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Clinical Depression w/o sadness?


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Evanescence

Ok, this might sound weird, but someone brought it up to me today and I was wondering if anyone knew more about this. Lately I have been incredibly irritable, stressed, tired, showing decreased intrest (in everything almost), and my sex drive is down to nil (I honestly feel like I could go forever without it). I feel sad sometimes thinking about how unhappy I am with some things in my life (like I have no idea where I'm going in life - but I'm 24, so I guess I still have plenty of time), but I'm never really depressed, or sad. Sometimes I might breakdown and cry in self pity or frustration, but that's about it. I know what it feels like to be deeply depressed (as far as actual sadness goes), but it was during a bad break up (the initial reason why I joined loveshack 2 yrs ago), but that is all over now.

 

Anyway, the main question is: Does anyone know if it is possible to have clinical depression without actually feeling sad/depressed???

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Yes, it's absolutely possible. Clinical depression can manifest itself with a number of symptoms. However, please don't diagnose yourself and don't let untrained, anonymous people on an Internet forum help you diagnose your problem.

 

I urge you to seek a diagnosis and help from a licensed medical doctor or other qualified health professional. There are simply so many other things that could be causing your problem. Something as simple as a low grade infection, low blood sugar, lack of proper sleep, obesity, etc. can cause those symptoms.

 

I hope you will seek help and soon as possible. We want you to feel better soon!!!

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Evanescence
Yes, it's absolutely possible. Clinical depression can manifest itself with a number of symptoms. However, please don't diagnose yourself and don't let untrained, anonymous people on an Internet forum help you diagnose your problem.

 

I urge you to seek a diagnosis and help from a licensed medical doctor or other qualified health professional. There are simply so many other things that could be causing your problem. Something as simple as a low grade infection, low blood sugar, lack of proper sleep, obesity, etc. can cause those symptoms.

 

I hope you will seek help and soon as possible. We want you to feel better soon!!!

 

 

Thanks.. I realize this. I have a degree medicine (not med school, but an undergrad degree in medicine - kind of like premed I guess) which I took a lot of psychology on the side, but I don't even remember hearing about depression manifesting itself this way which is why I was curious if anyone else has. This post is more of a curiosity thing.. I promise I'll see a dr if I feel the need to. I was going to go for counselling anyway. As far as other things manifesting this... I think it is a combination of A LOT of stress because of the amount of stuff I have on my plate right now as well as the high estrogen birth controll I'm on (for some reason my doctor thought this would solve my problems... which I don't think it will). Someone just brought it up to me and I thought I'd ask if anyone else has been diagnosed or known of someone diagnosed without actually feeling sad.

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It is definitely possible. This usually is a result of a previous depressive episode, or possibly another experience, in which your coping skills became such to not let your conscious mind deal with the sadness or the issues causing your depression. However, the underlying causes are still there and still effecting you. It is not to say that it is the same issues that have caused the initial MDE are causing the current problems, but the coping skills that were learned during your previous experience may have been somewhat askew.

 

I have had a few problems like this where my depression was caused by me not even consciously realizing that people were walking all over me, but my anger brewed just the same, I was in denial that these things were happening. When I thought it was that these things just did not bother me, it was rather that they bothered me quite a bit. I dealt with it by subconsciously holding them in rather than what I thought were just glancing blows.

 

As Tony said and you also, don't take my word for it, go to a therapist or doctor, this is just my experience.

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blind_otter
Sounds like a classic case of Quarter-life Crisis to me.

 

I'd never heard of that, but it's a good label for what I previously labeled as an existential crisis that most people face in their mid twenties, although that can be delayed depending on the circumstances that individuals deal with in life. IF you have a lot going on at this time, I think it would delay the existential crisis until you have more time to marinate on the nature of life and reality and your place in the world.

 

I think it's really common actually.

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