A
female
age
30-35,
anonymous
writes:Am I depressed?My best friend says I am, and have been for the last three years out of the five he has known me.He says he knows, because he's had severe depression before. He's been to councelling and got better for it about a year ago. Supposedly, he recognises a lot of himself in me.My behaviour is unpredictable at times. I can wake up in the morning and be super happy and will continue to be until something - anything! as little as a word that I could 'take in the wrong way' is said, and i'll crash. I won't speak to anyone, sit by myself and huddle up - comfortable with my own company. I do this regularly.I also have very low self esteem - and when i've 'crashed', I tend to loathe myself and shout at the mirror.I haven't since around May time, but prior to that, self-harm was a regular thing.Suicide - unfortunately, has been a regular occurance also within the last three years. Only, i'm too stupid to be able to succeed at that - which, only makes me feel worse.I don't socialise. Which, has made starting a new school this year really hard. I assume people don't greet me because they wouldn't want to be friends with a person like me. So I give up altogether.I think of the worst possible scenarios. I'm always saying, 'what if' followed by 'we died' or something. I'm much the pessimist.Am I depressed?My best friend plans to phone up the doctors tomorrow and book me in. He says he'll come with me if I want him to. He wants me to get help as it's very frustrating for those around me when i'm in a very low mood. They can't contact me when i'm like that. Besides, my mum has began to notice recently too.Should I go to the doctors?
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best friend, depressed, self esteem Reply to this Question
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Fancy yourself as an agony aunt? Add your answer to this question! A
reader, anonymous, writes (31 December 2008): Go to the doctors, your friend only has the best wishes for you, if he can notice problems in you, they must be quite bad. I understand you with the low self esteem as did have low self esteem for about 1yr, the help i give you with this is to find something in yourself that you like, Everybody has great traits in them, and try to socialize, if you cant find something good about you, im sure others can.
To clarify;
1) Go to see the doctor, your friend seems to know best
2) Try to make friends
3) Good Luck
A
male
reader, The Piglit +, writes (14 September 2008):
 Let me answer your question "Am I depressed" with another one "Are you happy?"
None of us are happy all the time. But if you are unhappy a lot of the time and that unhappiness is painful, then don't think in terms of a medical diagnosis, think in terms of getting some help to change what's making you unhappy.
The bottom line for me, though, is that you mention 3 suicide attempts.
I think your friend is right though and obviously a best friend indeed.
I don't know where you live but most GPs have access to counselling and other services that will help.
But just being able to recognise that there might be a problem is a valuable step to solving them. You are heading in the right direction. Take care!
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A
male
reader, Dazzerg +, writes (14 September 2008):
 The short answer to your question is that yes you should go to the doctors and place your trust in this friend who is obviously deeply concerned about you and cares about you deeply. Nobody on here can offer a precise clinical diagnosis which is something that you obviously urgently need. Doctors are the professionals and they have the know-how and the resources to make you better. However, you can be encouraged to do what is obviously necessary from what you say here; you need the advice and support that a medical professional can give and you also need that from the people around you who are there to help you through this rough patch in your life.
I can see why your friend takes the view he does and I would be inclined to agree. I have experience of similar feelings both in myself and in others and the good news is that there is light at the end of the tunnel. With the right kind of help, the love and support of those around you things will steadily get better to a point where you will wonder that you ever felt this way. You can see that in the experiences your friend has had; obviously he has got alot better. Good luck :)
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