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blog post I found online that is interesting - wondering what other's experiences are. Wondering if treatment of depression means stuff like this gets better... I hope so.

from: http://www.wingofmadness.com/h...affect-your-life-449

How Depression May Affect Your Life

- Your place is a mess; laundry and dishes are piled up, mail is unopened, etc. (Assuming you usually stay on top of these things).
- You’ve been making excuses to friends why you can’t get together with them, or you’re telling them you’re “just too tired.”
- You’ve really let yourself go – you’re wearing clothes that make you look dumpy, you’ve stopped exercising, you’re not shaving unless it’s absolutely necessary.
- You’re wearing mostly dark colors.
- You’re putting off things that need to be done: your car registration, taking that book back to the library, buying a birthday present for someone.
- You can’t remember the last time you laughed a real laugh.
- You don’t feel like you can handle your job anymore, even though nothing has changed so far as increased workload or responsibility.
- You’re drinking or using drugs to escape the pain.
- You’ve been to the doctor a lot recently, for things like headaches, stomach aches, fatigue, but the doctor can’t find anything wrong. Or you have convinced yourself you have a life-threatening illness – AIDS or cancer or a tumor.
- You wake up in the middle of the night, and can’t go back to sleep. During the day you sleep a lot to escape from your life.
- It takes you a whole weekend to do chores that used to only occupy a morning.
- Since you’ve lost interest in things you used to enjoy doing, you try a lot of different activities in the hopes that you can find something to occupy your time.
- You have no ability to imagine or conceive of your life even a few days ahead – no plans, no hopes. You can’t even be sure you’ll still be here.
- You wear the same clothes a few days in a row – choosing new ones is too much effort.
- You lose things, you lose track of things and can’t always remember what day it is.
- You’ve pretty much stopped eating, or caring what you eat and whether it tastes good.
- On the flip side, you may be eating all the time because you’re bored and hope that food will somehow satisfy the vacant feeling you have.
- You’ve lost interest in sex or even physical affection. Hugging someone doesn’t feel any different from leaning against a wall.
- You’re reading escapist books (fantasy, sci-fi, romance, mystery) with little effort, but anything more demanding mentally (the classics, reading for school) is too much effort.
- You’re avoiding talking to anyone to whom you have an obligation (your boss, friends who you’re ignoring).
- You’re watching TV constantly – lying on the couch or on/in your bed flicking the remote seems to be the most effort you can deal with.
- You hope you don’t run into anyone you know while you’re out. Not only is maintaining a normal conversation difficult, but you are sure they’ll notice something is wrong with you.
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Hi Jane,
I've experienced most of that list in the course of my life, and while I find I can fall back on those behaviors in times of stress, they have all improved and some really have gone completely. Things are much more under control, much more hopeful and my sense of just being glad to be here and alive is much stronger than it's ever been. There really is hope.

AG

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