[Lika Li]

Thanks

[eskielover]

Think it depends sometimes on the cause of the depression. I had never had real depression in my life until I was about 42 & then it was a situation that hit my life that caused me to feel that way & then I didn't realize it but the condition that I had been living it that had been masked by my career was really the foundation of the depression & when my career was no longer there to mask it, the loss of the career & the condition I had been living in for so long all came crashing down on me.

It took 13 years before I was able to leave that situation after that point....but during those years I didn't realize really what was causing the depression at that point & neither did any of the T's or psychiatrists but there wasn't a med that helped so I knew it had to do with situation & not chemical imbalance. I didn't have good therapy during those years either so accomplished nothing.

Went through a trauma at the end of that time so I piled PTSD on top of the anxiety & the depression & anorexia on top of that so I was a mess by the time I was finally able to LEAVE....but once I left all that behind, I started to get better & I started to be able to see what had been going on in the life that was so much like being in the middle of a forest.

There is no specific time frame that depression lasts.....depends on the person, the situation (if it's situational) & something the ability for meds to help.

[Patsfan]

On and off since my teens. Mostly on, I am now 56. Meds have helped immensely.

[Secretum]

Since I was 12. It started out fairly mild. Seems like every time it hits again, it gets worse.

[Lika Li]

I never felt the "off phase" of depression... It was always there, inside me...

I just seem the depression worsening as time goes by.

[Marla500]

Me to, I've really had it all my life. i am so grateful for meds. I still have my ups and downs but at least I have something that helps. Are you getting treatment?

[secretgalaxy]

I get really intense for a couple of months then it lightens up, sometimes turns into a hypomania, once a full blown mania (that happened because of meds) and then I crash again. If I am not in a hypomania or mania, I am typically depressed, but not always in a terrible state. I think my normal is just always slightly under the weather.

[Idiot17]

Had it all my life, never lived with out it.

[wa(o)rrior]

I was diagnosed in 2004 though i believe i have had it since 1989 from one of my earliest memories. i was put on medication in 2004 and felt so great and relieved that i thought i had become alright and stopped the meds in 2005 and then it relapsed with vengeance. i couldn't accept it but after so much struggle and suffering went to the pdoc in 2007 and was on meds for the next 6 years which you can call the Golden Era of my life. then the meds stopped working and for the past 2 years am just pulling on, day by day.

[Lika Li]

Originally Posted by Marla500

Me to, I've really had it all my life. i am so grateful for meds. I still have my ups and downs but at least I have something that helps. Are you getting treatment?

I tried medication and therapy. I want to try them again, but without stopping.

Since 2010, when I was 13.

[i dont matter]

How long have I been depressed? As of last Thursday - it has been forever.

:/