I don’t trust anyone who isn’t depressed right now

Nearly everyone close to me is not depressed.

Hope things get better for you. Most likely they will.

Clinically, no.

Do I have occasional feelings of sadness, anxiety, ennui, helplessness, despair, lack of motivation, etc, and do bad things happen in my life?

Yes, absolutely, that’s a part of being human.

Am I happy?

Well that’s a more complicated question than it may seem.

Am I totally satisfied with every aspect of my life and the world around me as it is now and where it seems to be going?

No, not by a longshot.

Is my situation “good enough” for now, does it seem like things will improve for me, do my good days outnumber the bad, am I overall enjoying life and looking forward to hopefully many more years of it, am I able to spend time with people I love, in places I want to be, doing things I like and want to do?

Overall, yes. Not that there isn’t plenty of room for things to improve for me and lots of things that I would change if I could but I can’t, but I’m getting enough of the things I want out of life that I can say that overall I’m happy.

One year ago, I was told I had 1 to 3 years to live. A few months later, it turned out that wasn’t the case after all. Let me tell you, that whipsaw from impending doom to having a future really changes the perspective. Even when I’m upset or downtrodden, I remember that being able to experience it is a gift.

Years ago I used to say, “another day on my way to the sweet release of death”. Lemme tell you, knowing it’s coming is not what you want or think it will be.

I’m confused, are you talking about literal depression or just feeling generally sad/down?

I’m diagnosed with depression, have been since I was a teenager, but I don’t know many others that are.

Where’d you grow up where everyone is depressed? Detroit? I kid, Detroiters. Y’all got some things going on.

But naw; not depressed and don’t know too many depressed people.

Are you depressed?

I guess so. Yeah, I am.

Do you know anyone NOT depressed?

IMHO, those who didn’t gaze into the abyss, yet. For “if you gaze long enough into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you”. And the abyss is part of our reality, the dark emptiness that fills us all, both scientifically (99.9% of empty space inside any atom), esoterically (the primordial waters, Tohu Va-bohu, Nuith, Chaos, the Qlippoths, the Yin, Shakti, and so on) and philosophically (nihilism and absurdism). Everyone will gaze into the abyss someday, the light will and must gaze into darkness. She’s inevitable. For She is everywhere and nowhere.

I remember just giving up on life in second grade, refusing to participate or do anything because I was sad. Got tested a bunch after that and given pills that mad me a zombie.

There on out I was treated as a weird kid and that brought a different kind of sadness. Puberty added anger and suicidal ideation. The knowledge that I was fucked up, the world was fucked up, and my life wasn’t going to work out.

Years later here I am, living with the knowledge I was right and watching myself fail at life, finding no joy or peace in anything. Everything is an open sore. Wondering when I’ll get to a point where I rage quit.

I think most of the people I know are anxious or depressed, or both. Hut I don’t know of anyone close to me who is at my level.

I am not depressed, and I don’t think I have ever been (outside of maybe a few days or weeks of sadness when tragic things occurred, but I don’t think that would be classified as depression).

Am I happy? I think so. Maybe it’s more of a contentedness?

I don’t really think of most of the people around me as depressed either. But maybe it’s just that they hide it, or maybe it’s just that I don’t see it due to my own outlook.

Do you mean clinically depressed or just unhappy with life?

I know a couple people who are clinically depressed. They take medication for it. It helps.

Most people I know seem to be doing more or less okay. Not counting like stress about climate change and the political landscape and what not. But like one friend just did a nice trip with his partner, another guy I know just had a nice birthday party, another person’s enjoying her new job, etc etc.

I’ve had an issue with my balls(testicles w.e), been sore as fuck. Like someone’s constantly squeezing them really hard, and occasionally I get a punch off em for good measure. I’ve had a huge battery of tests and scans, only thing the Dr can figure is maybe it’s a trapped nerve, so been trying to get in with a specialist to figure that out. Anyway, long story short, the nerve pain meds the Dr put me on are also an antidepressant, so my balls hurt like fuck, but at least I’m in a good mood! 👍

I’m the proud owner of “treatment resistant depression”, so yes. I’ve been sad my whole life but I started having suicidal ideation in my late 20’s.

I have a therapist and a psychiatrist so I am medicated and working on it.

Depressions sucks, but the SSRIs that I am on have wiped out my anxiety. It’s like I am a completely new person. I can go grocery shopping without nearly panicking. Somehow I found an (ex) wife before I was medicated but dating is now not quite as painful.

But yeah, I still have varying levels of bad days and I don’t know what happy actually means for me.

The world is fucked up, so it makes sense. Probably you got toxic traits from your caregiver(s), explaining even why as a child you felt that way. Try to enjoy the ride anyway - I mean, what have you got to lose, really? :-P

e.g., learn to forgive, ending with yourself.

I think I just crave an IRL connection tbh. Both of my close friends recently (1 yr ago) moved further away so I only get to see them a few times a year now. My social life has been obliterated. That makes me sad :(

Also yes, the world seems unstable right now but there ain’t much I can do, so I just have to learn to let it go.

Are you depressed?

Yes.

Do you know anyone who’s not depressed?

The only happy people I know are wealthy and/or have wealthy parents (usually both, I’ll call wealthy a NAV >$10M) and have never needed to struggle.