am i depressed??

[escapologist]

i feel down all the time...i feel like a pest for ranting about this but id really appreciate your opinions as i dont know what to do. i cant remember the last time i was truly happy. maybe at about age 14?? (im 22 now) i try and pretend im happy all the time because i dont want to look like a failure, but at the moment life just feels a little bit pointless. i dont want to think that im depressed because i have no reason to be. nothing bads happened in my life, just the usual things that everyone has to deal with at some point! but i cry almost every day and i dont know why...sometimes wake up and the first thing i do is cry?? i dont know whats wrong with me. i feel like im being ungreatful because my lifes not terrible but i feel helpless.

[boxtops]

I can't agree with seadragon (although I do agree that it's helpful to take control of your life) but of course someone can be depressed in your twenties. I started suffering anxiety symptoms in my late teens, and clinical depression in my twenties and thirties - and the treatment for neither was so advanced all those years ago. There doesn't have to be a reason for being low and depressed, but your symptoms sound familiar. You do need to want to get better - you are far from helpless - you can take control again of one little bit at a time, and your first step should be to go to your doctor. You mightbe surprised at the number of people who feel like you, but just don't show it. You can be a happy person again - it might be a long hall, but one step at a time, it can be done. I know - I'm living proof of it, it took a while to bring myself out of it, with medical help, but it can be done. Take that step.

[roxie_09]

By the sounds of it you are displaying characteristics of depression. Doesn't necessarily mean you are depressed. I'd agree with the role
That have already offered their advice and see your GP, whether it's depression or not it's nothing to be ashamed of and your GP can offer advice and give help in the most appropriate way for you, whether it's anti-depressants or something else. Good luck and keep your chin up x

[Nummy]

Just because you ‘don’t have anything to be depressed about’, doesn’t mean you’re not depressed. There are many causes for depression, not just circumstances/life events.

I know from first-hand experience how annoying (albeit well meaning) being told to ‘cheer up’, ‘pull yourself together’ or ‘count your blessings’ when you can barely crawl out of bed on a morning, or when you sob your heart so long you have no tears left yet you don’t know what set you off.

There are many things you can do to help yourself feel better, many of them already mentioned above. But first go to your GP. Tell him how you are feeling. He will be able to help. Don’t be averse to taking tablets - there’s a chemical imbalance in your brain, and whilst there are things you can do that will help, tablets can give you the lift you need to move forward. Your GP can also signpost you to places that may be able to offer support. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Then there’s the other stuff - the stuff that, right now you really don’t feel like doing – but it will help. Exercise – a walk round the block or the shops, if that’s all you feel like doing, but it’s a start. If it’s sunny – bonus!!! Try and eat as healthily as possible. And make contact with your friends and family – even it’s a 5 minute phone call, or popping round for a cuppa – ask them what’s happening with them, take your mind of things. If you don’t feel like talking much, or you’re feeling particularly down, meet friends and go see a movie – very little talking involved, you’re out of the house and you can get lost in a film.

But most of all, don’t beat yourself up for feeling the way you do, even if you feel you have no reason to.

Big hugs and good luck

[escapologist]

i just dont have things going the way i want them to ... ive moved to a city where i dont know anyone, i dont have many friends anyway tbh. i dont have a job either, im trying but im terrified of putting myself out there and meeting new people coz im rubbish at it! im not happy with my appearance. i have alot of family but were not really close. ive wanted to go to the doctors for ages but i cant explain how im feeling without getting really upset and looking stupid. i just cant put my finger on whats getting me down, i just know im not happy.