(See my piece, 6 Conditions That Feel Like Depression But Aren’t).
A few conditions that are often misdiagnosed as depression are: hypothyroidism, vitamin D deficiency, vitamin B-12 deficiency, insulin resistance or blood sugar imbalances, and anemia. The reason that you may not be getting better despite trying 20 different combinations of medication is that your symptoms of irritability, fatigue, and apathy may not be caused by a lack of serotonin or norepinephrine in your brain, but rather by a tear in your diaphragm or a problem with your aortic valve. From my own 43 years of experience fighting the demon of hopelessness and from all my conversations with folks in my online depression community, Project Beyond Blue, here are some suggestions that you might try. And those good days keep me motivated to get through the harder ones. But now I do enjoy some really good days - where I feel better than I ever have. I have spent more years of my life fantasizing about death than wanting to be alive. I am one of the worst cases out there like you are. If there wasn’t any, I would not be alive writing my blog. Is there anything else I can do or will I have to live the rest of my life plagued with sadness?”įirst, hear these three words: There is hope. I keep getting the same email over and over again, and my heart aches each time I read it: “I have tried everything to overcome my depression, but nothing has helped.