hmm i don't think being a psych nurse qualifies you to diagnose someone from their public persona as 'extremely narcissistic'.
ruby well done for raising awareness about mental health issues and trying to combat stigma. my questions is - would you like to explain why you feel you want to raise awareness in this area and maybe defend yourself against the accusation of being an extreme narcissist on a self publicising mission? i don't believe that to be the case by the way in case my sarcasm wasn't dripping through the keyboard effectively enough.
i found an online forum extremely helpful at one stage when i was very ill. it was good to have a community of people that i could talk to and share with at a really difficult point and as it was international there was usually someone around even in the middle of the night. i still keep in touch with several of the women i met on there though my life has moved on a lot now.
i've tried pretty much every trick in the book when it comes to depression as i've had bouts of it since i was in my mid teens. i don't have a one size fits all people or all stages of depression - it really is, for me, a case of learning lots of strategies and being flexible and keeping trying.
sometimes the best thing you can do with depression at the point you're at is go with it, let yourself have a week of sleep and withdrawal and bleurgh and not kick yourself for it or for not doing x, y or z or even letting shoulds enter the picture. for me it's kind of like letting myself stop fighting the impossible and exhausting myself trying to walk through quicksand anymore and to finally just rest in it gives me the chance to come back to life at the other end.
at others times you feel the worm turn, some little spark of energy or oompf and you have to grab it - it's time to get out there and for me that means literally outside, in the countryside walking and looking at the sky and encouraging that feeling of connection back into my soul.
then obviously there are the meds, the excercise, the trying not to isolate etc etc etc but really i think for me the trick is in grabbing those chinks of light - the spark of energy, the sudden out of the darkness feeling that you might like to have a bath or tidy up a bit or.... whatever. a little chink in the wall of depression is felt and the trick is recognising those chinks and exploiting them and not letting them slip away unheeded. then before i know it i'm on my way again and getting back on form.
i guess because it's recurrent and all a bit constant i see it differently from someone who has a one off bad bout of depression and has to combat and overcome and then be 'normal' again. it's a bit of a different journey.
sorry, long waffle.