Reddit reviews Depression For Dummies

I'm sure this isn't helping

Maybe pick up a copy of Depression for Dummies. It's much cheaper than a therapist and is actually quite good. Do the exercises that are provided.

I was just diagnosed with Dysthymia and it sounds like you have it too. That article speaks of the double-depression you mention.

My psychologist recommended Depression for Dummies and despite its title, I'm finding it helpful. I'm just starting into it, but I am finding that I am relating to a lot of it.

Check out the wiki article, see what you think. Either way, I think it would help for you to check out the book. Your self-awareness is great and you should be able to start making some good progress with your psychologist.

Reminds me of this.

Your age is really hard to diagnose depression because your hormones are all over the place which have a massive effect on depression-like emotions. Women in menopause are the same way, they exhibit signs of depression yet are cured just by leveling their hormones. Though you don't have that treatment option since, as a teen, your hormones are supposed to be all over the place. Depression in teens and children also exhibits different symptoms than in adults.

So you're kind of in a tough spot. I had depression in since my early childhood and started to be medicated at 12 or 13, but I also have a high rate of mental illness in my family so being diagnosed wasn't much of a surprise for my parents. I'm not sure how supportive your parents sound like they'd be. You are right about angst not lasting that long and at a certain point depression should be considered, and depression being passed off as normal teen behavior is at an incredibly high percentage and yet incredibly dangerous. But at your age you are sort of stuck under the feet of your parents. So a couple of things you can try. My strongest recommendation would be to talk to your gp and get a referral to a psychiatrist that specialized in children and teens, they'd be more adept at separating normal teen stuff from depression. Oh, I take that back, my strongest recommendation would be to get off the drugs and alcohol. That is only going to fuck up your life. They might give you temporary relief of your depression symptoms but the crash is even worse, and then once you do try to treat your depression, it is multiple times harder to treat with the alcohol and drug dependencies. You've heard the news stories, no one ever says I got through my depression using painkillers, they end up in drug treatment programs. Nothing good can come of using even OTC drugs incorrectly. Any relief would only be temporary and you'll be worse off in the end then where you started.

Anyway, back to my recommendations, talk to your counselor at school- that said, many public school counselors are often completely inept, but there are still many who are very good at what they do. If your counselor is educated and compassionate, that would be a fantastic resource. You might just have to take charge of helping yourself for now. I wouldn't recommend anyone who has depression to avoid going to the doctor or getting professional treatment, but I have no idea what you parental situation is and I don't want to presume that you have access to medical help. Despite the ridiculous name, this book is actually a great resource for help treating depression and depression related symptoms. http://www.amazon.com/Depression-For-Dummies-Laura-Smith/dp/0764539000/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333079769&sr=8-1 So you may want to start there, read the book, see what you can try to change on your own and then where you are left. Check out some of these books as well: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=teen+depression&x=0&y=0 If nothing changes, then you very well might have depression and need medication. But see what you can do on your own first simply by reading books that guide you. Depression is a cluster of somatic symptoms, but depression is marked by negative patterns of thinking. A lot of people who have depression are able to be helped without medication and just by attending cognitive behavior therapy or other types of talking therapy. So it isn't a bad idea to read up on books that help you change your pattern of thinking and seeing the world. They may help, they may not, but at this point it is as good as any place to start making your life better.

In general, high school sucks. Few people look back to their high school years and think "those were my best days" (in fact, adults that try to relive their high school years are seen as pretty pathetic- trust me, two years out of high school and you'll laugh at kids in varsity jackets)

Worse: http://www.amazon.com/Depression-Dummies-Laura-Smith-PhD/dp/0764539000

I was sad to find out this was a thing