How does depression affect your daily life?

Depression is a disorder that can ruin your life. For many people depression sneaks up on us gradually. We are going about our daily lives and it is only in looking back that we start to realise that our attitude to life has changed. Often it is our family, friends or work colleagues that notice these changes before us.

It affects your physical well-being, resulting in chronic fatigue, sleep problems, and changes in appetite.
It prevents you from enjoying and living your life to the fullest
You've lost interest in sex or even physical affection
It affects your mood, with feelings of sadness, emptiness, hopelessness and dysphoria.
Your place is a mess; laundry and dishes are piled up, mail is unopened, etc.
We no longer have the same energy and enthusiasm in our relationships.
You've been making excuses to friends why you can't get together with them, or you're telling them you're "just too tired."
We often prefer to stay home rather than go out, be alone rather than share and talk. We push others away.
We become very self focussed and sensitive, easily offended, and quick to snap.
As our relationships start to break down, we blame ourselves. We feel worthless, believing that no-one would want to be with us because we don't want to be with ourselves. We push people away and then feel worse because we are alone.
It takes you a whole weekend to do chores that used to only occupy a morning.
You've really let yourself go - you're wearing clothes that make you look dumpy, you've stopped exercising, you're not shaving unless it's absolutely necessary.
It affects the way you think, interfering with concentration and decision making.
You miss out on the sun, the moon, the stars, the sky, the universe, and cats & dogs.
You're drinking or using drugs to escape the pain.
it affects your behavior, with increased irritability and loss of temper, social withdrawal, and a reduction in your desire to engage in pleasurable activities.
You lose things, you lose track of things and can't always remember what day it is.
You've pretty much stopped eating, or caring what you eat and whether it tastes good.
On the flip side, you may be eating all the time because you're bored and hope that food will somehow satisfy the vacant feeling you have.
Sleeping difficulties have started creeping in - either difficulty sleeping, erratic sleeping patterns or difficulty staying awake.

Find out the recent examples are suggestions from people who shared their views with us.

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Lileth Ferrer wrote:

it affects my daily living a lot, for me being depressed has 2 things the positive and negative part, positive coz it let you put out the real you or you can right good stories from the deep inside you, negative coz some people won't understand.

Posted by Lileth Ferrer: March 4, 2005

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John marco wrote:

it feels like you are tired all day even you have not work that hard. and it gives me headache. negative thoughts haunt day or night me especially when another problem occured.

Posted by john marco : Feb 8, 2005

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Tena wrote:

I have been just diagnosed with major depression today. I now have a name on my experiences. I am happy for that. I have anxiety disorder along with major depression. I am a lot like D. I took a lot on out on my husband. Yelled, screamed, cried, threw stuff. He took it all in paitence even the lack of nookie. I am very lucky to have a supportive family. That helps. Now my battle is to make myself better to enjoy life the way it was meant to be!

Posted by Tena : Nov 1, 2005

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Tamika wrote:

I am 29 years old and i have a history of depression. I feel like i have to be supperwoman for everyone. I've been married for 4 years now and my last time i felt out of control was befor i met my husband. I was so depressed that i lost 50lbs in 2 months because i stopped eating reguraly. I've just had a baby 2 weeks agao and i feel my self spiriling down again. I want to talk to my husband but i don't know how. he dosen't understand why i am depressed or what it means. At this point i think he thinks i'm crazy. Basic little tasks are so...draining. But because i have kids i keep telling myself If i break down who will they have. I guess that is what keeps me going.

Posted by Tamika : Sept 30, 2005

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eric wrote:

For 8 years now ive delt with depression, and it hurts me to say its gotten the best of me. I have no family as a result of my depression, from a early age i knew something was wrong with the world around me, soon it gave way to something was wrong with my world, and soon after that something was wrong with me. Entering Highschool forced me to toughen, Not to show my wounds. Having artistic skill i see as a curse kept me popular, i had friends from all groups who would compliment me and buy my english papers covered in blue and black ink. I became the one people asked "Is there something wrong you dont seem to smile much". They were concerned and wanted to help, but from what i had learned in the past these people dont deserve my troubles, its not fare to give a normal happy person(most of the time girls) an insite of true sadness, i couldnt bring myself to hurt them as i had hurt my family into strangers. I finished highschool early around December of my senior year, I didnt say goodbye, in all sence i ran. I moved to a different city hoping not to be notice, the only work i could find was an artist for tatoo companies. I kept to myself and let my art explain why im this way. Soon after starting work a young women came to me offering a full ride to art school, i refused she asked why.I explained to her that my art is a prison, I explained that most peolpe leave there emotions on the page I stay in that state. As much as i tried not to the women and i fell in love, I gave all i could to not show her how hurt i was. But shes smart and wont take "im fine" for an answere,over 6 mounths i confided in her. Telling all that sadend me, its not always true to feel better after lettin it out i felt worse until one day i could take it i told her ide never forget her and she should forget about me. I moved back to the town i fled, old friends began to notice me back in town they all thought i had died or killed myself. some were psyciactry students and told me they could help i told them what i did in highschool, they re smarter now and wont let me hide, i know i should accept to help but dont want to hurt anyone else im alone and dont know what to do.

