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Feeling down and blue?

May 16, 2006 on 12:47 am | In Main, Depression |

This is a little ‘moral of the story’ story for you.  Some months ago, a good friend of mine started showing signs of being really unhappy. He was continuously feeling dissatisfied with life and generally felt very sad.  I watched him get progressively worse without realizing at first that he was going into Depression or even possibly already Depressed.   

I thought I was being a helpful friend but the more I tried to help and advise him the less he listened and the less confident he became in himself.  I became frustrated and started feeling that he was just seeking attention.  However, when he started talking about not wanting to go out (even to the shops), and not going to the gym (he loved working out) and not being confident enough to talk to people he did not know, I became a little suspicious.  

I asked him to describe to me what was happening to him and how he was feeling besides the obvious things I could see.  He started by telling me that he thought nobody liked him and he seemed to find himself complaining all the time about everything.  Nothing was right and he could not see the positive side of anything.  I could vouch for this because when I tried joke with him he immediately took it the wrong way.  He explained to me that he would be OK one minute and the next he would be feeling so low that he felt like crying.  He also said that during his low periods everything around him was a blur, a dark blur. 

He explained that he knew that there was no reason in the world for him to suddenly start feeling so low and sad.  It confused him because one minute he felt just fine and the next he was feeling rock bottom.  He also could not sleep properly and he became extremely Anxious when he started thinking of things he had to get done.  Everything he had to do started becoming really difficult to achieve and he felt that he just did not have the energy or the courage to do it.  He felt like a nervous wreck about stupidly small achievable things. 

That my dear friends is what the start of Depression can look like.  If you feel you are going through something similar or know of someone who is, maybe you should read up on Depression.  The worst part of Depression is that often people don’t recognize the illness until it has progressed to the point of needing medical help.    

Once I realized that my friend was in trouble, I immediately found a good counselor for him to talk to.  Although he did not take any medication, seeing the counselor was the start of his recovery from a potentially dangerous situation. He still sees the counselor and has discovered that there are a lot of issues he has been able to work through.  He is virtually back to normal although he still feels the need for ongoing Treatment at the moment.  

By Angela