Spiraling Into Depression. Help?

Not trying to one up you.

Just remember life throws you curve balls, this young in life you need to learn to cope with things and move on.

A few weeks is not long, use the next few weeks to squat your brains.

I’m short and bald, with a hairy back, now that’s depressing,

[quote]rrjc5488 wrote:

[quote]dt79 wrote:

[quote]rrjc5488 wrote:

[quote]LankyMofo wrote:

[quote]Nards wrote:
I wouldn’t call it depression as that is a real thing and what you are experiencing is likely the same thing many young men go through.
Depression is not brought on by missing the gym due to an injury either.[/quote]

What do you know?

You’re not even cut out for this.

I hope you don’t mind, I’ve decided to follow you around and haunt you with those words now that PX is gone. [/quote]

I almost used PX as an example of one of those guys who is so identified with his size, the second he lost a pound, he lost his sense of self.

Sad, really. [/quote]

Yeah, because without his size, he would be nothing but a dentist with his own practice.

Sad. Really sad.[/quote]

That’s my point - he had tons of things going for him, like you said (dentist, veteran, etc.) and despite that, he hated seeing the scale number even by a few pounds because he identified as “the big guy” so strongly.

I’m not gonna turn this into a hate on X thread, but that guy had an obsession with being huge. [/quote]

The fact that he has achieved so many other things in life renders much of your point invalid. You are claiming to know for certain that the man has an actual condition akin to muscle dysmorphia. How can you claim to know the extent of his “obsession” without even having met the man in real life for a full psychological evaluation?

[quote]dt79 wrote:

[quote]rrjc5488 wrote:

[quote]dt79 wrote:

[quote]rrjc5488 wrote:

[quote]LankyMofo wrote:

[quote]Nards wrote:
I wouldn’t call it depression as that is a real thing and what you are experiencing is likely the same thing many young men go through.
Depression is not brought on by missing the gym due to an injury either.[/quote]

What do you know?

You’re not even cut out for this.

I hope you don’t mind, I’ve decided to follow you around and haunt you with those words now that PX is gone. [/quote]

I almost used PX as an example of one of those guys who is so identified with his size, the second he lost a pound, he lost his sense of self.

Sad, really. [/quote]

Yeah, because without his size, he would be nothing but a dentist with his own practice.

Sad. Really sad.[/quote]

That’s my point - he had tons of things going for him, like you said (dentist, veteran, etc.) and despite that, he hated seeing the scale number even by a few pounds because he identified as “the big guy” so strongly.

I’m not gonna turn this into a hate on X thread, but that guy had an obsession with being huge. [/quote]

The fact that he has achieved so many other things in life renders much of your point invalid. You are claiming to know for certain that the man has an actual condition akin to muscle dysmorphia. How can you claim to know the extent of his “obsession” without even having met the man in real life for a full psychological evaluation? [/quote]

Ok bro.

OP,

You’re 19, you should go see your family doctor ASAP. There is a huge difference between depression and feeling like shit, but you probably want to relay what’s going on to a medical professional. Your age makes it a grey area as far as symptoms, teens and young adults tend to experience depression in more of a angry, on edge way, whereas pasty old fucks like myself tend to drift more towards “what’s the point” before painting the walls with our brains.

Not to scare you but some of what you describe (not taking pleasure in things you used to, people see you as distant etc) are also warning signs of things like Schizophrenia (it’s called anhedonia (sp?) I believe? and while I would guess you are not headed for a psychotic break you do fall into the right age group for it to happen. Eat the copay, tell your doctor what’s up and ease your mind. Or assume you’ve got “the mondays” and drive on.

Good luck.

I feel you. The progression thing in weightlifting feels great. I would hate having to stop lifting weight. It’s easy to say to someone else that you should not identify with what you do and that you should stay detached, but when that kind of thing happen to you it’s very hard. You will have to find something else. You can heal from an injury if you put in the work, but don’t put all your hope into it because you will be crushed if you can’t effectively heal and that would be dumb. The depression will go away.

[quote]str8_flexed wrote:
But for the past 2 weeks I’ve had a shoulder problem in my right shoulder, the pt said it may be a capsule strain or something like that so i have stretches to do a couple times a day and they’re helping. I also have tendonitis or tennis elbow in my right elbow which hurts only when I do tricep isolation.

Jack[/quote]

I had tendonitis and a bunch of other things when I was 19-20 too, it can be healed 100%. Today in mid 2015, 24 years old I feel great training wise. I finally somewhat have it down and I am ‘‘snowballing’’ since I fixed everything. Everything goes very well when your body is well aligned.I have a 400 lbs front squat, 600+ dead and everything and I am not a fucking steroid loser or a natural big boned strong guy. Prepare to spend a lot of money on chiropractors and osteopaths. At this point I go to the chiropractor whenever I am a little bit weaker than usual and shell out my money.

