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How to tell if you're depressed?
This could just be me being an angsty little teen...
It seems that I too often stop and think about life and see how pathetic mine's been. I love being happy, so whenever I am, I question whether or not I am really depressed.
The first time I've had thoughts of killing myself was when I was 10 years old (my sister actually found the diary that I wrote in about it, found her on a bench crying the next day at school, she never said anything about it to me)... And now I'm 17. But I don't want to kill myself, really. In the past I have cut myself... I don't do that anymore and have no desire to. But whenever I was asked "what's wrong?" I seemed to have no answer... I still don't know why I feel just so... Down all the time.
People in my life seem to think I am past that part of my life. But I still feel... Well, I can't really describe how it feels. I can be happy and laughing but there will always be a gloomy feeling over everything. I have things that I can be happy about, like my siblings, the few very close friends I have, my silly dogs, my dad and mom. I'm just not very happy with myself.
I can go on living feeling like this... Is it like this for everyone? But I just want to be happy, and motivated.
Also: sorry for such a long post. I haven't wrote down or spoke about how I feel in a very long time.
TL;DR How can I be happy?
Thank you for the answers... I am actually sitting here on the couch when I am supposed to be at school and my mom asks me "what's up? Something wrong?" And my immediate response is "nothing". I guess my question should have been "how can I talk about my feeling?" lol.
4 Answers
- Anonymous9 years agoFavorite Answer
Talk to someone. talk to your mum or dad, whoever you are close to. I swear that once you let someone know how your feeling, no matter how embarrassed you are, it will help. The person you told will help you figure out how to sort out your situation, rather than you just struggling on your own. A problem shared is a problem halved!
Remember, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. There is always going to be a way out. And no matter what you have heard about psychotherapists, they are TRAINED to help you come out of your depression. You do not have to feel like this all the time :)
Get well soon xxxx
(I just read through my answer and it doesn't actually tell you how you know if your depressed, like your question asks, but i hope that it still helps.)
Source(s): Personal experience - 9 years ago
Find something you can do that has a strong purpose. Like school or work. and focus on that. You're 17? That means this is probably your final year of highschool, right? That means it's your most important year. So get good grades keep focused on school. Anything that may be able to distract you. Also, talk to someone about how you're feeling. seems like your sister really cares about you, i'm sure she'd listen. Back to the main question though, are you depressed? well you'd have to ask yourself these questions...
Do you have difficulties sleeping? Are you overly stressed? (If you are overly stressed then i suggest you ignore what i said about school and work. instead, take a break from it for a bit) Are you losing the desire to do things you usually enjoy? Can you remember the last time you were truely happy? Are you finding yourself separated from your friends and family? Do you hide your feelings?
There are more questions than this. Just remember, everything will turn out okay, don't worry :) I was in the same position as you a few years ago when i was 15 and I have made it past the depression and am now a lot happier. I wish you luck
- 9 years ago
People who are depressed don't necessarily want to kill themselves. Depression is different for everyone. I'm depressed, there are times when I can smile but I still have that gloomy feeling too. I love to sleep and lay in bed, even if I'm not tired. Even if I get a 10 hour sleep, after school I just come home and go to bed. I could go over all my symptoms but I don't think you'd want to hear all about that. But if you've had that feeling for a long time, sleeping issues (sleeping too much or can't sleep), eating issues, drug or alcohol abuse, or anything like that, then yes there is a chance you might be depressed. You can lack other symptoms though, for example even though I sleep too much I can still eat somewhat normally every day.
If you're still having suicidal thoughts then it's really important that you talk to someone. Not like a shrink or anything, but maybe one of your parents, a good friend or a teacher. That isn't healthy thinking.
Regardless of what you think there are people who care and love you.
- 9 years ago
Well, how to be happy? that is the million dollar question! I don't know how you can be happy but what I know is that in today's world it is very difficult to be happy, actually 90% of people on earth are NOT happy but we don't go around cutting ourselves or think about killing ourselves.
Whenever you feel unhappy...just wave your fist at the world and shout "SO WHAT, I AM NOT ALONE IN THIS".
