Struggling with depression - despite a great life

[Mitch43]

Hi all,

Just thought I would engage the community for a bit of support if not just to get some negative thoughts off my chest.

I've unfortunately taken a backwards step in my battle with depression. I'm having a particularly difficult time despite so much support and great things in my life.

Full disclosure; I should be happy. My life has been objectively getting better and some unfortunate past events (abuse as a child) are well and truly behind me.

It's scary, this "episode" because everything is so much better now yet I feel so awful. I can't sleep. I starve then over eat. I'm losing concentration in university and work (two opportunities I'm very grateful for) and I feel more and more like a burden. Not to mentiom physically I feel weak and often restless/anxious.

I've sought help and I'm receiving it, friends and family doing a great job. Medication forthcoming will hopefully help.

I guess what I want from this thread is, how do you deal with depression when everything is right? Why does this happen? How do you turn that positive energy around you into an internal motivator?

thank you so much for reading my post. Just in writting it my mood has shifted in a positive way. I hope this message finds you all well and that we all get through this. Thanks beyondblue for making this forum. It's been very helpful!

cheers

[geoff]

Hi Mitch, a warm welcome to you.

People may have everything they want in life, a good home, marriage is great, an excellent job and friends who are always a great support, so why would we feel depressed.

Well, unfortunately, depression or even a relapse is like a semi-trailer gaining momentum coming down a hill and cobbling you up, there is no way you can get out of its way, it swallows you and then closes its doors, that's how powerful it is.

Even a healthy person who has to move residence can have a relapse, it's happened to me several times, it's disturbing our balance, a fear of failure, loss of fulfilment, inadequate, trouble in overcoming obstacles and then having a setback, it could even be something small that has irritated you.

Try doing everything possible to achieve any goals you have decided to change, and consider the different directions you can go in life, or you could continue your life as it is now, but make changes, so take a slower route to change.

Be dedicated to your decision so that you have the motivation you need to change these goals, talk with your supporters as well as your doctor and if they recommend seeing a psychologist would be a great idea.

It's really good that you have been able to vent and hope to hear back from you.

Geoff.

[Mitch43]

Hey Geoff thanks for the response!

I think you're spot on, in that I may need to reassess certain goals and seeing a psychologist is something I really should look into.

Thanks mate

Mitch.

[Allan533]

I'm certainly familiar with this line of thinking!

One way of thinking about it I've found helpful is this: let's say we have two people, A and B. A has one leg, and B has no legs. Now, we'd normally say that A is luckier/better off than B, and there's certainly grounds for that assessment. But does that mean that A isn't "allowed" to be annoyed/upset at the struggles they face because B has no legs? Useless proverbs aside, of course not! They have a missing leg!

Depression/anxiety is kind of the same thing. Yes, some of us, from an outside perspective, are very lucky. I know I am. But that doesn't mean that we don't have legitimate struggles - our brains, for whatever reason, are jerks. They literally are malfunctioning, like a person with epilepsy or migraines or dementia. We don't have a choice over that. If you were a billionaire and had dementia, it'd progress the same regardless of your wealth (medical care etc aside, of course). Look at Robin Williams - rich, beloved, on paper really lucky. But he still struggled with depression his whole life, and it eventually killed him.

Yes, be grateful for what you have, of course, that's a really good mindset to cultivate! But don't beat yourself up, or devalue your experience.