Clinical vs. Situational Depression?

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-29-2003
Clinical vs. Situational Depression?
9
Tue, 11-18-2003 - 11:38am
Hello. I'm new to this board. I'm having one of those days and need to turn to people who truly understand.

I've been suffering from depression on and off for close to ten years now. Although the worst of it has been left in the past with the divorce of my first marriage, I still suffer way too often and don't feel that I'm getting the help or support that I need.



I read through some of the posts here this morning. I almost feel out of place posting here. While a lot of people don't understand that I have a problem, my problem seems so much less severe than some of the posts I've read. Maybe I'm still trying to trivialize my own depression....



Getting back to my discussion title of "Clinical vs. Situational Depression?", I guess I'm stuck somewhere between the two. That was my diagnosis 10 years ago: "situational depression accentuated by clinical depression". What does that mean? My life sucks and I handle it worse than the average person would? I've been treated with medication on and off, and been in therapy, but it doesn't seem to make enough of a difference. I feel like changing my situations would make everything better. However, the truth of the matter is, my situation has changed many times and I'm still miserable.

I'm not currently on medication for my depression. Today, I'm pretty sure I should be. My doctor is not very helpful in this department. If I tell him I have a history of depression and I'm feeling depressed again, I get a prescription for what I was on in the past. Nobody monitors this. They just take my word for it. My therapist has a doctorate in psychotherapy and can make recommendations, but doesn't prescribe.

Would getting some sleep, exercise and a break from my two young children solve half of my problems? I don't know. Probably. Unfortunately, things just aren't working out that way.

Even though my depression is not as severe as it was in the past and my life has changed 500% for the better, I still have extreme feelings of worthlessness. I have so much to be grateful for and so much I should be enjoying. I have a husband, a home, and two beautiful children. I have the ability to stay home with those children. However, I never see my husband who is working all the time to pay the bills which we are falling behind on and my relationship with my children is not healthy. I can not cope with them. They are difficult, but they do not deserve the feedback they are getting from me. I feel like a terrible mother.

Any way, now that I've got myself in tears all over again, I guess I just dropped by to vent and hopefully to find some support.

Thanks for "listening".

K.C.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-24-2003
Tue, 11-18-2003 - 11:49am

Welcome to the board! Please feel welcome here, even if you're "not as depressed" as others on the board.


I don't think it much matters if it's "situational" or "clinical" depression- you need help and your doctor isn't taking you seriously. It may be

Ruth, Single Mom to

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-29-2003
Tue, 11-18-2003 - 12:05pm
Thanks Ruth.... I did chuckle when I saw your reply. I almost posted on the WAHM board wondering if anyone there suffered from depression as well. I guess I found the dual support I was looking for. ;)

I guess it's that comforting feeling that you are not alone.



Maybe I've been given incorrect info in the past. I thought medication wouldn't help improve your depression unless there was a clinical problem in the first place. What would I gain by a psychiatrist instead of a psychotherapist?
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-15-2003
Tue, 11-18-2003 - 12:32pm
Hi, I did't read all of your post.

I just wanted to say hi and welcome

Pamela

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iVillage Member
Registered: 11-18-2003
Tue, 11-18-2003 - 12:54pm
((((((((((KC)))))))))))))

Welcome to the board sweetie! I can relate to so much of what you posted. I've got 3 kids that I love more than life itself, but can't deal to well with them lately. I know it's the depression and I'm taking steps to get the help I/we need. There is a LOT of info links on the main page of this board that might help you better understand depression and its many "faces." When I first came to this board, I felt very much the way you do. "My problems aren't near what everyone else here is going through." But, what I've learned is that A) YOU ARE IMPORTANT....B)YOU MATTER......and C)If it matters to YOU, it MATTERS!!!! The women here are here for YOU! And a finer group of people I'm hard pressed to find. They will encourage you, support you, and when they have it, advise you. We're all in the same boat. We all have this illness.

As for the meds and being clinical/situational, is that a competent pdoc would be able to help you there. Ruth's suggestion to go to a psychiatrist is an excellent one. A primary physician doesn't have the training that a pdoc has. KEEP your therapist though. The therapy in conjunction with the meds is what will get you through this. Your diagnosis, as you wrote it, sounds to me like the episodes are situational, but there is probably a chemical imbalance which is a clinical thing. Hope this helps.

Hang in there hon. Post here anytime! It is my wish for you to find Peace, Love & Light along your journey.

Foggy

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-18-2007
Tue, 11-18-2003 - 2:41pm

Welcome to our board!

 

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CL-ladybug987

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-18-2003
Tue, 11-18-2003 - 3:09pm
Yours is the first post on this board I read and you said it all for me. I too was diagnosed with clinical depression back in 1998. I was advised to find alternate care for my children until I felt better. I ran far and fast from that advice. I opted for an abrupt lifestyle change. I moved away from stressors of the city to rural Mexico. I feel like I've been running ever since. To some extent my self inflickted survivor experience worked. I got more exercise there. I need to stop changing my situation just to improve my mood. I have a young baby bubbling with smiles and so much to do yet I just can't seem to accomplish anything. I'm not sure what I hope to accomplish by posting this reply. I just hope you know you're not alone, and I'm sure you're not a bad mom. I hope I'm not a bad mother, but sometimes it feels as though I fail to be a good mom. Hang in there I'm sure things will get better.
Avatar for karenmrh
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-23-2003
Tue, 11-18-2003 - 3:18pm
Welcome KC:

From a primarily medical/scientific point of view....the clinical/situational dichotomy has been thrown out. I read a very good group of articles on Medscape (need a free registration to view...use the extensive search features) about the subject. Basically since medication works about equally on patients whether they were classified one way or the other what's the point?

Lowering our stress levels and increasing our support systems will help anyone with a disease, chronic or acute.

Situational/clinical was often used to blame some sufferers for their own disease. Perhaps if they worked harder in therapy, or didn't "let" life get them down, they wouldn't have these problems....POPPYCOCK & BULLFEATHERS!

At different points in recurrent mental illness stress may seem to be a factor in a "relapse". But stress is also a factor in heart disease or high blood pressure or diabetes. It is thought that over time there might be a kindling effect. Each episode or relapse (that isn't treated fully) makes the next easier to get (maybe w/o any stress at all), and possibly more resistant to meds, longer, or worse in some mannner.

Give yourself a break. None of us wants to be this way. If we could twitch our noses or do a funny dance and make it go away we would.

Here's a bit about Beethoven (http://www.mcmanweb.com/article-73.htm , 13th Paragraph):

~ "As for me, I am in despair so often and would like to end my life." That is when he wasn't feverishly testing the limits of his new hi-tech pianoforte, bashing it for hours on end, composing in a white heat, often on walls and shutters if he could find no paper, and dousing himself with water that ran down through the floor into the apartment below. ~

It's no fun being what we are.

Hugs,

KarenMRH

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-29-2003
Tue, 11-18-2003 - 3:39pm
Thank you everyone for your caring responses.



I'm working on improving my local support system. It needs some SERIOUS improvments. I wish everyone could be as wonderful as the women I have met on these boards. The people I've met on the iVillage boards have been THE BEST!



I have had a brief phone conversation with my psychotherapist who has referred me to a Clinical Nurse Specialist to discuss meds. And hopefully to monitor my progress better than my primary care physician did.



Thanks again!

- K.C.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-07-2003
Tue, 11-18-2003 - 3:48pm

Welcome to the board.