There comes a time in your life when you just have to say, “ENOUGH!” There IS something wrong with me. Life isn’t meant to be this dismal… is it? Perpetual sadness, prolonged fatigue, joint pain, headaches, muscle ache, lack of motivation, lack of decision-making ability, lack of focus, indifference, being antisocial, moody, emotional, guilty, having low self-worth, thoughts of suicide, planning suicide… all symptoms of depression.

Parents want the best for their children. So, it’s a sad and guilt-ridden moment indeed, when you realize that you have passed mental illness on to one or more of your children.

Depression, and mental illness in general, has gotten a lot of attention in the last few years. The internet and social media abound with knowledge and support for the myriad disorders from which we suffer. The same could not be said twelve years ago when I received my first official diagnosis for my depression.

Despite my own depression and experiences with anxiety and panic over the years, my knowledge of bipolar disorder was very limited. I knew about bipolar disorder and knew about the mood severities associated with it. But, it wasn’t until two years ago, when Catherine Zeta-Jones came out to the public about her battle with bipolar 2 that I even knew there was a bipolar TWO.

If the signs and symptoms of depression were detected early in a young person’s life, would it make a difference? (Symptoms of depression in teens and children) Teenage Depression or Normal Teenage Behavior? I was a moody teen… is there any other kind of teen? The sudden outbursts, melancholy and disinterest in teenagers is often attributed to or described as bad-tempered, sulky, hormonal, bitchy, dramatic. The list is endless. Regardless of gender, each teenager must survive his/her own brand of pubescent purgatory.

You walk into the counselor’s office to talk about your depression. Your symptoms include fatigue, poor concentration, decreased libido, moodiness, sleep disturbance, appetite change, nervousness, disorganization, relationship conflict, irritability, poor work performance, withdrawal from others. Yep, your counselor agrees, you have symptoms of depression. The next step should be to figure out WHY you have these symptoms of depression.

"I don’t need help! I don’t need antidepressant medications. I don’t need counseling. I just need more will power.” It is a myth that people can relieve their depression by just trying harder to “get over it”. Yes, negative thinking can make it worse and positive thinking can help. And yes, it is “normal” to get depressed sometimes. So what is the difference between a normal reaction to something and having depression that needs intervention?

That which doesn’t kill us only makes us stronger. We’ve all heard the cliché. That may ring true for some, but not for me. My depression has been raging these past few weeks, putting me through a hellacious test. Only it hasn’t made me stronger. It’s made me weaker. It’s made me tired. And it’s frustrated me to no end.

My mind is mushy and I’m exhausted. I just went through two hours of testing to determine whether or not I suffer from ADD in addition to depression and anxiety. It was miserable.