how do you know if you're depressed?

[ADDICTEDtosayingHAAAAAAAPYxmas]

is it one of those things if you're not really sure then you probably aren't?

I would say not - one of the hardest thing is recognising it.....if you feel that you may be then IME you prob are. I have suffered with it before and it was terrible. I now recognise the symtoms so it makes it easier for me.

www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles/article.aspx?articleId=127 this might clarify for you

I remember having a really "heavy" feeling in my chest/heart all the time and my arms ached and tingled. Plus I started getting paranoid about people not liking me and stuff like that. Oh and couldnt think about the future/couldnt be happy about anything to look forward to.
Why how are you feeling? whats going on in your life at the moment?

it affects people in different ways. I cried pretty much constantly...everything seemed like it was an impossible task. but i didnt think i was depressed, just "down" (18 and single mum with back so painful I couldnt do much for dd for first few months, failed miserably at breast feeding..etc - good reasons to feel down!)

Luckily I had great health visitor and supportive family around. I would say that you should speak to a professional if you are worried.

I had severe PND after DS1:
not wating to get out of bed
no interest in keeping the house up together
no interest in my own appearance
self harming
awful dreams
thinking irrational things about ds ie: putting a pillow over him. obv. i didnt do it but then harmed myself for thinking such things.
feeling tired all the time
eating crap 24/7
being constantly horrid to DH

I have also had non PN depression where it was allof the above except the things about DS.

Have had a few bevvies and have probo made myself out to be a loon and admitted too much, but hey-ho.

With me it was a mixture of recognising what I felt/how I was acting and listening to my DH and friends when I asked them what they thought of my behaviour.

Me;
I simply fell apart at the slightest thing and could not pull myself together.

I could not switch off my brain -especially at night.

I cleaned incessantly and the house felt unclean.

I couldn't go out -even to the shops was a mamouth task, I couldn;t answer the phone.

These are a few of my symptoms but yours may be totally different.

Think about yourself -has your behaviour changed lately? Do you have trouble sleeping? Does how you're feeling effect your work or day to day life? What does your partner/friends think?

here....do this. This will give you the answer.

Don't be shocked at the result, many people have borderline or mild depression and never realise it. If you have a higher score, panic not, your score can change very quickly.

If you ask your doctor they will ask you a series of similar questions, if you have therapy such as CBT you are monitored with a similar, more in-depth system to check your progress.

Not at all. I agree that if you suspect you are then you probably are. I have suffered from depression on and off since my teens and quite often I am in denial and it is my dp or a family member who tells me they think I am having a bad spell again.

Other times I just can't cope and practically beg for help and someone to talk to.

not wanting to get out of bed - yes. whenever my mum offers to take ds what do i do ... go to bed and try to sleep.
self harming - not done it but have thought od doing it
thinking irrational things about ds - have thought about throwing him down the stairs, and have thought about hitting/pinching him. would get his skin inbetween my fingers but not actually pinch him. have also thrown him on the bed cos i've wanted to hurt him but not really iyswim.
feeling tired all the time - yes
eating crap 24/7 - yes. try to not eat cos i want to lose weight and then if i get hungry eat a bag of crisps or something.
being fine one minute then horrid to everyone around me the next

btw - looking at that link it looks a bit strange without any real reference to who devised it. Just wanted to say it's not some silly internet self help thing made up by unqualified people.

David Burns is one of the worlds leading congnitive psychologists and the 'burns checklist' is used by mental health professionals as a standard.

Things ok, Nappyaddict? MSN me if you like.

Some of my symptoms ...

Not wanting to go out.

Not answering the phone.

Not keeping on top of normal everyday tasks, cleaning cooking etc

Tired all the time

Not wanting to get out of bed.

Loss of sex drive

Eating extremes, either comfort eating loads or not eating at all.

Tearful and when asked what's wrong I didn't know, nothing in particular. I just feel like I can't cope.

OH Addicted - can you talk to anyone about how you are feeling??

I took ad's and they helped to stabilise my mood. They do not make you 'happy' just flaten out your mood so you are able to tackle the real issues of why you are feeling like you are. Ad's should not be taken without any other therapy.

