Looking for friends

Hi everyone, new here on the forum. Have been feeling depressed for a few years and its not until recently I decided to get actual help. So one day at a time it's getting better and better. And now I'd like to find people going through the same as me, would love to have more people I could talk with about all this, so feel free to reach out to me whoever you might be, would really appreciate it!

Hi there,

Welcome to the depression forum. You have come to the right place to find others going through the same as you.

Keep posting, it helps.

Hugs, Karen...

Howdy AIP, happy you joined us, but sucks that you had to. ;-) I've been dealing with depression for years, but I'm happy to say that I've had it under control for quite a while now. Drugs and a smiling psychologist keep me on an even keel, although the smiling psychologist is a relatively new add.

I don't hang out here much during December through March - work is way too busy. That said I'm always looking for someone to share tales from the depression trenches with. Hell, I can talk about antidepressants with the best of 'em, and remind me to tell what my shrink said when I told her what I really thought of one the books she recommended for me.

Hope your day was fun. TTYL.

anythingispossible:

Again, I think you're doing the right thing.

I have trouble reaching out, also, and getting out.

As the song from years ago said,

"Only the lonely know how I feel tonight
Only the lonely, know this feeling ain't right.
Maybe tomorrow....a new romance....
No more sorrow....but that's the chance...
You gotta take, when your lonely hearts breaks,
only the lonely."

YouTube will have the words and the tune.

See, I'm trying to cheer you up right there

I was once cooped up in my house for six years. I had a physical ailment which made it impossible to ride in a car.

I had a physical ailment which made it difficult for me to walk around the block. I remember trying to walk in my back driveway, and something stopped me from that, and I almost lost it.

Then I would try to walk through my house, trying to get exercise.

So, I've been there. Still go thorough some of that. Just got back from a walk around the block with my dog. She really is a big help in getting me out. I probably wouldn't walk around the block by myself.

And, when I walk around the block, I sometimes see someone and we sometimes talk. I meet some people, pick up some trash, put limbs from the median in a stack. All kind of things open up just from walking around the block.

You said, "Lately I've also started to really reaaaallyy being aware of my thoughts to make sure I don't get stuck in negative thinking."

I agree with that 250%. I didn't know it, but I was in the back of mind, negative, from my growing up household, and from my manic-depression. Then I read a column on the importance of being positive going into a column that you can solve it.

Whoa! New revelation. I liked it, too, because I only had to be positive when I was trying to solve a problem. I could be positive for 5 minutes, but I couldn't be positive all day long.

So, anyway, it really helped me. I think you're smart for "make sure I don't get stuck in negative thinking"

Thanks for letting us know that you're getting some help from a therapist for six months and doing EMDR, which I don't know what that means. I don't know what Rosen method is, either.

Depression, does it run in your family? Were there events? Have you ever taken an anti-depressant?

You mention alone. In my initial response, I mentioned volunteer work, because I think that's a good way to get out, even when you don't feel so hot. Putting you around people is therapy, as it helping others. Your troubles could reduce when you see others having difficulties.

You say, " I would like to make new friends obviously but I feel so ashamed with my current situation which stops me from reaching out to people"

I know what you're talking about, ashamed of mental illness. When my mental illnesses began to appear, I was ashamed to be around my former friends. They were all healthy and everything and I was all depressed.

When I got undepressed in a new job, say, I could do OK with certain ones who didn't know me from when I was depressed.

And you're right, you feel more comfortable around follow sickies. And these people here are...really.....sick!!! It's a joke!

Anyway, if sick is what you seek, you've found the right place and the right people. We qualify. You'll find no people better at being sick than we are. And that's even when we take our medicine. Off med, different story.