I know the depression of which you speak. It's a pervasive sense of being alone and as Elsa said, "out of fuel." There's a dark cloud over me that I can't seem to shake. Everything that happens in life registers somewhere other than my brain. Getting things done at work takes a tremendous amount of mental energy. Spending time with family is just putting in time, rather than being enjoyable. At least, that's the way it is for me.

At present I'm working with my psychiatrist to raise my dose of mood stabilizer. This has worked in the past, but gave me some untenable side effects. We're trying another approach. I'm hopeful that it will work to lift the continuous low mood.