depression without being depressed...

[genevieve]

hi!
I am just wandering if anybody was diagnosed with depression without being depressed or what do you think of this "new trend" of putting labels of depression on everyone.
I am not depressed (well, I am low sometimes but I am not depressed much of the time), I have no problem of self esteem, no trouble sleeping or eating... but some people (the psychologist and the doctor but they dont really know me so it's worth little) has said "maybe you have depression". Can you have depression that is caracterized by lack of endurance (its hard to support stress, lack of sleep, sports, etc.), vertigo, hypoglycemia, muscle twitches and stomach aches? I just think it does not make any sense. I would like your ideas on this subtype of depression that is supposed to be "atypical"... a depression where you are not even depressed!

[DxRxPx]

That sounds like a physical reaction to stress, not depression. Depression isn't just feeling low anyway. It's feeling hopeless, like no matter what you do with your life you'll always be miserable, won't get any kind of pleasure or satisfaction from achievments, etc. You're lucky you were only labelled with depression. The diagnosis of the decade is bipolar disorder--and the drugs prescribed for that can be just as devastating, if not more so, than just antidepressents.

Maybe you need a therapist/psychologist you feel more comfortable openning up with--since you said they don't really know you.

Best wishes,
Cyndi

[hope]

Yeah, anything they can't fix is YOUR mental problem. Pretty typical. You have a bladder infection, it's because you're depressed. Have hemorrhoids?? It's because you're depressed. I just love the time the shrink told me that I had to keep going to the bathroom because I was avoiding dealing with my issues - while my issue was, it hurt like hell when I peed and I had to pee all the time because my bladder was on fire!! PLEEEZE!!! I think that was the day I told him (diplomatically of course) to go to HE11!

[elisa]

I believe that over the years the word 'depression' is often overused to describe a feeling of 'blah' for instance. There seems to be a general sense of having to be 'happy' all the time no matter what. So any feeling that is 'not happy' is often described as 'depression' which is not necessarily so. It seems that people HAVE to be happy all the time which is not realistic.

I also believe that some people might be depressed but are not aware of it due to being out of touch with their feelings. These people often describe their physical symptoms rather than the emotional ones.

[seahorse18]

The stock answer for every ill seems to be "depression" - which then becomes "bipolar" for a lot of people. A big trap. In the 90's, everyone - and I mean everyone that I knew was diagnosed with "borderline personality disorder" - a big fat b.s. "disorder", IMO. Now, it is "bipolar" and we are now into "Bipolar III". I have heard people labeled as far as "Bipolar V or VI"!!! Another B.S. label to contend with. "Soft Bipolars". Yeah, right. What the @XXX# is that supposed to mean?

Even now, when I tell friends (not too often - they just don't get it) I am fatigued, they tell me I am probably suffering still from depression. Okay, but after almost 40 different meds, and all the other "treatments", my body is, frankly, fatigued. I have short-term memory loss (and some long term as well) and my immune system has been greatly compromised as well. I certainly do feel [b]physically B] fatigued. And no, I have no depression (except post traumatic stress from the psyche system).

[genevieve]

thank you for your answers.
my hypothesis is that I feel that way because of stress and that I have another problem which causes me to have less endurance. Lets face it : even if I spend a week with zero stress I just have to spend one night with 6 hours of sleep and I am a mess the next day. For my stress, I know the solution is time, effort and therapy. That is what I am doing.
For this endurance/fatigue problem, I dont know the answer because even doctors have trouble accepting this is not in my head. I dont know if paxil/celexa had this effect on me, if I have CFS, if I am just hypersensitive to many things (like pollution) or what but the fact is there is something wrong and nobody can tell me what it is.
well, I guess the solution is still time, trying to find the right health professionals, do some "damage control" (try that this problem does not interfere too much with my life) and continue to explore new therapic ways.