Posted by Kathie on May 9, 2000, at 23:03:32
Everyone:
I went to one of the pages on Depression from Dr. Bob's tips to take one of the depression tests. I took the test twice..I took it a second time because the first one said I have symtoms of severe depression. The second one said mild depression. But I don't think I am depressed anymore. But perhaps my general attitude towards life is depressing. I will tell you in point form why I believe this to be true and I would love to hear some feedback.
- My parents forced me to move from BC to Alberta when I was 15 years old and very happy in BC, close to relatives...I had friends there that had been my friends for years.
- My parents split up and ultimately divorced shortly after we moved to Alberta. My brother and I stayed with my Dad and my little sister moved in with my Mom.
- I hated the man my Mom had the affair with, refused to go to their wedding (felt guilty about it though).
- My Dad married the exwife of the man my Mom married and I didn't like her at all either. My stepbrother was a spoiled little brat and shown horrid favouritism by both my step parents (of course, he was theirs).
- I got pregnant at 17..married 3 weeks after my 18th birthday.
- My mother was being abused by my stepfather and both her and my little sister came to me for refuge..sometimes he would almost beat down my door trying to get at my mom. They finally seperated and divorced...good riddance!
- I was in an unhappy marriage...had a second baby at 21. One month after the baby was born my husband told me he wanted a divorce (this happened on Christmas Day 1981)
- Struggled as a single mother with 2 kids..moved back to BC to be near family...ultimately could not afford to live there (the west coast is very expensive) and moved back to Alberta. I moved a total of 7 times in 2 years.
- Met my second husband and married him in 1985.
- Had two kids with my second husband.
- Discovered my second husband suffered from seasonal depression after wanting to divorce him every singe spring!
- My eldest daughter turned 13 and became the child from hell. She was into drugs, sex, crime, etc. Went to jail twice..was in state care until she was 16. She got pregnant at 16. Twice during those years my husband and I seperated due to stress of having a child from hell.
- Have had a crappy sex life with second husband from day one. Lucky to get it 4 times a year.
- Eldest daughter was a terrible mother and caused no end of stress in dealing with her over HER child!! She finally gave her child up to relatives for adoption in spring of 1999.
- My husband had 4 car accidents in 1998...very expensive...our insurance now is ridiculously expensive. $3000 a year!
- My house burned down in January 1999.
- I finally got treatment for depression in March 1999.
So there you have it. I do think if things can go wrong, they will. My life experience is such that to have any optimism is to end up disappointed. There are many other bad things that have happened (ie: one baby born with deformed ear, ex husband battles over child support which are still going on, ex husband beating on eldest child, etc.)which I haven't even brought up. The negative experiences in my life, no doubt, caused the depression I was suffering and also are the cause of my negative outlook on life, however I don't think I am suffering depression anymore. What do you thing? Couldn't a lifetime of negative experiences bring on a negative attitude, but not mean you have depression?
Any input would be appreciated.
Thanks for your time..I know this is long.
Kathie
poster:Kathie
thread:32982
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000508/msgs/32982.html