Anonymous asked this question on 5/12/2000:
How do I tell if I am depressed. For the last few years I've just been feeling blue. Nothing seems to interest me anymore. I started feeling this way after losing a family member a few years ago and can't seem to shake it. I tried counseling but without much sucess. It is difficult for me to feel comfortable opening up to people. How do I overcome this problem.
Imagika gave this response on 5/13/2000:
There's no sure-fire way to tell if you're depressed, but chances are if you think you're depressed, you are depressed. Losing a family member is always difficult. I actually think that losing so many family members in my lifetime contributed greatly to the onset of my depression. Therapy will only wor if you are willing to let it work. You have to have a comfort level with the person you're about ready to share all your pain with. I went through 12 therapists before I found one that I felt truly comfortable with - I tell her EVERYTHING! When I lost my grandmother in 1998 (my last grandparent... I lost my other three grandparents between ages 4 and 7 - one a year) I sunk into such a deepp state of depression. Her and I were extremly close. I missed her terribly, and part of my sadness was that I wouldn't have the opportunity to sit and talk with her for hours any more. What my therapist suggested was that I keep a journal (no, not the Dear Diary kind) where I write one page which is a letter to my grandmother telling her everything that I would want to say to her in a conversation and then one page as her response back to me. I'll be honest with you... the first letter, I cried for hours. It felt so painful. But as I kept with it for a week, I started feeeling better, I felt that my grandmother was really communicating with me through my purple pen. The emptiness that I felt began to drift away, and after two weeks, I no longer needed the jornal. Now I occassionally go to the cemetary (as opposed to every day!) and sit down near hear grave (which is next to my grandfather and uncle) and have a "talk" with all three of them. It's very cathartic. And though I still miss her and all of my other relatives that have passed, I can go about my "normal" day to day routine. You will never be "over it," but at least you can be "in control of it." Please let me know if there is anything else I can do for you ! Take care of yourself!!!!
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