So, I'm not going to say much, since I already agree with what everyone else put much more eloquently than I could, but I am going to point out a couple of things that I observe differently now than I did when we were at Brandeis:
1) Since Vekson112 started seeing a psychiatrist, he was diagnosed with both depression (caused mostly by chemical imbalance) *and* ADD. Now, the ADD part came as quite a surprise to both of us, since he's able to sit and work on computer stuff for hours, or he can read non-fiction for hours, however, this only really mean that he's not actually Hyperactive. My point is, that, in retrospect, I recall that while at Brandeis, you exhibited many of the same attributes as Vekson112 does (you were never Hyperactive, however, you did often hyper-focus on things that you wanted to do). It might be worth it to have a therapist, or even your regular doctor, test you for ADD or any other neuro-chemical disorders which might be contributing to your depression. Please note, I'm not implying that you have any disorders, just that it can be worth while to see if you do (especially if there's a way to fix or alleviate them).
2) I agree with you that you have always been able to draw people out to talk about themselves--heck, I do that, too. But, you might want to self-analyze a bit and try to decide *why* you do that.
I do it because I *don't* want to talk about myself--I don't want people to know the real me (since I'm sure I'm a lot more messed up than people realize). Only recently have I started to think about that, and have decided that it's okay for people to know that my family isn't as picture-perfect as my mother would like everyone to believe, or that I'm chronically depressed, since I now realize that people aren't going to run away screaming if I tell them.
Anyway, good luck with finding a therapist/therapy that works for you, and, if you ever just need a listening ear or a virtual hug, I'm here for you.
no subject
1) Since Vekson112 started seeing a psychiatrist, he was diagnosed with both depression (caused mostly by chemical imbalance) *and* ADD. Now, the ADD part came as quite a surprise to both of us, since he's able to sit and work on computer stuff for hours, or he can read non-fiction for hours, however, this only really mean that he's not actually Hyperactive. My point is, that, in retrospect, I recall that while at Brandeis, you exhibited many of the same attributes as Vekson112 does (you were never Hyperactive, however, you did often hyper-focus on things that you wanted to do). It might be worth it to have a therapist, or even your regular doctor, test you for ADD or any other neuro-chemical disorders which might be contributing to your depression. Please note, I'm not implying that you have any disorders, just that it can be worth while to see if you do (especially if there's a way to fix or alleviate them).
2) I agree with you that you have always been able to draw people out to talk about themselves--heck, I do that, too. But, you might want to self-analyze a bit and try to decide *why* you do that.
I do it because I *don't* want to talk about myself--I don't want people to know the real me (since I'm sure I'm a lot more messed up than people realize). Only recently have I started to think about that, and have decided that it's okay for people to know that my family isn't as picture-perfect as my mother would like everyone to believe, or that I'm chronically depressed, since I now realize that people aren't going to run away screaming if I tell them.
Anyway, good luck with finding a therapist/therapy that works for you, and, if you ever just need a listening ear or a virtual hug, I'm here for you.
*Hug*