This is a rhetorical question, but it still annoys me. Why is it that people feel they have to handle depression on their own? I know the answer. I used to be one of those people. I used to not understand.
I don’t know if meds are indicated or not. However, if you think this is beyond your ability to cope, then, for sure, get a shrink to evaluate you, and also, get some therapy. Meds have really helped me.
Another thing. I wish people didn’t joke about them as happy pills, because that spreads the wrong impression. They can’t make us happy. All they can do is make us not sad. Happy, we do on our own. That’s what therapy helps with.
And, as long as I’m bitching… I wish people weren’t so taken aback at gallows humor. At least amongst depressed people, and especially those thinking about suicide, I’ve found that, counterintuitively, it really helps. My life was saved by a friend who was discussing with me all the ways we could kill ourselves. At first, it was kind of serious, but it soon became clear how pathetic we were, and the next thing I knew, we were laughing uncontrollably. There is something about confronting ridiculous ideas head on that makes them lose their power.
Sorry. Off topic, I know. But when it surfaces, it surfaces. If you don’t scoop it up in your net, right away, it’ll go away, never to be seen again.