[quote]dt79 wrote:

[quote]rrjc5488 wrote:

[quote]dt79 wrote:

[quote]rrjc5488 wrote:

[quote]LankyMofo wrote:

[quote]Nards wrote:
I wouldn’t call it depression as that is a real thing and what you are experiencing is likely the same thing many young men go through.
Depression is not brought on by missing the gym due to an injury either.[/quote]

What do you know?

You’re not even cut out for this.

I hope you don’t mind, I’ve decided to follow you around and haunt you with those words now that PX is gone. [/quote]

I almost used PX as an example of one of those guys who is so identified with his size, the second he lost a pound, he lost his sense of self.

Sad, really. [/quote]

Yeah, because without his size, he would be nothing but a dentist with his own practice.

Sad. Really sad.[/quote]

That’s my point - he had tons of things going for him, like you said (dentist, veteran, etc.) and despite that, he hated seeing the scale number even by a few pounds because he identified as “the big guy” so strongly.

I’m not gonna turn this into a hate on X thread, but that guy had an obsession with being huge. [/quote]

The fact that he has achieved so many other things in life renders much of your point invalid. You are claiming to know for certain that the man has an actual condition akin to muscle dysmorphia. How can you claim to know the extent of his “obsession” without even having met the man in real life for a full psychological evaluation? [/quote]

I don’t know about the dysmorphia but the guy didn’t know how to deal with people very well.
It’s not like we all picked his name out of a hat and decided to pick on him.

[quote]Nards wrote:

[quote]dt79 wrote:

[quote]rrjc5488 wrote:

[quote]dt79 wrote:

[quote]rrjc5488 wrote:

[quote]LankyMofo wrote:

[quote]Nards wrote:
I wouldn’t call it depression as that is a real thing and what you are experiencing is likely the same thing many young men go through.
Depression is not brought on by missing the gym due to an injury either.[/quote]

What do you know?

You’re not even cut out for this.

I hope you don’t mind, I’ve decided to follow you around and haunt you with those words now that PX is gone. [/quote]

I almost used PX as an example of one of those guys who is so identified with his size, the second he lost a pound, he lost his sense of self.

Sad, really. [/quote]

Yeah, because without his size, he would be nothing but a dentist with his own practice.

Sad. Really sad.[/quote]

That’s my point - he had tons of things going for him, like you said (dentist, veteran, etc.) and despite that, he hated seeing the scale number even by a few pounds because he identified as “the big guy” so strongly.

I’m not gonna turn this into a hate on X thread, but that guy had an obsession with being huge. [/quote]

The fact that he has achieved so many other things in life renders much of your point invalid. You are claiming to know for certain that the man has an actual condition akin to muscle dysmorphia. How can you claim to know the extent of his “obsession” without even having met the man in real life for a full psychological evaluation? [/quote]

I don’t know about the dysmorphia but the guy didn’t know how to deal with people very well.
It’s not like we all picked his name out of a hat and decided to pick on him.[/quote]

Hey, I’m not disputing this part lol.

Most of us here have had issues that have caused us to not be able to make it to the gym and lift. Anything from injuries to life just getting in the way. You have to learn how to cope with that and find other things that make you happy. Trust me, I know a lot about this.

OP,

when i was 17, i got SLAP tears in both my labrums, i was unable to lift my arms at all for a considerable amount of time. i was out of the gym, and in rehab training for months.

when I was your age, i became so ill that i spent an entire month in bed. i threw up 8-10 times a day, every day. I couldn’t hold anything down. I lost 40 pounds during that time.

about 7 months ago, i spent a week in the ER due to multi-organ failure. i lost over 20 pounds during that week, and was told by my doctor that i should not lift for at least a month (i followed his advice). i laid in that hospital bed awake for what seemed like days… needles in my arms and hands, electrodes all over my body, an oxygen mask covering my face, a catheter in my d*ck, and a thermometer in my ass. all i could do was sit there and think about how i was wasting away. by the time i was permitted to get out of the hospital bed to use the restroom, i barely had the strength to stand…

fast forward to today, i am bigger and stronger than i ever have been before. my injuries have healed, and charging full steam ahead.

this is not the end of the world, it is merely a bump in the road of a lifelong journey. it’s times like these where character is built.

As far as the OP goes…fuck man … legs … perfect opportunity to prioritize them which if you are like I was at 19 you are not…you could take this as an incredible opportunity to train legs like a madman and make some serious progress…or you could whine…you choose

Now as for PX and anyone claiming we “don’t know him well enough to criticize” the guy (regardless of how well educated) is a freaking moron , walks around at 30% bodyfat yet feels intimately connect to competitive bodybuilding. makes it a habit to offend everyone he can with his delusions of grandeur about being “big” when he is in reality a total lardass.

