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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 10 of 10. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Shy_Girl on March 10, 2005, at 21:58:04
Hello all,
Been feeling down...for seemingly no reason. Sorry, don't have much confidence in posting...don't want to sound stupid. How does everyone deal with feeling down? How is this board able to maintain a certain level of functionality when participants are not always in the best of moods??? What does everyone think of Dr. Bob's theory of the 'critical mass' concept??
I cannot tell whether or not there is actually something wrong with me...perhaps it is simply a type of prolonged adolescent angst phase or something. I'm a little slow to mature.
thanks for reading
Posted by PhoenixGirl on March 11, 2005, at 0:56:05
In reply to What to do when feeling down?, posted by Shy_Girl on March 10, 2005, at 21:58:04
Hi there Shy_Girl. Well, I wanted to say that there's no such thing as stupid posts. Anything you want to post is ok.
What to do when feeling down is a wide topic, but one thing I do is watch comedy. You can have funny movies or tv shows on tape, and have them on hand when you start feeling sad.
Posted by 10derHeart on March 11, 2005, at 1:22:09
In reply to What to do when feeling down?, posted by Shy_Girl on March 10, 2005, at 21:58:04
Hi Shy Girl,
Believe me, if we tried to apply some standard about feeling or sounding "stupid", these boards might soon be very lonely! Like Phoenix Girl said, no posts are stupid. We are all different, yet many of us have shared experiences and feelings, too. So it works out rather well, and I doubt anyone is reading looking for "stupid." Please just be yourself :-)
Your post is similar to one I posted on the Psych board a couple weeks ago. Depression seemed to hit for no reason, but much later I did figure out the roots of it. When you feel down, do you feel lonely? Want to be around people more? If that's possible, you could call someone, or post as much as you want here. Maybe even just go out where there are people. Movies, stores....? I think it depends what makes each of us feel a little better. You really have to try things out. Sometimes, I can't stand to see other humans, I'm feeling so numb and disconnected. It even hurts to smile. Then, I usually have to cry and go to sleep. Other times, it's a great distraction to go out, smile at people's kids and just interact with the public. But I'm an extrovert by nature, so that might not be a good plan for different personalities.
That may all sound dumb, but it seems like we must almost force a tiny change in behavior to hopefully bring about a change in mood. I hope you feel better soon.
What have you already tried doing when you feel down?
Posted by Impermanence on March 11, 2005, at 1:41:36
In reply to What to do when feeling down?, posted by Shy_Girl on March 10, 2005, at 21:58:04
There's no such thing a stupid posts here, we feel how we feel and this place is the best place to share it.
Hang in there Shy Girl, moods come and go. Remember, you are not depressed, depression is in you right now but will pass. Think of it like a cloud in the sky, a big dark cloud thats moving by your house. It always passes eventually. What you suffer from is nothing more than excessive amounts of stress hormones coming from your adrenal glands in your kidneys. Adrenaline which is the cause of your anxiety and Cortisol which brings moods of depression and hopelessness. I think it helps to have a scientific understanding of your condition, then it doesent seem so bad. It's just hormonal imbalances and reduced availability of neurotransmitters like Serotonin, Dopamine, Norepinephrine, GABA and acetylcholine. Adrenaline is very useful, it causes that fight or flight response in dangerous situations. We know why we evolved with this hormone. But Cortisol, it's a nasty one, my understanding is this hormone would have been useful when parents had to hunt, build and protect and leave the babies alone for long peroids of time. When the baby was worn out crying cortisol would do it's job and the baby would accept defeat and stay depressed and "quite" therefore would be less at risk of being eaten by predators. I can't see much other use for cortisol. Unfourtunatly your thought pattern is causing an unnessesery release of these hormones, there is plenty of things you can do to try and control this. Healty diet with lots of water and fruit, exercise (lots of it if you can or even just an hours walk a day), meditation, medication, active social life (joining clubs ect) and cognitive behavior therapy to learn how to change the way you think in situations.
You must understand that chemical imbalance actually stems from our own thoughts and actions. Example; you found out you won the lotto = elation. A loved one died = sadness. You sliped and nearly fell off a cliff = rush of adrenaline. So the same must be said for sitting at home feeling depressed and hopeless, it just takes an understanding of the process in action in your body and the things you can do to change this over time. The help is out there; doctors, caring souls, gurus, books, drugs, foods, gims whatever, just see the big picture. You don't have to live this way and you will feel better. I like to think of my brain like a computer hard drive. A few unorginized files in there and maybe some spyware and I'm disconnected from the web. But with a programme installed to help my hard drive understand the problems and clean up the mess, a new processer and a wi fi conection, I'd be running great lol. So what I'm saying is there is hope for you hunny. You're not alone, I think it's 1 in 5 of us suffer from depression at some time in our lives. Millions of us feel just like you do right now, some a thousand times worse!!! So you're part of a community of suffering, weather or not thats more comforting I don't know, just know I and many others here are thinking about you and understanding how you're feeling.
