Is socializing and reading abstract books really the answer?

[Ambe]

Hi Georgeofthecity. I've suffered from depression since before my teen years. One of the symptoms of my depression is a dull, nagging pain in my wrist. I felt like cutting my wrist many times in my life, but luckily I only tried it once and I had a very dull knife so I didn't complete my mission. I know the pain of being with people and just wanting to be by yourself. I didn't want to take medicine nor see a psychiatrist and this was about twenty years ago when the stigma was very bad for this illness. I have come a long way about accepting that I may need medicine for the rest of my life. My sister, who has Schizophrenia, says she would rather live with the side effects of the medicine than live with the symptoms of the illness. She says this now after many years of going off and on her medicines. I guess my point is that taking medicine is an option that should be considered. I think exercise is a great way to try to jump start those endorphines, but sometimes we need a little more help than that.
Don't beat yourself up! Telling your family and friends might help more than you know. I kept everything bottled inside for years and this caused a spiralling circle to a bottomless pit that was very hard to come out of.
Talking to people about my own and my families mental health illnesses help me know that others are there for my support. Some people who I thought for sure wouldn't understand have been dealing with some of my issuses as well! I really recommend to stop dealing with this on your own! You're not alone! Take care!