friends not there when I need it most

I feel I can not talk about having depression with my closest friends. Their negative reaction to the topic any time that I bring it up hurts almost as much as the depression. It's hard for me to believe that two ppl soo close to me would ignore something that has such a large impact on my life. All I want for them is to build me up a little when I'm feeling so low. That is the time I need my friends the most. Have any of you ran into this obstacle? I feel that they think I am being over dramatic or that I want a pity. How do you talk to your friends and family about it?

Hello, nellbells. I stopped trying. To have family members tell me to get over it or imply I am lazy is difficult. They do not understand depression. Nonetheless, I am thankful they do not have to deal with it.

Perhaps joining a support group would help. Good luck.

it seems that i've run into this myself, with my depression and my social anxiety. they don't understand me not wanting to be around them and other people after dealing with the public five days a week. Hang in there, you have us here at PC.

i have run into the same problem to and am unable to tell them as they dont take things slowly. so i no how u are feeling

Me too, I've given up trying. I only talk about it on PC or with my T. Its sad

For some reason I don't understand, mental health issues make people intensely uncomfortable. People would rather talk about any number of gruesome illnesses than to spend five minutes trying to relate to someone with a mental illness. The same goes for getting any empathy; most people are ultra kind and empathetic towards someone they know has a bad physical illness, but if you are suffering from something as debilitating as depression or bipolar, you really cannot expect the same level of caring.

Yep, my folks will walk you through all sorts of major surgery at the dinner table but take up depression and either they don't want to know or my mom comes up with all sorts of "perfect " advice on how to handle it. Sigh. There's a reason why they license therapists, you know. My dad is better, but he has his own trials... Huggs.

perpetuallysad and lonegael are both right -- a lot of people just don't seem to see depression as something debilitating (as ps put very well). I think it's evident how a person feels about it based on how they use the term. I think there's a difference between being depressed and having depression.

Being depressed, which is the phrase more people use because it's not as serious, is just basically being in a foul mood. Having depression is actually a medical condition, a chemical imbalance in your brain which could've been caused by many things.

This is exactly why I'm afraid of telling my parents about it. It's not that I feel like they won't understand it, but I feel like they'll brush it off as something less serious. Maybe mine is only mild depression, but I dunno how much respect I'd get. We both need to hang in there, we'll come out of the darkness and into the light soon.

I'm in a similar predicament as well. I have no one to talk to about my depression either. The only person I told everything to is gone. Maybe for the best though, cause she didn't try to understand it and also thought it was a tactic to catch a sympathy vote. I don't know why I bothered talking to her previously in the first place as she was hallow on the inside to acknowledge my degree of sadness and merely brushed it off as my fault, my problem. Like Byzantine, I've given up on trying or 'letting people in'. Lead me to no where and no one.

However--PC is a good place to be when you need advice, help, support or just to vent.