Oh this thread is crap. It’s Not SDMB material…
Request for moderators - Please delete this thread - At least edit that crap out of post #80
Thanks
OK, I’m going to come off as an asshole, but I don’t think what you described in your post is what’s causing your depression. To be sure, depression can be set off by a traumatic event- losing a loved one, being sexualy assaulted, things like that. And while everyone experiences grief or anxiety or sadness after events like that, there does come a point where “normal” grief becomes depression.
But what you talk about seem to be normal fights and disagreements with your family and friends. It’s typical for teenagers to have trouble relating to people, resolving conflicts, or dealing with significant others. In fact, I’d posit that if you didn’t experience the customary turbulent teens, there’s something very wrong with you.
But I don’t think those problems should be causing true depression, in the clinical sense. Insomnia or hypersomnia, feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness, etc. Certainly sadness and confusion, but not so much that it significantly affects your life for an extended period of time.
Since you say that family members have been diagnosed with mental illness, I would hazard a guess that you might be unlucky enough to have inherited a chemical imbalance which may account for your symptoms. This is assuming, of course, that you do experience these symptoms and you’re not just having trouble adjusting to the transition to adulthood.
But that’s exactly why a therapist would be helpful for you. A trained psychologist will do a very thorough intake evaluation and several initial sessions to get to know you and your problems, and they can make the diagnosis, if any. Then s/he can suggest appropriate treatments which may be anything from CBT to increased exercise to referral to a psychiatrist or anything in between.
We Dopers may be incredibly smart, sexy, and witty, but we’re no substitute for trained professionals.
mwelch1904, I’m sorry that you are hurting. At the beginning of this thread, you talked about confusion and asked if that had anything to do with depression. That got brushed aside somehow. Well, it has a lot to do with depression!
Sometimes reality does seem distorted and a little unreal when I am depressed. Sometimes I don’t feel sad so much as confused and frustrated and pissed off at myself for not being able to get it together. And I don’t even know what “it” is that I need to get together. Does this sound familiar?
I was first diagnosed with depression in 1962. Yep. That’s not a typo. That was 47 years ago. My opinion of myself for being “crazy” was very low for decades. I blamed myself and thought that I was just a weak person. I had several different psychiatrists and psychologists over the years and different kinds of medicines and therapies. Some were awful. A couple of doctors deserve to live forever with angels.
I was not able to control the depression and have any idea who I really am until the 1980s when a doctor put me on prozac. That was what made the big difference for me.
But I also had therapists who helped me to take a more objective look at my life and to learn how to make more emotionally intelligent decisions for myself. I currently keep in touch with a shrink a couple of times a year for monitoring of medicines only.
None of my emotionally intelligent decisions are reflected in anything I say at the SDMB.
However, a word about Sweet MJ. I wish that it were legal and as a former flower child, I have no objections to its use. It can be a temporary release from some depression. But like alcohol, it can be a depressant in the long term use. It sounds like it might be causing you some anxiety though. I don’t know. I’m not a doctor or a scientist.
When your leg is broken, your brain knows that you must take your leg to a doctor. When your lungs are punctured, your brain knows that you must take your lungs to a doctor. But what happens when your brain is the thing that is injured in some way? Does it always know to take itself to a doctor? No. It is confused and frightened and uncertain.
The part of the brain that controls depression is close to the part of the brain that affects judgment. That’s all.
There is nothing unmanly about seeking help for any injured part of your body. Mike Wallace of CBS News wrote an entire book about his nightmare with clinical depression. That was a really tough thing to do.
I wish you the courage you want. You can even go to an ER and ask for help if you get desperate. Tell someone who may help you.
I think you just diagnosed your own problems. 
The things you list aren’t serious enough to cause clinical depression. Maybe sadness, frustration, and a some trust issues, but not a mental illness.
If this is what’s you’ve been wrangling over for the past four years, dude, you’ve been wasting your life all for nothing.
I’m not saying your problems aren’t problems, but there are many depressed folks who have coped with much much worse. And not all the time with medication. The fact that you’ve had friends (3 friends is a lot, IMHO) and a girlfriend means you actually a normal, functioning human being. It seems like you’re a prime candidate for a lose dose of a drug with some follow-up therapy. We’re talking about something that could be fixed in a few weeks, and you won’t even go get help why? Because you’re a man? I hope that’s just the depression talking.
There are more men psychiatrists than women (IMHO). You should have no problem finding a manly man who will set you straight.