We can beat this demon......stay strong.

It sounds like you need professional help to deal with your depression. AA is not a substitute for medical treatment for a very serious and real problem. Your friends in AA do not have the background to help you with this and going to meetings is not going to address your issues.

You guys a right I think I need help but do not know where to begin.
BB

AA is good and will help by proiding an alcohol free safe zone to lessen the isolation that often comes with depression. However, getting a handle on depression sounds crucial. It may require meds and talk therapy of some kind with a mental health professional. The result of such an approach can be greater than using one thing individually....Good luck

For immediate help:
USA: Hopeline (Suicide): 1-800-SUICIDE (1-800-784-2433)
USA: Suicide Hotline: 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-8255)
or go to a local ER

if you have a doctor, make an appointment and let him know how you are feeling -- intensive therapy, adjusting or changing your meds or counseling might help you with what you are dealing with.

Barry I continue to use AA to maintain physical sobriety and a lot more besides. I have and will use outside help for everyday living problems, even though I find it hard to reach out sometimes.

If you have friends or numbers in AA, ring them and say hi. They won't mind, you might be helping them.

GPs, local counsellors, helplines...there are plenty of other places to go if depression is overwhelming you. I've been there.

P

I am overwhelmed.Trapped.
BB

Ok dude...and your posting here, thats a start. Whats going on? Vent.

P

Even my wife has no idea how I feel. Good at putting on the fake smiley face. I does help to post here. No one else knows.
BB

Hello bbarton6161,

You are not alone so feel free to talk. There are things that cannot be posted on a public forum but you can communicate privately with someone here at most times of the day. There is a saying that goes: A problem shared is a problem halved.

Good God yea. I spent most of my life trying to look happy and serene while my insides were doing a number like a Peruvian marching band :)

If my head was transparent they would have locked me up long ago...as a danger to myself and others :))

Learning to let go of that has been hard for me. If crap doesn't come up it goes back in, further up and further in and starts to go a little septic...sorry for the graphic analogy :))

P

Barry, I went into a clinical Major Depression with Psychotic Features when I was 2 1/2 yrs sober. Along with a good anti-depressant, I began intense therapy with a psychologist who had a good working knowledge of the 12 Steps. I knew that recovered alkies could help me to live sober but for mental illness, I had to seek some outside help.

That psychologist saved my life. I saw him for 3 yrs. Lots of work and worth every penny. It totally enhanced my sobriety.; AA's don't claim to have knowledge outside of alcoholism. Even the Big Book says that. In fact, it was my sponsor who suggested outside help.

Please seek out help.

Just came from an AA meeting and when it was my turn to share I was going to pass but began to talk a few minutes later I realized that they were all looking at me funny. They could tell I was feeling bad. I got #s to mental health docs from several people. AA just might save me yet.
Barry

Barry I talk funny all the time...last week I was doing the housework, shouting to myself in a BA baracas accent :

No joke when it feels too much though...hope you have some luck with one of those numbers, good go see you

P

^^

Good to see you :)

P