Yes explaining yourself is tiresome, but in some cases if you don't explain yourself how then are people going to be able to understand what it is you need in order for them to help you?

in my experience no one really understands depression unless they've had it themselves. Luckily (lol luckily) my boyfriend used to be depressed. But I have had experiences where people either think im totally crazy or im just a whiney teenager.

it's just that when i try to explain, i get the same stupid question the very next day. they don't understand.

Well hun it is hard for people to understand if they havn't had depresson I hear it all the time also and I understand you frustration

well, i don't know what to do anymore. i hate using people for money and other support. i feel like such a loser most of the time, but others around me think i am just a bad person.

i want to cuss out my boyfriend's friends b/c they tell him he shouldn't marry me and that i have issues. for heaven's sake, it's depression and i've had it all of my life.

i've tried getting help and i am on medication, but sometimes i go through phases. i constantly quit jobs, which makes things so incredibly difficult.

i am constantly getting yelled at for sleeping so much right now, but i can't think of a reason right now why i should want to get up.

The tiredness and feeling withdrawn is all part of the depression and unfortunately it sounds like ur boyfriend is doing the typical male thing of shutting off his feelings because he feels helpless. Maybe try and get him to do his own research on depression to help him understand better.

I know exactly how you feel....my parents are exactly the same. They get angry at me if I am crying for no reason and even more angry if my excuse is that I cant control it. They don't understand that we literally cant control it, it is a chemical inbalance in our bodies that messes with our emotions. I hope this helps a bit.

what do you do when you get to the very bottom of it. you don't care much about anything anymore, and the more people try to tell you how your life should be, the more you shut them out

I'd start looking at what it is that you are getting out of this relationship especially if marriage is being talked about.

If your BF isn't supportive and understanding of your illness and how it effects you now, how do you think the relationship will fair once you are married?

As much as it pisses you off, the BF's friends do have a valid point.

I see that you are BP as well, which type?

It's possible that you're in a manic depressive phase at the moment and it will pass in time.

I know it's hard to get people to understand what you are going through. Especially when they've never experienced depression. There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding about it. And people tend to take our moods personally. I think Sophisophie was right in encouraging him to do some research on it. Aside from that, your best bet is probably turning to places like this for support. So you can talk to those of us who understand. See if there are any support groups in your area, as well.

i've thought of the fact that my boyfriend has such trouble with it, and in fact, before i found the right medicine, he would be incredibly nasty to me.

he gets stressed out having to pay for me a lot and he's so sensitive that he thinks everything i say when i'm in a mood is directed at him and it's not.

it makes it hard to want to marry someone who totally doesn't understand, but he's done so much for me in other ways.

sometimes he just gets out of line, though, and he'll cuss and call me a loser or something.

I know how it feels to have people around you that dont understand what you are going though. My favorite question is, "What do you have to be sad about"? Anyway, I think Sophiesophie may be on to something would your BF be willing to do some research on depression? Do you have any books about depression lying around? Would you be up for finding him some websites that provide a good overview of depression for loved ones?

I wish you luck. I hope you are able to feel better soon and stay connected with your BF. At the very least, it seems like there are a lot of people here that can understand your plight.

You are being too hard on yourself. For me I run my own business. I am having to force myself to work right now. And even with forcing myself I am still only open half the time I should be! I just can't do it right now. I have decided that people just have to understand or at least pretend they do. The rest of them can kiss my......

I just want to sleep or play on the computer. My therapist says I am too demanding of myself. That if working part time is what I need right now then so be it.

Now that is not to say I don't wish it were different. I would love to be one of those people who strives on stress. I wish I were one of those bubbly giggly people. (Or maybe not!)

I agree that your boyfriend should research depression himself. Then in the list of symptoms he could see immediately that you aren't using this as an excuse. Sadness, sleepiness, insomnia, etc. But the truth is a lot of people don't believe depression is an illness (just remember Tom Cruise!) So maybe he will never get it but maybe, just maybe he will.

(Oh and Iswallowed my pride this week and applied for food stamps. I understand that part too! Needing help is a hard thing to admit in any situation, asking for it is even more difficult)

well, i slept through both appointments i made with this pastoral counselor by accident, so i don't know if i am bipolar. i think my dad might be, but he drinks all of the time, so no one knows what he really has. i just know i get ridiculously excited sometimes and feel like queen of the world, but that only happens when i am going up and off my Zoloft.

i've tried telling my boyfriend to research depression and he will just tell me i need to do research and that people with problems overcome them.

lately his nasty comments are, "you have no life, you do nothing," which is pretty much how my parents treated me. i was worthless and did nothing.

Hi I know exactly how you feel. I don't know how many times I have to tell my BF how I feel. Normally, he's very supportive, but at times he's just so insensitive. I don't know if its that he feels so helpless to help me, and lashes out. Is it the same with your fella? WE've been together 11 years, and if my illness doesn't improve soon, I think it might be a good idea if we see a therapist together, one that has experience with depression. That way we can discuss what is happening to me, and I can get some back up from the therapist, and my fella can discuss how he is feeling too. Maybe this may be an option for him to get a better understanding? Sometimes when someone else back us up, someone that doesn't know us, it helps let us others know the seriousness of depression