Through most of my life, I've had some serious misconceptions about depression. I have long believed that depressed people were just irritating weak-willed whiners who needed a kick in the ass and to shake it off. So naturally, I got a nice dose of the irony of life and wound up with depression myself. The more I read about depression, the more I realize how long I've had it without knowing.
Actually, a big sign of depression isn't necessarily crying/sadness or a tendency to listen to emo rock at all. It can often be severe detachment and apathy. I know there's probably a lot of people out there saying "Duh!" right now, but that was news to me. Actually, three of the big symptoms are:
- Apathy/Detachment
- Lack of Motivation/Drive
- Forgetfulness
All of these, I've had in spades for some time. A lot of the reading says if these last for more than two weeks at a pop, you could be considered clinically depressed. Now that it's been pointed out to me, I think mine's been going on for about six to seven years. There may have been occasional dips before that, and it didn't get really bad until about three or so years ago, but six to seven seems about right.
So I went to the doctor today to see about getting my (legalized) "happy pills". While I consider it completely worth it in order to get my life back, based on the list of side effects, I'm likely to end up with hobbit hair on my feet and some sort of horrid excretive disorder from random body holes. Oh, and I have a slim chance (less than 5%) of spontaneous human combustion. I'll try to post some pics of the new feet next week if I'm not on fire.
Actually, a big sign of depression isn't necessarily crying/sadness or a tendency to listen to emo rock at all. It can often be severe detachment and apathy. I know there's probably a lot of people out there saying "Duh!" right now, but that was news to me. Actually, three of the big symptoms are:
- Apathy/Detachment
- Lack of Motivation/Drive
- Forgetfulness
All of these, I've had in spades for some time. A lot of the reading says if these last for more than two weeks at a pop, you could be considered clinically depressed. Now that it's been pointed out to me, I think mine's been going on for about six to seven years. There may have been occasional dips before that, and it didn't get really bad until about three or so years ago, but six to seven seems about right.
So I went to the doctor today to see about getting my (legalized) "happy pills". While I consider it completely worth it in order to get my life back, based on the list of side effects, I'm likely to end up with hobbit hair on my feet and some sort of horrid excretive disorder from random body holes. Oh, and I have a slim chance (less than 5%) of spontaneous human combustion. I'll try to post some pics of the new feet next week if I'm not on fire.
lol They seem to be working already. :) It's nice to see your goofball humor at work again.
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