Posted by SLS on April 11, 2009, at 7:43:04
In reply to I am sad, posted by Deneb on April 10, 2009, at 3:15:55
> I am very sad and tearful. I hate this. I want to be happy again.
>
> Little things set me off. Seeing someone get support in chat sent the tears rolling. I feel envy. I want others to care about me too.
>
> I know people care about me here. So why am I still crying and sad?
>
> :-(
Very often, biological depressive conditions such as dysthymia or Major Depressive Disorder can leave one feeling tearful about almost anything. There doesn't have to be a reason to be in a tearful or sad mood. The brain produces this emotional state all by itself without your cognitive input. When one is in such a neurological altered state, it is natural to want to ascribe specific reasons for why the mood exists, even though there are none. If you have one of these conditions, it is sometimes helpful to recognize your sad thoughts for what they are - the involuntary activity of the brain that are the results of a mood illness. I know it doesn't FEEL that way. However, no amount of psychotherapeutic work will make you feel much better.Then again, you might not have any biological brain illness at all. If this is true, then you have the potential to feel better as you work through each of your issues.
Do your thoughts follow your mood or does your mood follow your thoughts?
Good question. It might help you identify cause and effect. However, the reality is that to varying degrees, both dynamics exist simultaneously. That's depression. It can be self-reinforcing and self-perpetuaating. However, when a biological intervention is effectively treating a biological depression, this cycle is broken, and one can feel much better about everything and work more effectively to attend to psychological and emotional issues.
If you haven't investigated these things with your health care providers, I suggest that it might help you to sort things out. Perhaps you are placing yourself in a no-win situation by ignoring the presence of an affective disorder (mood illness).
Good luck.
By the way, I think that you are one of the most emotionally pure people here. I always enjoy reading your posts and the warm fuzzies I get from them, even though they are not purposely conceived to be directed at anyone in particular. I just don't think you realize that your goodness attracts a whole lot of people, and that you are a person that is hard not to like.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:889768
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20090331/msgs/889935.html