Counselling can be beneficial but I found psychology with cbt extremly helfpul.

I have a large exercise book in which I write my feelings/thoughts down when I am feeling anxious or desperate. This is especially helpful if I want my DH to know something but I feel I can't speak to him directly. It has helped him to understand a lot of my issues. I have dated the entries and have been pleased to see they are less frequent and have less desperation, anxiety but above all less anger as time has progressed. Telling my friends really helped as they then uderstood why I had been acting as I had and they were then able to give me space or understanding when I needed it most.

i did it. i got 20. but i sort of guessed the answers cos all i knew was yes or no but not whether it was moderate or severe or whatever.

I've had one bout of really severe depression (have diagnosis of bipolar disorder) and a few milder ones and was always the last person to know

it didn't occur to me to go to the GP or anything and it just got so bad I was hospitalised, still oblivious that anything was wrong with ME

thinking back to my symptoms . . . my mouth felt like it was full of ink, everything tasted sort of metallic and eventually lost my appetite totally and even water was difficult to swallow, it felt very frightening to go outside/interact with anyone because everything seemed hostile and dangerous, I had an unearthly sort of fatigue that seemed to emanate from my very bones - never felt tiredness like it before or since - I couldn't wash my hair or eventually even the rest of me earlier on I remember struggling to get up and then crying because I couldn't remember how to make coffee it all seemed impossibly complicated, ditto refuelling the car and various other everyday chores - my mind would totally desert me and I felt as panicky and confused as if I'd been asked to perform some serious surgical procedure having only flicked through the family health encyclopaedia by way of medical training

I never thought of the word depression, not once, in relation to myself - I'm far too much of a 'doer' to get depressed, I'm too positive in my outlook and too active/enthusiastic about life. I wondered if I had some sort of hormonal imbalance at the beginning but the depression itself took hold before I investigated it and it feeds on itself, enlarging until my only thoughts are 'my life has no meaning or purpose, I don't deserve to live' and so on

it is very difficult to describe but I should have just agreed with the 'if you feel something is wrong then something is wrong' comment, you might not be clinically depressed but it's better to find out as it can be serious for some people if left untreated

so you're likely to be borderline mild / moderate. I agree the 'somewhat' and 'moderately' bit is a PITA. What would you want to do to get halp? Would you be happy talking to a doctor or other health professional about it or do you want to avoid that and just try self help (which can be a lot harder to do with the first bout of depression)?

i plucked up the courage to tell my friend and he just doesn't get it. he's probably going to ring ss

If he rings SS he clearly doesn't get it! What a shame you've had a bad response after plucking up the courage to tell someone. There are lots of people on here who understand though and there is a lot of help out there once you have the courage to find it (not easy I know).

I'm lucky, I have a direct line to my pshyc, I just phone him up and say 'Heeellpppppppppp' and he's there. I have no one else but him and MN to help but I know I'm lucky to have that much.

Ladyoftheholly - those were my symptoms to a 'T'. Also a complete lack of joy in my newborn DD2 and life in general. And i planned in detail how i would kill myself and my DDs. Thank god the cloud lifted before i did. DD1 would look at me and say 'make a happy face mama'. It was a nightmare, i'm so glad it's gone, i hope it never comes back. Once you've been there you never forget it tho, a little bit of it, or the memory of it, is always there.

Nappyaddict - get help from your GP please

ok scored 15 out of 15
new years eve and lots of laughter downstairs - oh shit

i don't think he will call ss. but his response was "shit ... i'm scared. is he safe?" which just made me feel worse. then "what do you want me to do" - i don't know i just needed to tell you. i don't want you to do anything!!

so do you think you are up to discussing it with a doctor?

no. too terrified they will take ds away. i'm no good at telling people how i feel. i would never have coped if i'd been alive before the internet was invented!

tomorrow i will think i was just being stupid and it was triggered cos of the fact i didn't go out tonight ignore it and then something else will trigger it off in a few weeks.

They won't take your DS away

MN is great therapy I think it's the only social life I have atm .

Keep talking it's just about the best therapy there is I reckon.