I don't know if maybe I pulled 5 different short straws but in my experience therapy is a poor way to try and fix yourself up, group discussions (like AA meeting style things) worked so much better

Would like to add i've never suffered from the depression you guys have. I have family members who have it and i've seen what it's like. I do have other crippling mental disorders (not just autism) that make my life very difficult and I emphasize very much with people who suffer from the same kind of thing.

Biggest problem with depression is that it kills your motivation. The way to beat it is to change your lifestyle into an active routine of tasks that engage you fully. But depression makes it so you would rather just sleep or think about how shitty your life is. My advice is to exercise your freewill into conscience decision making that will improve your situation/reality/routine even if it's simple shit liking talking to sympathetic people and going on walks. Physical activity is a great combatant as well, whenever I start to feel strong depressive emotions or a general sense of apathy I either put on illadelph halflife and go for a run or put on my metal playlist and lift. Gl with your personal struggles and don't bottle it up. It's ineffective to hide how you feel from the world. Get counseling ASAP.

I'm glad this thread got bumped. This is really encouraging. My doctor won't diagnose me with anything but teenage hormones and all that stuff, but I've been on a downhill slide for about a year now, but about 4 months ago I decided I was tired of slowly losing emotion and caring less and less and feeling unstable and I got help.

I got a teacher I trusted to help me talk to my mom, because I was scared she would freak when I told her I didn't really feel anything anymore. The next day we were in the doctor's office getting medicine and figuring stuff out. Though I'm in the trial and error stage, the meds help a lot in just stabilizing my mood.

I did kinda get absorbed into video games like in earlier posts to help me cope, but in this case, playing tons of video games does really help me cope with my depression. Finding this thread and the encouragement from it really helps.

I've been depressed since middle school. It's been up and down, there were times where I contemplated suicide and times where I felt alright, but its always been in the background at the very least. I was rejected socially from a pretty young age, and that made me push everyone that cared away and get absorbed in video games and online communities. First it was MMOs, then it was TF2. I pretty much did everything I could to detach myself from the situation I was in at school.

I did eventually meet some people I liked hanging out with in real life, mostly through airsoft, but they lived an hour and a half away so until I got a car I was unable to see them outside of airsoft events and things like that. I started smoking weed way too much which when combined with my depression and isolation led to persistent depersonalization/derealization, and that really sucks.

Since a few months ago I've had some psychedelic experiences that convinced me I was worth something, and convinced me to start making an effort to live better. I've been going to therapy, meditating, taking vitamins, eating healthier, and getting moderate exercise. There are still days where I'm holding back tears the whole day, where I can't get out of bed yet I can't sleep either, where I feel so detached from the world around me that I question if it's worth it to continue, but it's getting a lot better overall. I have a supportive girlfriend, my job allows me to drive the long distance to see my best friends, and I'm working hard to open up to the people in my life that care instead of just bottling everything up. And finally, I'm done with high school. School was so horrible and I'm very happy to have it behind me.

To everyone in this thread struggling also, keep in there. I'm rooting for you. ( n_n)b