Should I ask my doctor?

I have been dealing with what I think is depression for 6 years now. It started in highschool. I had had suicidal thoughts, and in result of that I was a cutter. My doctor at the time told me that it was normal for a teenager to go through this. Thankfully I stopped cutting 3 years ago. Now I'm an adult and I am still going through this. I have lost all drive to do anything. I find very few reasons to wake up in the morning. All I want to do is curl up and feel nothing. I self-loathe myself entirely. And its getting harder and harder to find reasons to be happy. I dont want another doctor to think I just want to get on meds. I really want to find help, I want to be happy again. How does one go about telling their doctor they believe they suffer with depression? What do you do? I really appreciate any and all help thanks.

Why do you despise yourself? "I dont want another doctor to think I just want to get on meds." It sounds like your first doctor did not diagnose you right. He sounds like a general practitioner. I think you need to see a psychiatrist, a man or a woman as you choose. You sound like you've been coward into not wanting to bother the doctors. I'm on an anti-depressant. My doctor diagnosed my as manic-depressive and put me on lithium and an anti-depressant. I didn't have to go begging, she wants me to take the medicine. She doesn't want me to think I'm bothering her. I went undiagnosed as a manic-depressive probably for 20 years, and until I got diagnosed right, which meant no or the wrong medication, I had 3 nervous breakdowns and numerous panic attacks. As soon as I got diagnosed right, I got medicated right, and as soon as I got medicated right, the nervous breakdowns, panic attacks and depression stopped. The gen. practitioner should have sent you to a psychiatrist. He messed up. You're messing up if you don't try to find a psychiatrist. Go to the search engine on your computer and typed in "depression," and answer the 10 or 20 questions to see if you think you are depressed. Don't go bumbling into a doctor's office and say, "I place all of my faith in you." Tell him or her, hey, I just took a quiz on the net and it says I've very depressed. Can you help me?" If he or she says you're not depressed, ask him or her why you scored so high for dep. on the net. If he or she still doesn't treat you for that, get another doctor, who can answer the question, "Why did I score so high on the depression quiz?" You're eventually responsible for yourself. Look in the yellow pages on the net for a psychiatrist in your town, man or woman, as you choose. Get an appointment. Why do I give this advice, because I was dep., didn't get a doctor, had a nervous breakdown. I'm trying to prevent that in you and others. Looking for a helping hand? What about the one on the end of your arm? Call a psychiatrist. I also had to learn to be positive when it came to solving problems. Unconsciously I was negative, and really couldn't solve problems because of that, because consciously I wanted to solve the problem ("I'm sick"), but unconsciously I had learned to be negative as a child, and my unconscious was saying, "You can't solve this, this is a huge problem," or any neg. it could think of. So, with my conscious going in one direction, and my unconscious going in the other, I couldn't solve the problem. Not that the problem was that difficult, I often solved it after the problem was over and I had lost, but because my neg. unconscious was tripping me up, and I couldn't see it so I didn't know it. Believe you can solve the problem before you start with it. Don't start with the problem, start with your neg. unconscious. I did this by saying, "Think positive, etc." before trying to solve a problem. I was trying to clear out my unconscious from being negative. I didn't think of this until I read a column in the newspaper about being positive. I'll try to send that along. Another thing that has helped me is that I say, "One problem at a time and be positive about that problem." That is, don't think of problems all at once. Think of the one problem you want to solve the most right now. 1. Depression. OK, what do I have to do to help with my depression problem? 1. Take one of the tests on a net website for depression to see if I think I am depressed. If you score high for depression, assume you're depressed. 2. What does it say on a web site might help with depression? Maybe, see a psychiatrist. 3. If you agree with that, go to your we yellow pages and look for "psychiatrist" (man or wommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmman, your choice) in "My Town, My Country." 4. Write down the doctor's name and phone number and address. 5. Call the doctor's office and set up an appointment. 6. Write down the appointment time, and go to the appointment. I did none of these things, and I cracked right down the middle.

