[novakinblood]

All I can say is you're not alone. I've been diagnosed with major depressive disorder, have 4 kids (youngest is 7months) and I'm going through therapy and working on medication. It's aggravating because for me the medication takes time to make a difference. Also I'm working on 2 engineering jobs to make ends meet.

The thing that has helped is opening up to a select few of friends. I am not the kind of person to open up emotionally but realized that if I want my kids to have a healthy dad, I have to do something different. But the older kids have noticed my sadness.

My therapist told me something that helped and that is I should strive for progress and not perfection. A goal oriented person is striving for perfection but that's an impossible goal when going through depression.

The fog from depression initially made me believe I had no friends. But when I took time to observe my life and journal, I realized there were a few friends for which I eventually opened up to. It helps to have a support system in addition to any doctors you see.

[Jtsummers]

> The fog from depression initially made me believe I had no friends.

That fog is the hardest thing to deal with. I'm currently in a good spot, emotionally. In my case depression is a consequence of anxiety. Managing that better has kept me emotionally healthy.

But when I've been depressed I'd forget that I've had friends, good friends, for years that I could talk to and who would be there for me. It's not easy, but taking that step back to really examine your situation (as you've done) was the part that has turned me back from the brink several times in my life.

[nextos]

Have you checked your thyroid? There's a potential causal link between hypothyroidism and depression.

[biot]

Not sure why you're being downvoted (other than perhaps playing internet doctor). One of the first things a competent medical professional will do is to evaluate where you're at, which includes checking thyroid levels. That said, don't listen to internet doctors; go see a real one and let them do their job... which will likely include the aforementioned check.

[mendelsd]

Depression is in fact a well-known symptom of an underactive thyroid [1].

Bear in mind that the reference range doctors use to determine whether your thyroid is healthy is considered too wide by some experts [2] - this will result in false negatives.

The treatment for thyroid disease and resultant thyroid underactivity is (synthetic) replacement thyroid hormone. I'd rather take a replacement hormone than a pharmaceutical drug with its side-effects. Not to mention hypothyroidism is a risk factor for heart disease and more, so better to address it than treat individual symptoms.

[1] http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-topics/en...

[2] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16148345

[drumdance]

Yes. When my depression recurs as it periodically does, I remind myself to have faith in the process -- diet, exercise, talking to a therapist etc.

[novakinblood]

Exactly; when work gets more demanding I unintentionally stop working out and eat fast food and I notice a significant increase in depression. I actually need to take more effort to work out, eat healthy when work is more demanding (or kids just being kids) just to keep my head above water. Easier said than done thus therapy helps as a lifeline.