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Does anyone ever feel like nobody believes you're depressed because you seem happy?

MissAnthrope07
Community Member
I spoke to a mental health professional 2 weeks ago and the entire time I felt like he didn't believe me. I just sat there, mild-mannered, giving this stranger compendious details about my history and trauma and he probably didn't take me as seriously because I wasn't visibly broken up about it.  Sometimes I don't even believe myself. I regularly work out, eat clean, sleep well, socialise - I even tried those stupid joe rogan shorts about cutting coffee, avoiding social media, and taking ice-cold showers which are all supposedly good for your dopamine levels - so statistically I should be as happy as a crackhead by now, but instead I'm miserable. 
 
1 Reply 1

therising
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor

Hi MissAnthrope07

 

I feel for you so much as you suffer deeply in so many ways. Definitely not easy to convey the extent of our suffering to someone who has not experienced for themself the type of suffering we face and the multiple challenges that come with depression. The connection you feel with someone who gets it can be such a relief.

 

When it comes to conveying a sense of depression, I've found it depends on where I'm coming from. To elaborate, imagine there are many facets to you. One may be the analyst, another the feeler (that leads you to feel all you experience), another the sage, another could be that intolerant sense of self. Trigger the analyst in me and I'd analyse the depression I'm in, possibly give you good reasons for it and it will all be fairly unemotional 'matter of fact'. I'll appear logical. Channel the feeler in me and you'd be leading me to give a more soulful response as I feel  the heartbreaking aspects in my life. The sage may dictate 'I know this is a time of deep contemplation and transition yet I'm unable to find enlightenment within this darkness'. If you were to lead me to channel my intolerant sense of self, you'd most likely get a rage filled rant regarding how frustrated and angry I am with myself and the people around me. What some psyches don't realise is when they ask 'So, what brings you here?', they're triggering the analyst in you that appears as logical. Would make more sense to trigger parts of us that respond well to a sense of relief. Imagine an intro session where a psyche says 'Life can be s**t at times. Some challenges in life can be deeply depressing in a lot of mind altering ways. There'll be good reasons for why you feel the way you do and by the end of our sessions you will have come to know your self in ways that will blow your mind'. Imagine that! Validation and inspiration.

 

Btw, I've found different causes behind depression will call for different 'recipes'. With a depressing lack of inspiration for example, the ingredients may involve the right environment, the right person/people the right activity etc. With depressing low levels of B12, I need only 1 ingredient (a B12 shot). I think we can be working with all the right ingredients except 1 or 2 key ones. The question becomes 'What's missing?'.