**In honor of my 52^nd post, I thought I would change things up a bit. I had intended this to be a funny-in-an-ironic-sort-of-way post, but I guess I’m not in that kind of mood today. Regardless, I hope you enjoy it. Maybe you can relate?**

You Know You’re Depressed When…

1. There are literally billions of web pages and you aren’t interested in any of them.
2. Every little thing gets on your last nerve.
3. Sleep comes when (and if) it wants to, regardless of the time of day or night or what you’re *supposed* to be doing.
4. You get jealous of everyone for everything.
5. Basic hygiene takes a backseat to sitting around on the couch.
6. “Comfort food” takes on a whole new meaning.
7. You look forward to going to see your therapist, but not your best friend.
8. Snowballs start to form in Hell.
9. You have to psych yourself up to leave your home – for at least an hour, but preferably with a day’s notice.
10. Making phone calls (even to those you love) feels like a chore; you’d rather poke yourself in the eye with a sharp stick.
11. You start coming up with very creative reasons to cancel on a friend, call in to work, or skip school.
12. Your favorite “mindless movie” (ie, Clueless, Legally Blonde, Airplane) doesn’t even make you smile.
13. You hear your bed calling your name, but you can’t fall asleep because your brain won’t shut up.
14. You just can’t handle watching or reading the news.
15. You get pissed off at your cat because he’s sleeping in your spot in the living room.
16. You go through a list of 50 ways to distract yourself before you find one you’re willing to do, and you’re done with it in 5 minutes. And you spend the rest of your day doing that.
17. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. have all lost their appeal.
18. You can only remember the other times you’ve felt depressed; all proof of good times goes out the window.
19. If someone gives you a compliment, you justify it away. Or just plain don’t believe them.
20. Not even cute cat videos can cheer you up.

Please keep in mind the un-scientific-ness of this list. These are just things I’ve noticed about myself when I feel depressed or suspect it’s coming. When more than a few of these things start happening all at once, I usually call my therapist or pdoc and figure out the next steps.

Do you have a therapist? How about a pdoc (psychiatrist)? Yeah, sure, general practitioners can prescribe psych meds, but they aren’t specialists. The human brain is so complex (so are the meds), I believe a pdoc is the only way to go if you need them.

Don’t get me wrong – GP’s are great; I love mine so much, I drive 33 miles one way to see her. But my maladaptive brain needs and deserves special, technical, specific understanding, which I feel I can really only get from a pdoc.

If you think you might suffer from depression or any other mental illness, take my advice and find a pdoc AND a therapist. I’ve sung the praises of my therapist, Kim, many times on this blog so I won’t do it here. All I know is she is an integral part of my support team and I really don’t know where I’d be without her.

I’m going to go find some way to distract myself now, as I really need it today. And to think, yesterday, I felt pretty darn good. Pfft. Nature of the beast, I guess.

As always, thanks for reading.

And Keep it Real.

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