Whether it be from school or work, if you take a break to focus on beating your depression, does it actually fix the problem? I've been thinking about it for a while now and it just seems so bleak to me. What would I do? Sleep a lot and try to eat something? Everyone else is just so busy I would probably end up just as lonely and feel more like crap since I'm not doing all that much. What do you even do during a break anyway?

And I'm the type of person who can't really be by themselves or I'll end up a hermit and forget to eat and just sleep the day away to avoid doing anything and avoid feeling guilty of doing nothing. So that means I would either need to go back and live with my parents and have them help regulate my schedule but I don't think that fixes the issue either :/ Has anyone taken a break and had an earth-shattering epiphany on how to live and be happy?

Fix problem??? No.

Distraction.

[paynful]

You pretty much hit the nail on the head.

During the winter, my depression consumes me, and I barely leave the house. My sleeping pattern... well, there is no pattern. I don't eat, sleep, or care about much of anything.

No one really takes a break expecting to find a solution. In my opinion, people take a break, because they can't take it "out there" anymore. The pressure of life becomes to much, and a person just needs to recoup.

A retreat (mental or even physcially on a lovely vacation) happens when you have the luxury to... or out of necessity. It's a reprieve, at most. A solution doesn't just "happen." It's something you work for.

[Pierro]

I had to take time off work because I could not cope anymore. I was psychotic depression and looking back it was the right thing to do for me. If you are going to sit at home all day on your own I really dont think its going to do you much good. In the time I was off I would see a psychiatrist regular and I also had intense therapy, as well as meds of course.I think fighting the depression does not work, and I was doing that. Now I accept that as part of my life and not beat myself up too much for the "bad days" because I still do have them. Best wishes.

[gloamingone]

I basically had a nervous breakdown in May and had to quit my job as the controller of a very small nonprofit (too small for FMLA). After a couple months I got another job which I managed to hold onto for a few weeks before the depression, panic attacks, and suicidal ideation got to be too much to handle. Now I'm focusing on healing myself. It's been a long road, and I know I will never be able to go back to accounting again. The stress just isn't compatible with my illnesses.

That being said, I think if you can take a LONG break from work, long enough for therapy to start working, it's worth a shot. A small vacation or a few days off probably won't do the trick.

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[mulan]

I'm sorry you are feeling like this. School is realy hard (you know it ). I'm sorry it's overwhelming you.
I know more a less what it feels like, pushing your self to get up in the morning, to go to classes, to study...aghrrrr. It can be realy hard! But I still do it, hopping for better days and hopping for a future.
Well I did take a break, but for me it was a "life or dead" situation. I felt very badly at that time. It was just a resting time, indeed I did almost nothing in those weeks...almost all the time in bed. But after that I know I have to keep going. Sometimes I wish I could quit, but when I think about it and imagine the scenarious I would be in, they wouldn't be very good ones.
I start my medication in those weeks, so now I'm waiting for them to make me move. It seems like your treatments aren't enough to make you feel better! Maybe, and I'm far away from being an expert, maybe you can have them changed.
Taking a break is great when you feel much pressure and stress in your life, because that can make depression worst. When I stopped for a few weeks nobody understod me and some of my family members said to me that I would regret it later, but until know I don't regret it, and I think I won't, I would barry myself alive if I kept trying at that time. But in this steady state I am now, where I basicaly do my best to study and avoid to be consumed by stress I don't think that take a break would be a good thing to do. I don't do many things, but still I have a porpuse in life. If I was at home with my parents I would probably sit in the sofa the all day and that is not certainly a life.
What I think is that I have to fight, even I get late to classes everyday in the morning, even I study less than everybody else and don't have time to do much more. I have to. If I want to live, there isn't another choice. But if a break down like that catch me again, I would stop my school for a while again. In this moment it would not make me feel better or improve my depression.
I hope you get better days!

I guess I'm just afraid that taking a break won't help with anything and just make it that much more difficult to "get back on the saddle" and keep going but then again it's already this difficult so maybe a break would do me good. :/ I just don't do well without some sort of schedule and I'm afraid I'll start oversleeping a lot again.

[hvert]

I have taken time off at several points in my life. Here is what it was like for me:

As an undergrad, I was very depressed, not completing coursework on time, and having a lot of panic attacks. I decided to take a year off to travel. My therapist was skeptical and my parents were furious, thinking that I was dropping out of college -- but it really did the trick for me.

I spent four months traveling (3 outside the US, 1 inside the US). I was still depressed but lying around all day wasn't an option 3000 miles from home. There was no earth shattering epiphany, but when I came back, I had a whole new attitude and lease on life. Getting back in the saddle was no problem at all. I no longer 'sweated the small stuff.' No more slacking on assignments and perfecting every last word of essays.

Three years ago after 10 years of steady employment and a disastrous job experience, I took another year off. I spent two months traveling outside the US. When I got back, I spent 10 months more or less doing nothing. I had thought I would start a business, but I felt like I was waiting for an idea to come to me and not actively looking for one. The time off was fun - I did a lot of camping and hiking - but it was not productive. I'm actually on my third break right now.

Overall, I am happy that I have taken time off. The first time I did it, it felt like it cured my depression. The second and third time did not have such a dramatic effect. I do think having a structured activity or a plan to get out of the house and a plan for what you will do the moment you get back is important.