Depression? Mid-life Crisis?

[JamesAA]

I am a 39 y/o male, father of a 2 1/2 year old boy that I love.  I used to love playing sports and was very competitive.  For about a year now I just lost my "drive" to play.  For one, some of the games I would play are too taxing on me now and I get out of breath a lot easier than I did when I was younger.  Not much you can do about that.  40 year olds don't have the energy levels of 25 year olds.  Fact of life and I can live with that.  

But I have lost so much motivation and interest in things that used to get me excited.  But I don't know if it's depression.  I say this because when I go out with my friends to the movies or when I host poker parties at my house...I'm totally happy.  I was depressed really badly 1 year ago for 1 month (first and only time I've ever experienced depression on that level).  But during that time nothing made me happy.  This doesn't feel like that.  I'm just very bored.  I used to find things that made me excited or motivated--stuff I looked forward to.  I feel like I've lost many of those things and it's tripping me out.    I see so many friends my age post stuff on FB like golf outings and how they got so pumped up because they made a birdie on a difficult hole.  That would've excited me as little as 1 year ago and now it would do nothing for me.  I do shoot pool and enjoy it, but even when I do well it doesn't really matter to me.  I used to feel great when I played well at something.  Now my attitude is, "meh, whatever...so I had a good game.  Big deal."  I miss feeling good about doing something well.  

So what do you think this is?  Is it depression?  Just getting jaded by life?  Mid-life crisis?  Stuck in a rut?  

If anyone has gone thru something similar and knows what this might be or what they did to help themselves, I'd appreciate your insight greatly.  I don't want to live the rest of my life in this blah state and only be happy for a few hours in the week (when I'm at group events like movies or poker games).  

Thanks

[remar]

The above poster gave you really good advice. It could be depression but you really need to get in to have some testing done. Hormones can drop in men as early as their 20's. A blood test will let you know if this is going on. If it's not the cause then you should think about therapy.

[JamesAA]

Thank you for the post.  It was really uplifting actually and made me feel good!  Much appreciated.  :)  

[MYoungAtHeart]

There are alot of things that happen at midlife, but to me it sounds like a low level depression is going on with you.  

Depression does not have to be a Hollywood type of display when it happens, it can just present itself in a lack of energy or a lack of interest in the things you used to love to do.  It can just be a general type of sad feeling that colors the whole day and I think you would benefit very well with a meeting with your Medical Doctor and be honest about your symptoms and your feelings...I haven't asked you about your sex drive, but sometimes at 40, the testosterone levels fall a bit and that can have a big effect on your level of energy....

I do hope you make an appointment with your Doctor and have a work up of blood tests.  You can also make it a celebration of your first 40 years
and then know that going into your 40's you are at the top of your game and your life.

Good luck to you

M