Is the glass half full or half empty? Thats up to you, practise and training will help change how you see the glass. When it's half full you don't feel bad!!!
XXX
A wonderful book you must read:
Posted by kid47 on March 11, 2005, at 9:35:24
In reply to Re: What to do when feeling down? » Shy_Girl, posted by Impermanence on March 11, 2005, at 1:41:36
Posted by Shy_Girl on March 11, 2005, at 10:52:11
In reply to Re: What to do when feeling down? » Shy_Girl, posted by Impermanence on March 11, 2005, at 1:41:36
> Adrenaline which is the cause of your anxiety and Cortisol which brings moods of depression and hopelessness. I think it helps to have a scientific understanding of your condition, then it doesent seem so bad.
Hmmm...I think there may be something to the cortisol thing. I just realized that I was a little depressed yesterday, but then I had a little accident with the toaster oven, whereby I started a small (abeit extremely scary) fire. That fear reaction probably pushed my depression along futher.
Also, sometimes there is a sort of mis-attribution of the physical and emotional connection. I realize that sometimes when my heart pounds for one reason (like after exercise), and if I percieve a potentially anxiety provoking situation (like talking to a stranger), the panic reaction I may have is not wholly due to the anxiety itself...and that I have falsely magnified my sense of fear because I thought my heart was pounding because of the feared social interaction.
>... But Cortisol, it's a nasty one, my understanding is this hormone would have been useful when parents had to hunt, build and protect and leave the babies alone for long peroids of time. When the baby was worn out crying cortisol would do it's job and the baby would accept defeat and stay depressed and "quite" therefore would be less at risk of being eaten by predators. I can't see much other use for cortisol.
I've read similar reasons about the evolution of depressive and anxiety states. There is a facinating article somewhere that talks about why social anxiety is important for social structure. Don't remember where that article is.
>
> You must understand that chemical imbalance actually stems from our own thoughts and actions. Example; you found out you won the lotto = elation. A loved one died = sadness.I find that I'm almost always cheered up when I go to class (because what I'm learning is facinating and I forget about being depressed). Unfortunately I have dropped my classes. Studying also cheers me up, but it takes a lot of energy and motivation to overcome my inertia and not wanting to move. Sometimes it is hard even to get up and go to the bathroom...it's like I'm almost paralyzed. Going outside of the house and moving seems to help...looking at the cute hamsters and guinea pigs at the pet stores is fun. I think I will do that today : )
> A wonderful book you must read:
>
> "Awareness - Anthony De Mello"I may even go to the library to check that out. Thanks : )
Posted by alexandra_k on March 12, 2005, at 19:54:29
In reply to Re: What to do when feeling down? » Impermanence, posted by Shy_Girl on March 11, 2005, at 10:52:11
When I wasn't enrolled in classes I would gatecrash lectures. You have to pick the class a little carefully (don't go turning up to labs or tuts or practicals) but you can go to any old lecture you like. Especially ones with bigger classes you just kind of blend in with the crowd. Something to do, something to think about, a good way of learning about stuff you never thought of taking properly. I have done a bit of biology and linguistics and sociology and psychology like that...
Posted by alexandra_k on March 12, 2005, at 19:56:40
In reply to Re: What to do when feeling down? » Shy_Girl, posted by alexandra_k on March 12, 2005, at 19:54:29
I would get a copy of the timetable to get to a particular class that sounded interesting. But sometimes you can take pot luck. Just kind of follow a bunch of people into their lecture theatre and take your chances. Bugger when it turns out to be a test though :-(
You just have to mumble something about 'wrong class - sorry' on your way out.
Posted by Shy_Girl on March 12, 2005, at 20:31:39
In reply to Re: What to do when feeling down?, posted by alexandra_k on March 12, 2005, at 19:56:40
Hmmm...I think it would be fun to crash into some classes. Find out what other subjects are like. I keep thinking that I should do something more productive though, like find a job. I'm not sure I can handle it right now though. Also, I'm doing something bad...I'm lying to my parents. I pretend to go to school everyday because I don't want them to worry about how badly I feel. I've already put them though so much. Usually I just keep riding the bus and think about things until my supposed "class" ends.
Thank-you all for the suggestions
Hopefully I can become productive once again soon. It's more difficult to deal with things when a major coping mechanism is gone (like the idea of suicide).
Posted by alexandra_k on March 12, 2005, at 22:54:34
In reply to Re: What to do when feeling down?, posted by Shy_Girl on March 12, 2005, at 20:31:39
> I keep thinking that I should do something more productive though, like find a job.
Have you thought of checking out the uni library? That can be quite fun :-)
>It's more difficult to deal with things when a major coping mechanism is gone (like the idea of suicide).
Yup. That is kind of when the hard work begins. (In terms of how to live a life that is acceptable to you with nice things in it). A part time job might be a good idea. Something stimulating but something with only a few hours so it doesn't get overwhelming.
Sounds like you are doing pretty well.
:-)
This is the end of the thread.
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