I think Im depressed.

[domby123]

I have taken every kind of test there is on the internet, time and time again, read up on symptoms so I know them off by heart, and have read possible causes and I have scored high on these tests, fit al the symptoms and have a lot of the background that sometimes brings on depression. I am 15, my parents divorced last year, which after years of a perfect family life, shocked me, my friends have abandoned me and dont really understand any of this, I was stalked for 6months and threatend with a lot worse fora bout 6months and was finally starting to get things back on track when another thing and another thing kept snowballing. My GCSE's are in 4months, I am an A* student whos grades have slipped to Cs. I have gained about 3 pounds in the last couple of weeks, and without noticing I think my appetite has increased. I have broken sleep, have no intrest in anything I used to do and cry at least twice a day. I have felt like this for a year now. I am too scared and embarssed to go speak to my GP about this, having lost my confidence and not knowing where to start and scared of being dismissed as justa teenager with mood swings, and dont even know whether you think I qualify as with depressoin? Someone write back (: thanyou xx

[brij42me]

It sounds to me like you are depressed.  The hardest thing to do is to find a doctor that will actually listen to you and ask lots of questions before handing out a prescription! Its especially hard when you are so young.  Maybe you could see a counsellor instead.

You know, a counsellor can really help sometimes when you need to talk.  They may not fix your problems but they help you to put things into perspective and help you to make decisions or help you to take courses of action that can be very helpful.

They can help you to get the confidence to take actions you may need to help and they will do this step by step.

Also they will have a very good idea if you are actually depressed.

Please PLEASE don't try to get by on your own when there are so many people who would like to help you.  

Take good care of yourself, see a counsellor PLEASE.  I dont know where you're from but there are agencies who provide free counselling.

[green eyed lady]

I have what they term major depressive disorder so I understand what you are going through. First of all, I agree 1000% with the first poster--she has given you some great things to think about..to me understanding is 90% of the battle. You DO have alot on your plate and I know everything seems so overwhelming but please understand that things will get better. Sometimes that means talking to a counselor at school or a trusted family member, sometimes that means taking medication temporarily, however, from what you wrote I think that your biggest problem is that you feel so alone.

When we are depressed the last thing we feel we are able to do is reach out for help. But please remember this is key because when we're depressed we feel so isolated and think nobody can possibly understand what we are going through. Also depression makes you believe there's "no light at the end of the tunnel" when there truly is. I have been so depressed and I had given up so completely that I needed to be hospitalized 4 times in one yr. When you look at me now you would never believe that I would have gone through that because my whole outlook in life is different.

Another thing you must remember is that this will pass. As the first poster said maybe you need to join some extracaricular activies...again a very hard thing to do when your depressed. However, what might be so hard to do is actually the very thing that can save your sanity.

Please remember that you are a wonderful young woman who has her whole life ahead of her...and life does get better, much better. Please respond if you still need to talk--I have 2 kids around your age and they always come to me with their problems so maybe I can help. God Bless you sweetie.

[ticked]

First I would like to say that you seem to be going through alot of things right now.  What you need to do is breathe. Okay I am not sure if you are depressed or not but you seem to have alot on your plate and that can cause a whole world of stress that can lead to depression. You need to deal with one thing at a time.  I am sorry that your parents divorced I feel as though mine did but one of them never left.  I would rather one of them to have left than for me to have had a parent there that was unloving.  I would talk to a counseller about this at school or even go to your doctor and have her send you to one. dont be embarrassed about this.  I do have questions maybe you can help.  How did your grades go from a-c?  was there a guy that distracted you? the stalking? Are you over weight? 3 pounds isnt alot.  are stepping on the scale and checking it all the time?  Are you worried about being overweight?   Have you ever thought of joining something to get your mind of everything?  Let me explain things about friends.  If they abandonned you they werent your friends to begin with. That is a lesson i learned the hard way in highschool.  I wish that i hung out with the nerdy crowd because those are the ones that i see to this day that are successful and look like their lives are full of adventure and fun. I am not kidding. I am jealous. I chose the crowds that i knew were no good and that would end up taking off when things got bad, and they did.

To me if i was you I would focus on your school, find new friends and speak to your counseller and see if there is someone that you can talk to or maybe they can, that is what they are there for. Dont sweat the small stuff, and the big stuff just take it in stride day by day.  Life is full of challenges and many seem to be to hard to handle, but God wouldnt give you anything you cant handle.  You can make it through this rut/funk i can tell, you have that personality to do so.  

I dont know if i helped in any way but if you ever want to talk I am here :)

angela