Are You Really Depressed?

Be Careful What You Label Yourself As

We use the term ‘depressed’ a lot don’t we. It seems that some days there is always someone around who is a bit down. Some days we are up, some days we are down. We are all like that, that’s what makes us individuals. We are a product of our society and the stresses of that can make things feel too much sometimes. But does that mean that we are a ‘bit depressed’ or are we just feeling low?

Naming something ‘depressed’ makes it sound serious. But is there really a place for using the word ‘depressed’ so much? Well, a close friend of mine is quite passionate about this. She feels that the word ‘depressed’ is well over used and it should only be used at a time when someone we know is clinically depressed.

The difference is, when we talk about people we know as being a bit depressed it is meant to mean they are down about something, feeling low, run down.

When a psychologist describes someone as being depressed they mean they are clinically depressed which is a very different thing.

I think it is important to talk about this for a couple of reasons. Firstly, depression as part of the feeling of a midlife crisis is about feeling low rather than being clinically depressed. So here at DiscoverAid we aren’t talking about clinical depression, just the conflict of feelings and the experiences that midlife present to you that affect your mood over a long period of time. So if you feel depressed, or others tell you that you are depressed, perhaps you need to not make things worse for yourself until you have seen your counselor or doctor.

Secondly, by understanding that you in fact may not be clinically depressed, just feeling very down about something or things that are challenging you, you may be in a better frame of mind to work on your recovery. Clinical depression will need the support of your doctor and others. Feeling depressed is something that you can help yourself with by looking at good sources of help online (such as here at DiscoverAid) as well as take some quality time out to meet regularly with a counsellor to work through what is making you feel this way and what can you do to recover from feeling so down.

Lastly, I wanted to say something as a way of introduction about Adjustment Disorder. I was advised to make mention to Adjustment Disorder as something that in some cases is actually what people are feeling when they think they are depressed.

Let me ask you this. You are here because of the topics around depression and midlife crisis perhaps. Perhaps you are trying to understand it and work out what can be done, or find others who have had the same experience. Let me ask you if you have, as part of your current situation felt at least one of the following:

Feeling tearful, sad and/or hopeless,

Feeling anxious, nervous, fearful or worried,

Feel like breaking rules such as getting drunk and driving, violating the rights of others,

Feel like withdrawing socially and isolate yourself.

Things that trigger a midlife crisis will trigger an Adjustment Disorder, perhaps that behavior you are feeling today that might sound like it should be called a midlife crisis is in fact an Adjustment Disorders.

You see, an Adjustment Disorder is triggered by things such as a loss of a partner, the loss of a job, having a financial change that causes a number of things to change in your life like moving to a new house for example. They all create the need to adjust to a new lifestyle or setup that maybe too much for you at this time of your life.

Other things that may trigger an Adjustment Disorder may look from the outside to be a minor thing, but for you, it may be significant. For example, I recall finding out an old band I used to play in had spent the last 17 years very successfully creating albums and film music. The significance for me was that I had chosen through my own lack of confidence and self-esteem to walk away from the band and music for quite a time. Had I been more confident or had good support my life would have been significantly different and I would have followed a dream rather than play things safe. I can never change that choice so many years ago. Little did I realize how much of a change to my life it might have had. This is a good example of something that happened to a person that made things around them look very different. I spent hours looking at my life and myself in a completely different way. In fact, everything else was the same, but I had changed, my life had changed considerably.

Pretty much from then on I was on a mission to try to not make the same mistake again, which was a good outcome. However before I got to this I went through a number of months of feeling tearful, sad and feeling like I wanted to just get drunk every night. My self-esteem went right down again, but this time I worked a way out and my dream to make music again and even make some money from it became a goal that I have now achieved.

So, are you really depressed? And if you aren’t, are you suffering from an Adjustment Disorder? This article is meant to only be a taster. The best way for you to move ahead in most cases with anything that feels like a midlife crisis is to meet regularly with a counselor to work things through.

Have you got any advice you would like to share about your situation? Post them here.

Guy

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Filed under: Depression, Self-Esteem & Anxiety

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