Here is the column on being positive before trying to solve a problem that I mentioned my first post just a few minutes ago. Plus some sayings that might be helpful. _____________________________________________ --Your Present Situation is Not Your Final Destination by Kevin Ngo --Falling down is how we grow. Staying down is how we die. Brian Vaszily -- The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now. –Chinese Proverb -- I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions. –Stephen Covey --“I haven’t failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas Edison ____________________________________________________________________ by Niki Scott June 21, 1994 “We all know people who race around in small, futile circles whenever they’re present with a problem to solve, and others who seem to be natural-born problem solvers—able to tackle obstacles, calmly, logically and effectively. “Fortunately, being a good problem-solver is not a genetic trait. It’s a learned skill, one that can be learned at any age. If you want to improve your problem-solving skills, here are 10 steps that will help: "The three most important things of a good problem solver are attitude, attitude, and attitude. If you think of obstacles as anxiety-producers and unfair burdens, you almost certainly aren't an effective problem solver." “If you view obstacles as opportunities to gather new information, stretch your imagination, learn new coping mechanisms and achieve more control over your life on the other hand, you’re probably a problem-solving whiz.” “Be an optimist. If your general outlook is pessimistic, you’re probably not a good problem solver. Facing every puzzle with the assumption that it’s probably unsolvable practically insures that it will be.” “Happily, changing from a pessimist to an optimistic frame of mind isn’t as difficult was it might sound. Pessimism isn’t a genetic trait, either. It’s a habit of thought we learned as children—and can unlearn as adults.” “Keep an open mind. Most problems have not just one solution, but many—and sometimes the best ones sound far-fetched or even bizarre at first.” “Be flexible. Force yourself to give up old, outmoded ways of thinking or acting even though they’re comfortable. Experiment with new ways of thinking and acting, and you’ll be surprised by how quickly THEY become comfortable.” “Believe in yourself—no matter what. If you believe you’ll be able to solve a problem, your chances of solving it double. Review your past successes—frequently!” “Take one step at a time. We all want guarantees that our imagination, diligence and hard work will pay off, but good problem-solvers are able to concentrate on the job at hand and move toward their personal and professional goals without blueprints or guarantees of success.” “Ask for the help you need. There’s no shame in needing help—only in being too self-conscious, too self-protective, too proud or stubborn to ask for it. “Don’t ask for help you don’t need. Those of us who were taught as children to run to an adult whenever a problem arose, or encouraged in other ways to be helpless and dependent, may find ourselves automatically seeking help now when a problem arises—whether or not we really need it. “Resist the temptation. Asking for assistance before we’ve honestly tried to solve a problem robs us of our dignity, self-respect and self-confidence—too high a price to pay. “ “Respect the process—not just it’s outcome. Never discount a learning experience just because you didn’t get an A+ on the test.” “Regardless of whether you’ve been completely successful at solving any problem, working on it almost certainly has gained you valuable experience and insight—good tools to bring with you the next time you have problem to solve!” “Finally, never hold the past over you own head. Learn what you can from your mistakes, give yourself credit for trying, then wipe the slate clean, quickly, and give yourself the same sympathy, understanding and encouragement that you’d gladly give to any friend.” Niki Scott June 21, 1994

I'm gonna try and keep this simple. I have depression and I have a hard time concentrating so theres no way I could have read those long reply's. Get a psychiatrist. Keep looking til you find one you connect with. Regardless the first one should put you on meds. #1 rule when seeing a psychiatrist and therapist is to be an open book and be completely honest even if it sounds stupid. They can't help you if they don't know you. Get a therapist. Again find one you can connect with. If you can concentrate go to the library and read up on depression. Knowledge is powerful. Good Luck! Get some help as soon as possible.

I know THESAME has a difficult time concentrating, but if she has depression, why doesn't she follow her own advice and see a psychiatrist about treating her depression? She says, "Keeping looking till you can find one you can connect with." I did that, I kept looking until I found a woman psychiatrist and found I could connect better with them than I could with men. Why doesn't the same show the same concern for herself as she shows for the person she's posting to? To THESAME, I would say, "Looking for a helping hand? What about the one on the end of your arm? Why aren't you helping yourself? Why don't you go to the search engine on the net, type in, "Depression," then take the 10 or 20 question quiz to see if you think you have depression? Then if you do, find a psychiatrist?