YOU ARE NOT ALONE - A companion online community discussion board for The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast with Paul Gilmartin

I am always tired and just don’t feel like talking or doing anything. I have had depression and anxiety for many years now. I feel like I should be able to snap out of it or maybe just ignore that and I’d be like everybody else. I have been having mood swings, I try but they are uncontrollable. One of my friends suggested to take the major depressive disorder treatment from any clinic nearby in Toronto. I hope there are some people out there who can understand what I’m going through.

I have been there... The couch the bed it makes you feel like you cannot get up that it would take every ounce of energy you have just to get up and walk - I have days where eating food for myself is just not something I can do - I can cook for everyone else - but eating myself is a monumental task -

I get that heavy feeling the sadness and the mood swings - my fiance suggested I may be more bi polar than unipolar - that he does not recognize me anymore - that I am basically just a hot mess that rages around and messes stuff up -

I highly recommend you get help - ask questions find out what is available to you - I am not in Canada I am not familiar with their mental health options - however help at this point is a better option that what you are doing right now -

Seriously if we could just fix ourselves we would have all done it by now...

Right there with you.
Depression and lack of motivation.
Constant search for help so frequently ends up unsuccessful and leads to more depression.

Keep on trying, I did a course on meditation, a course of CBT through UC Berkeley, and now I'm trying antidepressants (all of this after AA and a mess of other pursuits.) Finding help is tough, and being down isn't helpful looking for more help.

A little better some days and remember that you will forget to meditate, you will misplace your "tools" for coping, you will rather eat cheese puffs and watch reruns than get to a group meeting. It isn't the end of the world. The Buddhist monk I trained with said that "one" or the beginning is a good place to start, so when you loose your way, go back to "one" and start over. It is a good place to start.