[gracez]

Hi everyone,

Any advice? I've only experienced it once, back in the very beginning of my depression. I'm feeling worse and worse, almost as bad as I did 9 mos. ago and have once again had this reaction of not eating or barely eating. Since Monday all I've had each day is some oatmeal, which is next to nothing for me. I haven't gotten out of bed today, there seems no point in getting out of bed or eating. It doesn't make me feel better to eat, and I don't experience any pleasure so no food is enticing or pleasurable to me. I know that I "should" eat, but I'm fed up doing things because I "should", because none of them have made me feel any better.

Thank you!

Yes. Get some easy to prepare and eat food. Greek yoghurt is good. Fruit.
You may get fed up with forcing yourself to do things you don't want to do but there really isn't any alternative. Eating is a necessity. I don't usually get a big thrill out of eating but it's just something you have to do.
And staying in bed isn't going to make you feel better either although it may be enticing

[Nessa213]

Try to take some vitamin supplements to make up for the food you are not eating. Particularly, B Vitamins are especially useful for a little extra energy.

Good luck!

[thebelljar12]

Originally Posted by gracez

Hi everyone,

Any advice? I've only experienced it once, back in the very beginning of my depression. I'm feeling worse and worse, almost as bad as I did 9 mos. ago and have once again had this reaction of not eating or barely eating. Since Monday all I've had each day is some oatmeal, which is next to nothing for me. I haven't gotten out of bed today, there seems no point in getting out of bed or eating. It doesn't make me feel better to eat, and I don't experience any pleasure so no food is enticing or pleasurable to me. I know that I "should" eat, but I'm fed up doing things because I "should", because none of them have made me feel any better.

Thank you!

Although I've never experienced this, I do agree with everyone that even if its something little, you do need some nutrition. Even if its one of those carnation instant breakfasts or some other nutritional shake, sometimes its easier to drink than eat.

Hope you feel better. Even if you get a small chore done, it can make a world of a difference. <3

[H3rmit]

I wish I could come and cook something good for you. I love food and can cook a lot of different styles. When you're not depressed, what kinds do you enjoy?

I'd suggest take a trip to fantasyworld - dwell on the best memories you have. It can reset your sense of things a bit.

[hamster-bamster]

If you do not eat, then, among other things, you will become deficient in iron, and anemia is a separate physical cause of depression and a separate physical cause of that state when you cannot get out of bed, so not eating will eventually exacerbate the depression.

[gracez]

Hi everyone, thanks for the advice and also for the encouragement. I think it was helpful to have someone tell me to eat (you all!) I ate a few things, and finally got out of bed at 4pm. Actually staying in bed is the only thing that pacifies me, eventually. Being out of bed or doing a chore hasn't helped me feel better all this time. I also hate eating alone every meal, so H3rmit yes, I would've definitely welcomed your offer for good cooking. Thank you!

I know how you feel. Depression has stolen my appetite from me, and most days I just don't have any desire to eat. It makes me feel physically sick. But you've just got to make yourself. You know you have to eat. Like someone else said, it'll just exacerbate the depression eventually if you don't. Anyway you said you ate, so that's good. Hope you feel better.

[Love/Hate09]

Hi, yes i totally get your situation. My response to depression was always substance abuse and not eating. Even when i went through phases of not abusing substances it was always obvious when my MH wasn't right because i would stop eating.

Now i really don't think i have any sort of eating disorder, when i don't eat it's not because i want to inentionally starve myself, it's as straightforward as just not being hungry so i don't eat. The problem with that is the less you eat the more your stomach shrinks and so the less you feel inclined to eat. Often i'd go three days between meals, and even after three days i would only eat because i knew i needed to and not because i was hungry. So after three days i'd have something to eat and then think OK that's that sorted for another three days or there abouts. I continued doing this till i collapsed in the street, my legs simply wouldn't carry me anymore. So now i try and make sure i eat something everyday. I like fruit a lot so i tend to buy a lot of fruit, which is also good because you don't have to do anything with it and it's good for you. Also i find if i'm struggling to eat then getting something that is easy to eat is a good idea, for example, like a steak is pretty hard work, if you're not feeling like eating then a steak is going to be hard work. Often i'll buy soup because it's easy, just sort of slides down with minimal effort.

Your symptoms sound a lot like mine, if i don't have anything to do i just want to sleep for as long as possible. I don't care how long i sleep for, the longer the better. Sometimes just the thought of sleep makes me want to lie down and try and sleep again, i might have only been up for an hour but sleep seems like a far more favourable otion sometimes, total bliss, nothing to worry about, no-one to deal with, no-one to please, just total unconciousness.

Hope you feel better soon. Wish i could offer better advice.

[doyoutrustme]

Maybe you need your medication adjusted? I had that too and I don't think anything but medication gave me back the will to eat. (and boy did it!)

[gracez]

Thanks Love/Hate09 & doyoutrustme, helpful to hear what you think. I ate a few things yesterday afternoon, this thread really helped encourage me to do that, so I'm glad I asked my question. I don't have insurance, $ or access to services, so it's not that easy to get things like medication or counselling.

[Love/Hate09]

Hey, glad it was at least some help. I was wondering is there no type of free therapy in your area. I suspect not or i wouldn't have to be asking. Maybe, it might be worth checking out to see if there is anything. If nothing free then maybe a group meeting (i realise these are not for everyone though, i'm supposed to be going to group but haven't shown yet to even one of them).

I'm currently going to hypnotherapy which is brill but it's private so it is expensive. I find it's the best therapy i've had personally, it's worked better than anything else i've tried. If you can't afford that maybe try some of the hypnosis CDs available. I have one that i use as well that my hypnotherapist created, I find the more i listen to mine the more effective it becomes.

Let me know if you need anything else, MH is one of the hardest things to deal with but most of the time we all have to suffer in silence which makes it doublely difficult to cope with.