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How can I go so long feeling completely happy, then suddenly my depression knocks that all down?

17 Answers
Last Updated: 07/16/2018 at 4:41pm
1 Tip to Feel Better
Greece
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Maria Wasielewski, Master of Arts in Counseling and Guidance, University of Arizona

Licensed Professional Counselor

I am inspired when working with clients, who are facing challenging life experiences, to be able to help them to develop the needed skills to live their best possible life!

Top Rated Answers
Katheryn
April 2nd, 2015 5:20am
From my experience, I feel like depression never truly leaves you. Even if you have worked through it, those thoughts and negative tendencies are there. So even if you are feeling happy for a long time, if you are not taking care of yourself properly, your depressive thoughts may sneak back in there and take over when you least expect it. From what I have dealt with, the feeling of depression can increase and decrease, but it is harder to actually change the ways that you think.
dancingTurtle59
November 17th, 2015 8:25am
it is easier to b depressed then it is to b happy it take effort to b happy it take no effort to b depressed
SaraMichelle
December 14th, 2015 3:53am
Depression is a bully. It's a coward that hides and then comes back when you least expect it. Depression gives you time to be happy and then steals it away from you just because it has that power.
MorningGloryBlue
January 13th, 2015 4:55pm
Depression is not something that goes away- even if you take medication or have been feeling 'good' for some time, it is a condition that needs to be managed, like any other. It's very difficult, in my opinion, to ever call a mental condition 'cured' - but what we can do is take care of ourselves. What you need in order to take care of yourself varies wildly depending on your particular condition. It may be that you are a person whose depression requires medication- in which case, you should make sure that you are always taking your medication responsibly and checking in with your doctor(s) to adjust the dosage if necessary. It may also be that you are a person who needs to learn to manage your depression in more proactive ways, such as seeking therapy, learning cognitive behavioral coping skills, or something of that nature. If medication alone is not enough (and in my experience, it's usually not), then I think it's very empowering to learn to take charge of how you manage your own emotions. The bottom line, though, is that you should never feel like the depression is something to be completely helpless about- these feelings are a symptom of a disorder that you have. They do not have to control your life.
daniellenicole13
September 7th, 2015 4:35am
Depression is tricky. It disappears for such long lengths, and when you think it's finally gone for good, it creeps back in. I'm not sure exactly why it happens that way, but it happens to me as well. I just always remind myself, hey, it'll go away soon enough and you'll be okay again. You'll always be okay.
Bennylovesyou
June 23rd, 2015 2:10am
Sometimes everything is off your mind and that's good. Try think happy things, like pets or something you are looking forwards to.
LaughingWillHelp
November 30th, 2015 11:24am
Well without some sad bits happiness really doesn't have that flavor. But how about you try to find out what causes this depression and try to resolve the roots of the issue? Once you do that maybe you might find yourself on that happiness streak forever.
Confusing
June 8th, 2015 4:46am
Through my personal experiences i recognized that depression is silent and can lay dormant in yourself for a long time before you feel the effect. I suffered an immediate accident that hurt me both physically and emotionally. It took me months before i began to suffer PTSD and depression, it hit me suddenly but i still manage it on occasion. Time is healing, but only if you take your own steps towards helping yourself.
cokebottles
April 4th, 2017 12:18am
Depression can kick in at different times, most of the time it can be triggered by a thought, object, place, or just something related to a sad time in the past. Being happy is great but life isn't all rainbows and sunshine and depression helps you realize that. Of course don't be depressed all the time, but try and balance your emotions and express them at the right times. If you keep your emotions in, it might affect your mental health.
windfox3
April 18th, 2017 8:24pm
The funny thing about life is that we are always more acutely aware of pain than we are of any other feeling in our world. Our bodies can be 100% fine for years, then we get a toothache or a broken bone. We are more likely to remember that toothache or that broken bone that lasted just a short while (a couple days, to a couple months) far more intensely than we remember all that time when we were just fine. This happens BECAUSE pain, either physical or emotional, is a flag sign to our body that something is going wrong, something isn't working the way it should, something is injured. Our brains process this flag sign and consequently begins to worry over/have anxiety of how to fix the injury. This is a natural response and it is what happens when we face depression. We get an injury emotionally that our mind wants to fix; so we forget all the happiness we had, while we puzzle out how to heal our current distress.
Lfesfadedmmries
May 30th, 2017 9:34pm
Depression is usually a chronic illness. If they are correct, then it is a chemical imbalance. There's no real way to "fix" a chemical imbalance. Medications can help manage it but the hormones in your body are always changing and cycling. So therefore, if you think about it in those terms, you can understand that it's usually not sudden, that you can track small changes and learn to anticipate it. The rest is about learning coping skills to ride it out, keep it from escalating. Understanding your triggers, especially. This all comes with time, practice, therapy and many many ups and downs.
Serenityangel1983
January 10th, 2015 6:36pm
It could be situational depression, or it could be a chemical imbalance in your brain. You should talk to someone about it, and if need be, have a medication evaluation to determine if it is medication related.
CrazedIsland2000
December 12th, 2017 3:31am
Little things can cause things to go bad but it depends if you let it get you down. Think about the good things and do your best to be positive.
Add1ctW1thAP3n
February 16th, 2016 1:58am
Depression can come into your life randomly; It's like a cold, It is inevitable that it will happen.
Anonymous
June 6th, 2016 1:08pm
Because the things that make you happy keep your attention. But after all if you have some psychological problems your mind keeps repeating them over and over again.
Anonymous
October 17th, 2016 6:07pm
Biology can play a large part in feelings such as going from happy to depressed. We all have these natural hormones in our bodies that change levels at different times because of different things (i.e. changes in the weather, our age, the death of a loved one, a new birth etc.). Hormone levels in the body, I believe, naturally usually have cycles. I have yet to meet a human being who is 100% happy, 100% of the time. However, there is a difference between being a "normal/standard" version (on a graph of a bell-shaped curve, you would be the bump or bell part of the curve) of sad and clinically diagnosed depression. Depression can be debilitating (I know; I have it). Sometimes - not always, depression is caused by an imbalance in hormones. Depression can also be caused by other things too. Have you thought about talking with a trusted medical professional about depression, and what you think might be causing you to feel so down? What things or people help you feel better/healthier when you are down? I hope this helps and you feel happier soon.
ZacharyK
July 16th, 2018 4:41pm
This could be an indication of bipolar disorder. It is a completely normal thing to feel, sometimes depression can take over our lives but we have to strive to stop it.