Add one vote for depression: get professional help, Macklynn, and stay away from that den of Rapturite crazies, they'd just pull you down. If the suffering in the world pains you so much, consider volunteering for a charity (a real one, not one of these "food? No, but here is a Bible for you" proselitizing organisations).
@Felix Wilde:
@KittyKaboom: I wouldn't be so quick to jump onto the meds bandwagon though, especially not for a short* period of depression. They're expensive, can take a while to yield positive results, and quite possibly aren't necessary here at all. My grandfather's on Zoloft too, and it's been brilliant for his treatment, but medication's not always the best option.
*Assumption on my part, but that's what it sounds like.
If it is just short-term depression, meds probably are unnecessary, but if it isn't...
The psychiatrist who oversees my therapy group went over the different types of depression just last week. According to him, the three main types of depression are:
1) short-term depression, usually related to something like a bad breakup, losing your job, the death of a loved one, seasonal factors (not enough sunlight during the winter months, for example), and so on. Of course, "short" is a relative term, it can still last several months. Meds are usually unnecessary, the person mostly needs emotional support, and a therapist can help to process the emotion she's going through.
2) long-term depression stemming from something in you life history: parental neglect, workplace harrassment, childhood or spousal abuse, rape or war trauma/PTSD,... Therapy is indispensable to get to the root of the problem and to learn how to deal with it, meds help a fuckton, though a few manage to do without them.
3) genetic predisposition: you were born with a fucked-up brain chemistry that makes you very likely to suffer depressive troubles. They can be triggered by the same kind of events than for types 1 and 2, but for some people it doesn't even take that. There, therapy alone will do fuck-all, meds are indispensable.
@ Canadia: The meds don't give 'empty happiness'. They cause your brain to produce the chemicals it isn't making that help keep you on a more even keel. If they made me happy I'd have been hospitalized for an overdose by now.
Yep, anti-depressants aren't "happy pills", they don't produce artificial euphoria, they simply reduce how deep you can sink, they won't "lift" you above normal level.
@Frostythesnowman:
You're depressed. You can easily be helped, and not by a Pastor. See a Dr.
Much as it pains me to give the witch-doctors an inch, if it is just type 1 depression a good, understanding and supportive pastor could help her, if only because she's more likely to trust him and because he speaks her language. Of course, considering she's on RR, chances are her pastor is a fire-and-brimstone vomiting asshole...
