[Tryingtobehappy5]

Can you be depressed and still have times when you are genuinely happy?

I just took a few depression quizes and they all say I am severely depressed. Lack of interest, no motivation, disturbed sleep, agitated, trouble concentrating, lack of hope, guilt etc.

But there are times when I truly feel happy too and I am not used to that. My T said I seem to have a lot of rules for myself when I told her I couldnt be depressed because sometimes I am happy. But today I was off work again after 6 days of being busy and did nothing but lay in bed pretty much with no interest in doing anything at all so now I am thinking maybe I actually am depressed.

I feel confused. My plan was to maybe get an AP injection and take antidepressants when I am depressed but now I dont even know if I can tell when I am depressed.

[Victoria'smom]

Yes you can be "happy" or laugh and still be depressed..

[*Beth*]

You can definitely be depressed, but still happy. Also, what about mixed state?

[Tryingtobehappy5]

Maybe I am mixed, I dont know. Im very confused about how I am doing. Alcohol is not helping matters but I ran out before my few hours of sleep. Right now its 4am and I am up and hyper and chatty. Also I have a lot of anxiety which fits mixed more than depressed for me. I would rather be depressed than mixed though. Mixed ends badly and depressed eventually just goes away. I need to talk to the pdoc.

[*Beth*]

Throw alcohol into the mix and things get very confusing. I'm not judging. I'm just putting 2+2 together and coming up with 4.

[sarahsweets]

Originally Posted by Tryingtobehappy5

Maybe I am mixed, I dont know. Im very confused about how I am doing. Alcohol is not helping matters but I ran out before my few hours of sleep. Right now its 4am and I am up and hyper and chatty. Also I have a lot of anxiety which fits mixed more than depressed for me. I would rather be depressed than mixed though. Mixed ends badly and depressed eventually just goes away. I need to talk to the pdoc.

Do you think you have an alcohol problem? Are you on any medication?

[Gabyunbound]

I think that you most definitely can be depressed and also occasionally happy. Conversely, you can be happy and occasionally depressed. And let's not forget that throughout a given day, or over the course of a couple days, it's perfectly normal to be up and down, especially if it's not extreme. And I think all of this can happen without being Mixed.

I think it could be that after many straight days of busy work, having a day off, you ended up ruminating with all of that free time. Keeping yourself busy when not working may help. Keep in mind that online diagnosis quizzes are notoriously inaccurate, I think especially because they diagnose in black and white when there are so many grays that these quizzes cannot capture.

Also, as others have mentioned, alcohol can send your mood all over the place. Maybe it makes you temporarily down, or temporarily up, and maybe the next day you're hungover and/or feel badly about yourself, which is going to make you come down.

Certainly if you're concerned, I would contact your pdoc, but I think this might be a job more for a T to help you figure out the causes -and solutions for- when you feel down and when you feel up or ok.

It's complicated and I really hope you're able to figure it out and, most of all, feel better.

[Tryingtobehappy5]

I definitely have an alcohol problem, I am planning to go to AA tonight. I told myself I would quit when I ran out of alcohol this time and now I have.

I had more days off before and spent all of those laying around too. I was definitely depressed over the past 3 weeks most of the time but being so busy masked it I guess. I dont think i am mixed I think I am just experiencing depression differently than I usually do.

When the depression started I went off my meds. Bad idea I know and once I go off I find it almost impossible to go back on. I almost always end up IP. Then I started drinking to deal with how horrible I felt off meds.

I called the pdoc today, waiting to hear from him, the receptionist just took my number. I am going to ask for the abilify injection and maybe talking to him will convince me to take my other meds I just dont see much of a point when I got so depressed even while taking them. At least the abilify I truly noticed an improvement with no manic episodes while on it.

I see my T tomorrow, I have been seeing her weekly since the depression started. Usually its every 2-4 weeks. I am just not doing well with putting what we talk about into practice and feeling like a total waste of everyones time right now.

Thank you all for caring

[*Beth*]

Going to an AA meeting is a terrific idea! I hope it's helpful for you.