[quote]morepain wrote:
Now as for PX and anyone claiming we “don’t know him well enough to criticize” the guy (regardless of how well educated) is a freaking moron , [/quote]

Interesting. Who said that? I sure as hell didn’t.

I think that PX is now posting as SM, taking on an alter ego completely opposite his original form, but with similar underlying tendencies.

Listen. Don’t freak out about a couple of down weeks. If I go a day or two without working out, it starts to affect my mood as well. I have been dealing with depression for almost 20 years, and can attest to the fact that working out plays a huge role in maintaining my moods. Whether its endorphins, knowing that I did something good for myself, or even just looking better in the mirror, it helps.

Whether you truly have depression or are just suffering from melancholy, the blues or ennui really doesn’t make a difference. The point is that you do not feel like yourself and it is affecting your life. You mentioned that along with your injury, you are not in school at the moment.

Have you considered the fact that you went from having scheduled days to a loss of order? It sounds too simple to work and I fought it for years, but try making a list of things you want to accomplish each day. Even if that list is: shower, go to store, do dishes, etc. Setting up “goals” and having a plan for your day can make you feel more productive which could help with your mood. Sure, your mood could be due to something else, but start with the easiest thing and one that you can control. I HATE having to make lists, but have to admit that it helps me tremendously.

As far as the GF is concerned, try to explain to her what is going on. She needs to realize that it has nothing to do with her and that you cannot work on getting your head straight if you are constantly worrying about how it is affecting her. If she loves you, she will give you space and time to find yourself again.

Cut yourself some slack. It won’t happen all at once. Just sit down this morning and make a list of what you want to do today. Don’t worry about tomorrow, just today. If it has only been two weeks, you are by no means “spiraling”. DON’T let that mentally grab hold because it will bring you down further than you ever thought it could. I generally don’t say this to people who are depressed, but you are still in “boot strap” territory. Pull 'em up, dude. You’ve got a whole lot of life ahead of you.

Good luck.

I am a pretty depressed guy. Ive had it most of my life due to a few things, probably genetic and circumstantial in origin. Regardless, I would say I coped with depression done pretty well given where I started in life, these things helped me:

  1. Finding someone to talk to who will listen. provide good advice, and resonates on your level. For me, this was an Vietnam vet who fought his own battles and came through them when he was a young man. He was (in many ways) the father I did not have and really helped me grow out of many of my issues.

  2. Be productive. The worst thing you can do is sit on your ass and fuss over it. I know it is hard, and I know being depressed compounds the problem of taking action. Consider the fact that time passes regardless of what you do or don’t do, so the more time you spend not fixing things, the less time you have to fix them!

  3. Related to number 3, you can think about your life in terms of probabilities. Nothing is guaranteed. Nothing. However, your probability of achieving your goals and feeling better are greatly enhanced with the more actions you take. Recall the quote “the harder I work, the luckier I get.” I cant remember who said this, but what he is referring to is the fact that putting time into solving your problems and moving forward increases the probability that things will work out, even if the horizon cant be seen or looks like a pile of shit. Doing nothing is worse than doing the wrong thing.

  4. Exercise. Well, this is T-Nation so nothing needs to be said here.

  5. I think it is important to do some introspection and figure the source of the problem out. It is also important to exercise some discipline and “ignore” the feeling you have. For example, if you are depressed and just want to sit inside, “ignore” the feeling acknowledging it isn’t real in the sense that it is tangible, and get outside or see a friend. You will feel better.

you should start the “stop being a little bitch” diet and drink some man the fuck up shakes.

[quote]StevenF wrote:
you should start the “stop being a little bitch” diet and drink some man the fuck up shakes. [/quote]

Oh Id like to meet a big tough internet thug like you in person.

[quote]Aero51 wrote:

[quote]StevenF wrote:
you should start the “stop being a little bitch” diet and drink some man the fuck up shakes. [/quote]

Oh Id like to meet a big tough internet thug like you in person.
[/quote]

If anyone in this world deserves to be called a little bitch it is the OP.

[quote]Aero51 wrote:

[quote]StevenF wrote:
you should start the “stop being a little bitch” diet and drink some man the fuck up shakes. [/quote]

Oh Id like to meet a big tough internet thug like you in person.
[/quote]

Lol the irony

[quote]Aero51 wrote:

[quote]StevenF wrote:
you should start the “stop being a little bitch” diet and drink some man the fuck up shakes. [/quote]

Oh Id like to meet a big tough internet thug like you in person.
[/quote]

I LOLed at both of these posts for entirely different reasons.