How Do I Know If I Have Depression? Can Someone Help Me?

Question

I am a 16 year old female and i'm having a hard time. My parents are split and i'm currently living with my mum and hardly see my father who lives in the same small town as me.

I am very self concous of my wieght and i find myself being very up and down about it (feeling happy with my body one look in the mirror and not at the next glace). I have never really been happy with the way i look and i it had effected my life a lot and prevented me from doing things i've wanted to do.

My uncle recently just passed away and I felt huge amount of emotional strain due to family dispute over his body and so forth. Before the death of my uncle, my mother suffred from a spontaneous phuemothorax (a colapsed lung) and she was hospitalized for 2 weeks. I have never really slept well and whilst mum was sick I obtained evan less sleep and got really run down. My mum has just now had 2 reoccuring phunomothorax's and had been sent to christchurch for multiple surgeries to try and fix the problem. Thoughout this whole ordeal i have lost huge amounts of sleep and have found that I am now suffering from issomia.

I constantly find it hard to motivate myself, before i was extremly active, and i am finding it hard to see any reasons for me to contiue trying to make something of myself. I contiuely think of taking my own life but have eliminated that as an option due to my family and the strain that would put on them.

I would love to share my feelings with my mum but I fear she would think I am doing this for attention and she dosn't need this extra strain. I feel asthough this hole i am in keeps getting deeper and deeper and i am now willing to ask for help. If your interested in the other half of my story and want to help, please do.

Thank You

Answer 1

if below a level you are depressed ,

Answer 2

Wow, this sounds really serious.  Am not a professional but could you not find any outside help where you live? Maybe counselling as you have been through a lot at such a young age.  Good luck.

Answer 3

Sweetie, this is a serious situation that you are dealing with right now, and you have so many triggers that are pushing you further and further towards depression.

Seeing a professional does cost money, and worrying about what your mother thinks about you is scary, but this is a real case of worry and anxiety - even to us people who have never met you - and money and fear of judgment shouldn't come in the way of you getting better.

Seriously if you tell your mother what is going on, and ask for help, you may be surprised by just how much she does care and doesn't think you are just looking for attention.

There's something to this, because you are changing so dramatically and your lifestyle and thoughts are altering and you are becoming less "you", which is ultimately the most obvious sign of mental illness or depression.

I'm not a psychiatrist or a medical practitioner, so I can't diagnose you with any kind of illness, but if you want to talk, just email me from my profile page.

cheers.

Answer 4

There is a depression test in section 2, at http://www.ezy-build.net.nz/~shaneris If positive, see Page R, young women's depression, teen depression, pages V & L, and the rest.  INSOMNIA: Exercise, but not within 2 hours of bedtime. Have a warm bath, or shower, an hour before bedtime, then a glass of very warm milk, possibly with Horlicks, or one of the herbal teas, below, and use dimmer lighting. Put your mind in a position where it wants to shut itself off, and sleep. See insomnia treatments, in much more detail than can be included here, in section 3, at ezy build, below. Use one of the relaxation methods, in bed, after lights out, on pages 2, 11, 2.c, or 2.i, but they can take some time to learn, (progressive muscular relaxation excepted) so learn and become proficient in their use during the day.

An alternative is to use the EFT, in section 53, and pages 2.q, and 2.o, saying to yourself: "Even though I currently have a sleep disorder, I deeply and completely accept myself." (or choose your own wording) while you use the acupressure tapping. Some more; quick, and easy to learn, are at http://www.umm.edu/sleep/relax_tech.htm The progressive muscle relaxation, (most easily learned) guided imagery, and mindfulness breathing are known to be effective.

Find out which works best for you, in the daylight hours, so you will be prepared, come bedtime. For many people, a good idea is to develop a set "wind down" routine for the last hour before bedtime, so your subconscious mind learns that it is time to put thinking aside, and prepare for mindfulness, (awareness, without cogitation/purposeful thought) or the EFT, in preparation for sleep, but the idea with mindfulness is to not even think about sleeping: just drift off, naturally, during exercising those techniques.

Avoid TV, computer, or anything exciting in this hour, although reading a BORING! book is a good idea. I suggest that you try using the EMDR variant, below, prior to the mindfulness, or the progressive muscular relaxation, but after the EFT, if that method is chosen. Experiment, to find which combination works best for you.

In section 3: INSOMNIA: PAGE O - INSOMNIA: A COMPREHENSIVE POST a variant of Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing therapy is shown, which has been used successfully for those people suffering from insomnia, depression, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and anxiety. It is easily learned, quick to use, yet can be very effective; although it is easy to be dismissive of such a seemingly unusual technique, give it a good tryout, for at least a few weeks, to see if it is effective in your case. I learned it from a book by a published clinical psychologist, and now use it every night, and find it works well.

Usually, I have a cup of chamomile herbal tea, an hour before bedtime, and employ many of the techniques in section 3. Others may prefer Sleepytime, by Celestial Seasonings, Relax, Be Sleepy, or valerian root, from supermarket tea, or health food aisles. Milk, or cream should not be used with herbal tea. Suicidal thoughts are addressed in section 5; use the resources there, or the NZ phone book, but such thoughts should diminish, with effective treatment, and eventually disappear. Also see section 56.  

Answer 5

there are alot of signs

-sadness

-lost interest in things you used to enjoy

-change in sleep patterns

-change in appetite

check out this link for more

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/a...