From bad to worse to abysmal...will it stop?

[badbrainpain]

Six Months ago i was under a lot of stress and i just let go,I told to my self to go with the flow and so i did .I cried for the first time in years and something happend:I felt my brain collapse. Instead of fealling released form my pain I accumulated some more and just shut down . Gradually I started to think slower and harder, I slept longer and in the morning I didnt know on what planet iI was on ,my attention was nonexistent and my memory was at an all time low so low theat i usually forgot to close my door and to take my briefcase to work. For a while tried to fight it, to rezist to force my self to keep my perfomance level the same and to keep doing the things i use to love(which i dont love/like any more ) and failed .it was like climbing 2 steps and falling a mile.The problem that effects me the most is thatevery attempt to contain it faild miserably and today there has been little improvement and my professional and ,most important,my personal life are being SERIOUSLY affected! My question is this: Do you think I had what people call a "mental breakdown", (the tnight i cried something  happend almost instantly) and is there a possibility of having done some frontal lobe damage? And how long can depression possible last (worst case)? P.S :Alcohol didnt work (surprisingly) just made my more angry and violent so i stop, Medication the same (only natural /herbal) ,physical exercises seam to help me temporarly, my psychologist said i have a serious case of Major depression; he prescribed the last two remedies.

[Hensley258]

I sent that link, let me know if you got it.

Try to stay calm (I know that's hard to do) trust me it will get better with proper treatment.
I know it feels as if your going insane. (Years ago when I first started getting symptoms, I had convinced myself that I was going insane) Simply because I really felt like I was going insane. It took awhile for me to understand that Severe Depression is extreemly painful and can cause all kinds of bizzar symptoms.

It pretty much felt like taking a trip thru Hell itself and not being able to find the way out.
Mine got so bad that It felt like the inside of my brain was being spun by a high speed mixer. It got so bad it even effected my equalibrium and made my head and leggs feel really heavy like I was being sucked into the floor by a giant magnet.

It's a real dirty Rat feeling that I would not wish even on my worst enemy.

One bit of advice...... BE PROACTIVE. You get on the phone, get help no matter what it takes. Call every Psychiatrist in the state if you have to, but get treated and fast.

You have to want to get better and you have to keep pushing foward with getting help, even if the first treatment failes.

Good luck! You can do it!

[badbrainpain]

The symptoms fit me perfectly. Thank you a lot! i can't wait for you to send me the link. Thank you again for the post.

[Hensley258]

I know it may feel as if you have been brain damaged by this, but understand that even the most severe depression can not damage your brain.

Now, it can absolutly make you feel as if your brain has been damaged.

I think by your description, and from what your psychologist stated, you are indeed suffering from major depression.

You would be wise to get an appointment with a Psychiatrist.

Are you exausted all the time, yet feel as if every nerve in your mind and body are standing on end? Are you experiencing a kind of frightining sence that something horrible has happened, yet nothing bad has really happened to make you feel this way?
Does your head feel as if it's in a fog and nothing feels as real as it used to?
Does your head feel like it's swurling so bad that you can not even consentrate on even simple tasks. Crying spells, feelings of massive dread, exaustion, lack of appitite, anxiety, trembling........ If you can say yes to most of the above then, odds are that you are experiencing a depressive dissorder.

You ask if it will end on it's own? I'm not going to sugar coat things.... No, it most likely will not just stop without proper treatment.

Depression, unlike a case of the blues is kind of like a Cancer in the sence that it will usually fester and grow if not treated.

You need to understand something about depression when it has reached this point.
In most cases, natural and herbal remidies generally only work for individuals with Mild to moderate forms of depressive dissorder. Any experienced P-doc will tell you the same. (I know I'm probably going to take a bashing by all the advocates of natural treatments for depression) I'm not saying good diet, exersise, and even some natural suppliments such as Fish oil, and Amino acids are not helpful. I use many of these suppliments myself because they do help a bit and I feel better when I take them.

Unfortunatly for people suffering from severe forms of depression, natural suppliments alone almost never produce a response.

You may find that medication is the only way for you to correct the problem.

You ask, how long can depression last? The statistics show that once you have a major depressive eppisode such as this, that there is about an 80% chance that it will be something that you will have to treat for life.

The good news is that there are treatments avalible that can give you your life back, and put this dissorder in a remissive state. It may pop back up again even after treatment, but it can also be corrected each time it happens.

I hope this answeres some of your questions.

I am also going to PM you with a link to a very informative report regarding major depression by the Harvard Medical School. It's very up to date and is very easy to read.
I reccomend it for anyone that has been newly diagnosed with Major Depression or Bi-Polar dissorder. The report is called "Understanding Depression" and is very cutting edge.