Advice

[Hollie_97]

Any advice on how to pick yourself up when there's no hope at all left?

[Olderal]

Hello Hollie, at 19 there is so much hope you would n't believe it but you'll have to tell us a bit more before we can find it for you.

Olderal

[Hollie_97 in reply to Olderal]

I know I just cannot see it right now. Finances are s*** and that's what's getting me down right now. Work is stressful but it's all sorted as in there isn't anything more I can do to solve any issues or make is any easier I'm literally just breaking down crying in the middle of the day at work in front of everyone and feel as if I'm a pathetic person because I have nothing to be depressed about

[Fi68]

Hello Hollie, sorry that life is so hard for you at the moment, the good news is that you have an assessment for counselling. However, this forum is here for you, to offer support, and to listen. You just need to give us a bit more detail so that we can help you.

Fi.

[Hollie_97 in reply to Fi68]

Hey Fi, thank you so much. Please see my reply to Olderal's comment

[Fi68]

Finances....eek not my strong point, hopefully Olderal or another poster will be able to help. However it is really good news that you are managing to get to work. Please don't beat yourself up about being depressed, saying that you don't have anything to be depressed about is looking at depression the wrong way. Depression is an illness, it is totally not interested in whether you think you should be depressed or not. If you had a runny nose, headache and were sneezing everywhere, would you say, I don't have anything to have a cold about? Of course you wouldn't, because we all accept that colds happen to people. On this forum we all accept that depression happens to people, regardless of who they are, how old they are, or how rich or poor they are. All of us who have suffered from depression in the past have wished that willpower would get us through and make us better. Very rarely does it. What we have learnt is to focus that willpower on going to counselling, going to work, eating healthly, having a good sleep pattern and avoiding drugs and alcohol. That, believe me, is enough to be concentrating on, so no more 'I haven't got anything to be depressed about' thinking. You have an illness, your GP obviously thinks so otherwise you wouldn't have got a counselling assessment. What is important now is to keep yourself as well as possible so that you can get the most out of counselling. Hope this helps.

Fi.

[mrsmummy]

It sounds as though you really need to sort out your finances. Try the Citizens Advice Bureau as a first point of contact. You can make a start here:

citizensadvice.org.uk/resou...

[Olderal]

Hello again, Hollie, as Fi has said depression is nothing to do with what you have or have n't got. It's just a sign of a misfiring mind but luckily its not permanent and you're likely to leave it behind as suddenly as it appears. Without treatment it can last 6-9 months although there are no hard and fast rules unfortunately, but with treatment it usually clears up more quickly.

I have to put in words like "usually" and "likely" because although a GP can help there is unfortunately a lot that is unknown about depression including why our minds, which one would think would be on our side, suddenly turn into an enemy and see everything negatively. On the positive side keep working as the social contacts and money coming in all help with depression , and also it will give you more positive feelings about yourself. Crying ar work at midday is a lot better than brooding at home. Even better would be a short walk outside at lunchtime as exercise also helps.

The stupid thing about depression is that although one can get depressed due to major bad news (redundancy or losing someone close) in most cases one's circumstances are pretty well exactly the same as before getting depressed and remain the same when one recovers.

The only consolation I can give apart from my sympathy is that you are far from alone , depression is a growing problem, especially among the young. There is a great deal of money being spent internationally on solving the problem and well before you are 30 I believe they will have the problem solved. That may sound a long time to you but spare a thought for we oldies who have suffered depression for decades and are maybe going to be too old for this help.

In the meantime use your GP to get support (we all need it with depression) and tell yourself that if all those old guys survived it you can too. I do hope it ends soon for you and again until then use this forum for advice and support.

Olderal

[Johanna123]

Call a friend or really anybody and go for a walk.