Can Anyone Help?
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Can Anyone Help?
| Mon, 12-01-2003 - 9:17pm |
Hi everyone. I hope everyone is doing as well as can be. I am doing OK, but I think I may have a problem. I'm not sure if I'm depressed or not but for about 19 years I have been a competent, capable, high-achieving young woman. For the past 2 or so years, I have been extremely unmotivated. I am in college now (I got here on a full scholarship)and this year (my 4th) and last year, I became totally complacent. I never want to move or go to class or anything. When I stayed in the dorm I would just lay in my bed and look at the walls. I was able to pick myself up and improve my grades near the end of last semester then over the summer I did an internship and worked in New Orleans. Everything was OK then and the beginning of this semester but about 4 or 5 weeks ago, I got down again. I don't want to do anything now, all I do is sit around, watch TV, and eat. I am crying a lot, I have low self-esteem, I think I'm fat and disgusting. I think I might fail a class this semester and I can't even get up enough energy to care about it. All my friends just think that I am off point right now, but its something much more serious. My mother passed away when I was 14 and the family that I moved in with takes me for granted and uses me. I'm just very confused and really am afraid that it could be something much more serious. I was not able to describe it very well here, but if you knew me, you would realize what a dramatic change I have gone thru. Does anyone know what I can or should do or has anyone else been there? Please respond if you have time - I will definitely appreciate it.

Take care
Pamela
Almost all colleges have counseling services on campus that are free to students. I would strongly recommend that you call the Health Services department and ask what counseling services are available to you. You have faced some incredible hardship at a very young age. Did you ever have grief counseling after your mother died? You lost the most important person in the world to you. People don't just move on from that. If you don't have a sense of a loving, supportive family in your life that may have left you with a sense of loneliness and meaninglessness.
Did you say that you are 19 and in your 4th year of college? Or did you say that the depression started 2 years ago when you were 19? If you are in your 4th year, you are probably 21. Since the family that took you in after your mom died doesn't feel like your family, you are facing starting your adult life in a few months with little guidance about what to do. That can be both good and bad. It can be good because many people feel pressure to do things their parents want them to do.
It's hard not to have a real family. I have a family, but they are so vicious and mean to me that I avoid most of them. I have slowly created a sense of family in the people around me. Personally, I think that family are the people who are there for you, not the ones you lived with when you were young.
But you have been through so much. You would benefit from having a good therapist who will support you and guide you through this depression and the last part of college. That's the best thing I can recommend.
Welcome to the Board. Please post here whenever you want or need to.
MariaC
Hi there !
I just wanted to take a moment to welcome you to the board! It certainly sounds from your description that you may have some depression issues happening right now.. I would suggest you start with seeing your regular doctor and let him or her know how you feel.. They can rule out any medical problems and perhaps help you find a counselor or see if antidepressants will help.. Sometimes it is just chemical and that little jump start will get you back on track..
Post as often as you like, its good to have you here!
*hugs
Welcome, (((((Confused Girl)))))!
You will experience the recurrence of feelings about your mother's death until you work through your grief.
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