life after depression - from a therapist view point...

This week, I feel that I could crawal in a hole and never come out,,,,, I deal with this by taking alot of sleeping stuff and sleeping...

My T on Friday, tells me this can all be overcome - about one patient that he has helped - she has now got a job, a new home, a ..... you get the picture...

Sooooo..
what does your therapist say to you when you show up - depressed out of your mind.... do you two just sit there and stare at each other or what???

Does talking to a therapist when you are depressed even help? I mean really... you say I wish I could... "disappear"..
he just nods...says he understands...

does any of this change anything??

just wanting to disappear off the face of the earth tonight... it just hurts soooooo much...

Sincerely,,, freewill

I lean on my therapist hard when I'm having a hard time. When I am hopeless, that's when I "enjoy" going to therapy the most and listen the best because I always have that tiny germ of hope my therapist will say or even imply something hopeful I can use to keep going.

I am a very literal or "concrete" individual and my logic is very good so when my therapist says "I understand" I take that at face value and add that one very important :-) person to my "side."

In the top 10 experiences I had while in therapy for anxiety and depression (1970-2005), one of the ones near the top would be when I figured out for myself that my feeling of being Chicken Little ("Help! Help! The sky is falling! I have to go tell the king!" http://eleaston.com/chicken.html) did not jive with what I saw in my therapist (calm, quiet, comfortable, took time formatting her response, worked hard not to upset or "argue" with what I said; did not feed into my "will struggle" problems (e.g., I was always "right" and "believed")). I put those two things together and came up with the understannding that either the sky was not falling or my therapist was crazy :-) That understanding was immensely helpful to me afterwards as I could refer back to it and use it to help me in difficult situations. When I was confused, angry, depressed, frightened, etc. I could think how my therapist would respond and "adopt" that response for myself through her. I used her as a "proxy" until my feelings and understandings caught up.

Depression can be overcome. Your therapist gave you a concrete example of someone she has helped. If your therapist helped that person do it, there is no reason she cannot help you do it. Therefore, your depression can be overcome. Believing that, even if only by proxy, it is possible to be "hopeful" and/or to work toward that end. Any work toward that end is helpful work toward your goal. So, anything you do that is "anti" acting depressed, is work toward your goal. Take a shower, eat something healthy, read a little, do something positive as well as sleep too much :-) AND see it as positive and helping you combat therapy.

((((((huggs)))) Thank you so very much.. your response brought tears to my eyes..... thank you...

I thought that I was doing something wrong by being soo depressed... I can see now that other people feel that way too and- I can take some comfort from my therapist.

I am new to him, and I just felt so overwhelmed...

my old T used to be so hard on me if I got depressed.

I like this one so much..

Hi Freewill,
I hope you're feeling better soon. I use to feel like that too, a long time ago but it does get better, it does-I promise. Please, hang in there. (((((((FreeWill)))))))

I like to borrow her thinking at times. Sometimes I think "Oh, I can't be an addiction counselor." Then I think but T thinks I can. Somehow having someone else believe in me makes me feel more hopeful about life. If I am very depressed and don't share what is getting to me, therapy is harder. My T tried to complement my clothes and probably had no clue as to what to do with me. But, I felt like she cared about me. I sometimes think I wasted that session but I didn't waste it because I felt like she cared about me even if she couldn't help me since I wouldn't talk about what was bothering me.
I read a book by a reporter who took Zoloft for depression and how he went to Bosnia or something like that as reporter. I was rather impressed by his ability to return to society after laying around in bed.

Even when there appears to be no hope, there is still hope as long as you are still alive.

((((((((freewill))))))))))

I do understand where you're coming from, wish I knew what to say to be helpful, but I don't

Hi Freewill

I have found that talking to a T can help. Their calmness can be very comforting when we are so worked up and in a state of feeling lost and out of control of our lives.

Talk to your new T and be open and honest about thing. It can do wonders for you.

Wrencher