i am here but i dont know if you are still there. you can talk to me, here, or privately. you are not alone.

I'm here too. I know what it is to be depressed and feel so alone. It can be especially hard in the middle of the night when everyone else is sleeping.

Thank you RoseFinch and Vicki for you comments. After I posted this message I went into other groups and posted some in there. I finally got to sleep after 7:00 and woke up about an hour ago. I'm still feeling pretty depressed and down and can't seem to shake it. Maybe getting out the house will help. I don't know. I will take both of you up on your offer to help and will probably do the talking privately instead of here.

getting out of the house sounds like a good plan! it sounds like you know how to take care of yourself. that's a good thing!

The trouble with joining depression groups is that the focus is on depression. Sounds like you need to get some of your focus outside of yourself onto issues that take you away from your inner feelings.

You can't just avoid the issue but, like a good dinner, you need more ingredients than just a main course. In life, it is variety that keeps us from just focusing on what is happening inside.

As long as you are on TBD, surf the discussions, the questions and the groups to see if there aren't other issues that can give you some freedom from the monotony of depression and symptoms.

Here is an example. I have severe arthritis, but when I am doing what I am doing this moment, I tend to forget about the pain for a little while - even though my fingers are stiff and have difficulty hitting the proper keys! The mind is capable of turning away from any pervading issue because it is capable of only one thought at a time. If your house was on fire (God forbid), your agoraphobia would disappear for the time it took you to get the heck out.

Depression is a disorder of the chemistry of the body, not of the mind.

You are right to seek involvement but seek a broader level than just someone you can talk to about depression. Part of the contributing factors to depression is yopur situation - loneliness. It is a more serious depressant than the condition your body has.

Best of luck. You came to a good place.

I can relate to the lonliness aspect of depression. When I am dealing with an episode of depression, I can be in a room filled with people and still feel alone because there is no connection.

Milt is right--focusing on our depression tends to keep is in a downward spiral. But knowing there are others here who experience the same thing is helpful--and learning what type of things have worked to help pull them out of that spin and get back on their feet again is good. We can encourage each other, empathize where people who do not know what depression is like cannot.

Just knowing we are not alone is a huge help.

i am really sensitive to the emotions of others. invariably being around depressed people brings me down. i am still working on having better filters so i dont soak up all the emotions in the room.