suffer is ultimately up to me, and 3) that all problems have the same cause and the same solution.

thoughtcatalog.com/david-ca...

[Stilltrying_]

Hi LydDee and thanks for posting the link. I'm pleased you've found stuff that is meaningful and helpful to you. It sound like you've put a lot of effort into finding things that will work for you which is very admirable. I have a friend with bipolar who is doing an art class and she finds it very liberating and very relaxing too.

Don't think i've seen you on here before, so wishing you a wam welcome and hope you find some of the posts on here of interest. Obviously sometimes people can be very distressed but there are some good friendship groups here as well to hook into and gain support with your condition.

Kind regards, Gemmalouise x

[mamaluv]

Hi LydDee I too used art as a form of therapy. I struggled quietly for years using yoga too, until I started to have bad stomach pains and was diagnosed with a Thyroid disfunction. Once I was being treated for that I was quite a different person and life just seems so much easier, happier and calmer. Please visit with your doctor and have them check you out for hormone imbalance etc. Good luck x

[LydDee321]

Thank you for the warm welcome Gemmaloiuse

@mamaluv - i suffer very painful stomach aches - is this a symptom? Are there other symptoms?

I thought for a long time that is was PMS or PMDD but my doctor told me to just exercise and eat right (both of which I do). I didn't tell my doctor the full story for fear of ridicule.

How can I go about asking for a tea for thyroid dysfunction - I asked for a test to check my hormone levels but the doctor said it would be useless as my reproductive hormone levels would indicate nothing and suggested simple to take my implant out when it expires and try me on other contraceptive pills.

I had a horrible time on microgynon when I was 14-16 (I think it gave me depression or kick started something dreadful - feelings of despair I never imagined possible with no stimulus required - horrific confusion and serious emotional dysregulation)

Any thoughts would be incredibly helpful - I just want to cope and have a future.

Thank you,

Lydia x