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fireflower121 ([info]fireflower121) wrote in [info]depression,
@ 2008-12-12 20:01:00

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Hey.

So yeah, my name is Lindsay and I'm turning 20 in January. I've been pretty messed up on and off since freshman year high school. Whenever I start to get depressed I feel alone and like no one cares about me. I feel ignored and unwanted. I'm not good at expressing my feelings to people, generally because when I first started getting depressed my mom told me that if I acted upset around my friends they wouldn't want to hang out with me anymore. The bulk of my problems high school occurred because I felt terrible but could never express it. Everything was fake. I still get like that when I get depressed, and it's happening again. I had a greatestjournal back in high school where I would write about how I felt as a way to let out the emotions I had to keep bottled up inside. I'm not really a consistent or very damaging cutter but I have cut myself a few times. The last time was last year, but I just did it again recently. I cut my ankles where I figure people won't see it, but recently I've been considering cutting for the very purpose of having people see and notice me. I feel like no one ever notices me or how I feel. Basically what I'm looking for here is some people who want to friend me, read my nonsense, get to know me, comment, whatever, and I would do the same back. I just want something a little more personal and consistent than posting only on here. Thanks a lot. Hope to get to know some of you soon.


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[info]melancharisbron
2008-12-13 05:50 am UTC (link)
Greetings, Lindsay. (Lovely username, by the way!)

I'm sorry to hear you're suffering from such a horrible depression. I'm doubly sorry because, well, I suffered depression, somewhat undiagnosed (or, with "reasons" always to hand, that somehow always became my fault - a distressingly common dynamic, also with your environment, if your mother's comment about acting upset would chase your friends away...) since my early years, and... it's just awful how there doesn't seem to be much progress on it.

Although there's some. I'm glad you can write somewhere like Insanejournal, because the internet gives us the opportunity to connect with others we wouldn't otherwise get a chance to know, and learn the wisdom or have them share the pain in a way our direct environment might not be equipped to deal with.

Your reason for cutting sounds like a great big red flag, that you're not getting the attention you need - I don't just mean medical attention, but the kind of identity and personal affirmation that most healthy people seem to just take for granted.

It's no surprise that everything feels fake, if we're told to bottle it up and not reveal our own inner thoughts and feelings; there's no chance for that cycle of communication with the outer world to truly get started. I hope you can continue to write here (and in your own journal), and also to keep looking in your own area for help. Journals are nice, and the desire for friends is also good, but I found there was a lot of good to be had in talking to counselors and the like (although, to be honest, I sometimes had to do a fair amount of "shopping" for the right one - despite their best intentions, many psych people have their own agenda, and they step outside of them with varying degrees of difficulty).

In the meantime, if I may be so forward, I can recommend a book that I found very helpful, mostly because it was very down-to-earth about what I was experiencing, and also rarely preaching at me (and mostly that was a reminder to include myself in the compassion I was told would liberate me from my suffering...) It's called The Depression Book: depression as an opportunity for spiritual growth. I bought it in a bookshop over 20 years ago and has been my steadfast companion ever since. Even if I don't read it regularly anymore (my copy might even be lent out - I finally got to the point of being able to lend my precious "friend" *wink*), I often remind myself of the most supportive and healing nuggets in it.

Its main piece of advice: be kind to yourself.

I hope this helps. Do take care.

PS if you like, a way to create a safe-space for yourself here on this community is to use "friends-only" while posting to here: it works slightly differently than "friends only" for your own journal, in that the "friends only" also allows members of this community to read your offerings, but won't show them to the casual passer-by who's not a member of [info]depression.

(Reply to this)


[info]creamsicklesky
2008-12-15 12:34 am UTC (link)
hi and welcome :)
mind if i add you?

(Reply to this) (Thread)


[info]fireflower121
2008-12-15 10:14 am UTC (link)
Sure, go ahead.

(Reply to this) (Parent)



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