Posted by eric : Sept 8, 2005

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d wrote:

i feel sad most of the time and will cry over minor things, i am very irritable and especially towards my partner, i feel very guilty about being so cruel to him and i shout and scream a lot. my sex life is non existent which is starting to cause major problems he thinks i don't love him anymore but that is not the reason i don't want to be near him, this has been going on for nine years now i am 39. could someone give me an answer on how i could solve my problem because i really need help with this before my marraige breaks up

Posted by d: Sept 2, 2005

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gamze wrote:

the field that my depression affected mostly is my work life.
I have a critical role in my company as export manager and because of my depression, I can not function, do my daily tasks, negotiate even talk to customers, can not read e-mails, give decisions and see every needs of the custemors and my colleages as burdon on my shoulders. just sitting on my desk and daydreaming, and hoping to come back my good, fruitful days.
I had never realize such a pain before. if you have a phsical disease, everyone tolerates but when you have a mental disease you can not tell your problem to nobody at work...

Posted by gamze : May 18, 2005

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nicole wrote:

As long as I can remember I have felt sad. In fact feeling happy and full of energy is a rare thing for me. I have never really known anything different. I relate to all of you. The most mundane of tasks sometimes seem impossible and it literally takes all my energy. If I could stay in bed the rest of my life that would be OK with me.

Posted by nicole: May 3, 2005

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michelle wrote:

I was diagnosed with a major depression two year still here but I have a lot of suicidal thoughts that I would be dead than alive living through this mental illness. I will always have dysthimia for the rest of my life and I'm going to work on myself every day. I live day by day and if I get through that day that is okay for today. Depression is something that will always affect us because we need to work at it everyday and some days are bad and some are good. Someone told me that a depression is a gift because we can work on ourselves to make us a better person.

Posted by michelle: April 26, 2005

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xpatjock wrote:

Simple things that I should be aware of and do I don't do either beacause it takes too much effort or more likely because I am afraid of something or someone. Like paperwork I hate filling out forms even though they are necessary, like mortgage applications. Or when I sold my apartment, I knew (should have known) I had to completely clear it, but didn't. Or anything to do with handling money or decisoon making. Procrastination is too weak a word to decribe how I run my daily life, and its been like that since I was a kid.
On top of that there is the constant fear of failure, having been told so many times by so many people that I am stupid,idiotic, and useless I am afraid to say the concept sticks and I find myself saying it now.

Posted by xpatjock: Jan 20, 2005

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Lynette Marie wrote:

I've been depressed since I was a child and now I'm 32. I did not realize I was depressed. I never heard much about it, I only knew there was something wrong with me, but had no idea what.My family, my friends, no one ever tried to understand me or put themselves in my shoe's, they only critisized me for the way I was.I was told it was all in my head. It angers me to think of how many years of my life that are gone and things that were taken from me because of something I had no control over, no idea about.
I just thank God it's an issue in the world now and that I'm not alone, and that there is help.

Posted by Lynette Marie: Jan 3, 2005

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anywhere_but_home wrote: “ not a moment goes by where the thought of ending it goes by. I guess we look normal on the outside...no one can see what goes on inside..what drives people to the end. ”

Posted by unknown: Nov 27, 2004

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Seikisho wrote: “ Depression eats up all my energy. You know you need to do something about it, but you can't.
My bed becomes my 24-hour best friend, always there for me and I am always there for it. Three-quarter of my day is with the bed. Can you imagine it?
I eat and sleep alternatively, long buffet becomes my favorite lunch and dinner. Eating alot is not because I like food but to fill up my emptiness ... ”

Posted by Seikisho: Nov 20, 2004

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Criss wrote: “Oh, the things with depression that bother me the most are feeling like you’re encased in cement, where you just can’t drag your body out of bed, where the simplest of tasks is just daunting and you have to force yourself to re-focus and to pick yourself up and to take that shower, get to the grocery store, get the kids off to school, get to the office, get through your day.”

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Lilly wrote: “Sometimes it’s hard and I’ll say well, my library books are due, I’ve got to go and return them, or I don’t feel like doing laundry but it’s piling up and I say, well, nobody’s going to come and do it for me so I have got to do it and by being active I find that I can really get myself going again.”