Depression Support Group
Depression is a real and debilitating condition that is often misunderstood by family and friends. Its meaning can range from a prolonged period of sadness to an actual mental illness with specific symptoms. Find and share experiences with others who are going through the same struggles.
Hi there. I haven't posted a whole lot in this group. I've been focusing on my anxiety disorder. But I think the more I work on my anxiety, the more depressed I feel. I'm not sure if this is the antidepressant (I'm taking Lexapro and I thought it was helping me) or maybe I am uncovering the depression that has been underneath the anxiety all this time.
I feel purposeless and like nothing has much meaning for me. Three years ago I left a demanding full-time job. I got married to my husband who is in the military and we've already lived in Florida and now in Germany. I took advantage of the freedom to concentrate on my artwork, which was starting to go pretty well until about New Year's this year. That's when I pretty much fell apart. My anxiety was eating me alive and I could no longer accomplish anything.
I have had such a hard time getting into my studio for the past three months and that makes me feel so depressed and hopeless. I don't look forward to anything other than the weekends we spend away from this place and the Air Force base.
I used to feel like I had a clear direction in life, no matter how many things I took on and how many goals I worked towards. Now I just feel like everything is just pointless and meaningless.
I have been doing yoga, CBT, journaling, walks, meditation. Maybe this is the darkness before the dawn, but the more I peel back the layers, the worse I feel about where I am in life and the more persistent my negative thinking is.
A little early for a midlife crisis.... what is going on here? Does this mean I'm getting better or worse? Unhappy.
I feel purposeless and like nothing has much meaning for me. Three years ago I left a demanding full-time job. I got married to my husband who is in the military and we've already lived in Florida and now in Germany. I took advantage of the freedom to concentrate on my artwork, which was starting to go pretty well until about New Year's this year. That's when I pretty much fell apart. My anxiety was eating me alive and I could no longer accomplish anything.
I have had such a hard time getting into my studio for the past three months and that makes me feel so depressed and hopeless. I don't look forward to anything other than the weekends we spend away from this place and the Air Force base.
I used to feel like I had a clear direction in life, no matter how many things I took on and how many goals I worked towards. Now I just feel like everything is just pointless and meaningless.
I have been doing yoga, CBT, journaling, walks, meditation. Maybe this is the darkness before the dawn, but the more I peel back the layers, the worse I feel about where I am in life and the more persistent my negative thinking is.
A little early for a midlife crisis.... what is going on here? Does this mean I'm getting better or worse? Unhappy.
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Do you think anxiety is genetic or comes from your environment? What are your thoughts?
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Many of you know Mr K told me to "shut your mouth" in March 2025 when we took a road trip to Alpena Michigan. Since that time, we have had lots of ups and downs but I have never intentionally hurt Mr K in anyway. And when we first started dating in 2024 he let me know, although he is an engineer by degree, he has an extremely low EQ. Overall, he is ok (not off the charts nice like other guys in...
everyone wants or needs.
If you google EFT therapy (tapping therapy), it is amazing. It's basically free, and therefore not valued by many, but like exercise,
it can make such a powerful and positive difference in mood.
The type of tapping therapy that I value is movement, as in an exercise class, combined with tapping. Chanting, etc. isn't for me, but I was amazed by how great I felt - energetic and enthused from
a basic yoga/exercise class that included tapping.
I can totally relate to wanting to do creative things and having a difficult time getting started. I will tell myself that I'll spend five minutes only, and nearly always continue with the project, exercise, etc - if only I will start it.
Hope things are better soon.
The EFT therapy looks very interesting. I'm definitely going to try it. I know I have a lot of pent up negative thoughts and feelings and traditional therapy is not cutting it right now. I use yoga to try to work through it. I also want to learn how to specifically focus on clearing the chakras, which I think is just another approach to the same problem. I know this kind of thing isn't backed up by hard science, but I think there is a lot of truth to it.
Anxiety and depression tend to go hand in hand so it sounds like that is what we have here. You are focusing on your anxiety which is wonderful, but you will also need to focus on the depressed feeling as well.
When you do CBT, do you just focus on what makes you feel anxious? Do you address things like feeling everything is pointless and hopeless? If not, that will be helpful to do so because those are also cognitive distortions.