Depression Support Group

I know part of this is due to my Summer SAD (reverse seasonal affective disorder), but it's getting ridiculous. I stay up till almost dawn and go to sleep till like 2pm. When the sun comes up I feel the Depression coming on with a vengeance, but when darkness falls I feel it lift like a weight off my shoulders. I guess it's because it's quiet, nobody is out and about, and the darkness comforts me. I'm also notorious for midnight runs to Walmart. I also have agoraphobia so maybe that's why I'm sleeping away the day.

Just wondering, does anyone else do this? My Mom is always complaining about me "sleeping the day away", but I'm like "What's wrong with that? I hate the heat here and I don't have a JOB, so why bother getting up at all"..sigh

Thanks for listening,

Leslie

Leslie, you are so young....do you take meds for your depression or see a therapist. I hope so. I have muddled through agoraphobia and I know it is like being in hell. I am over it and have been for a very long time. It took the help of a very good psychiatrist and therapist, a support person, a supportive family, guts, a strong anti-depressant, and xanax and time, but you can get through this, also. There were times when I tried to go shopping and ran back to the car, many times, or had to sit on the end seat wherever I was, but I eventually did it! Face your fears and you will conquer the disease. I pray for your recovery. You can do it; I know you can. Please don't give up on you, I won't. Karen

I do that! Ughhh i stay up till 3 or 4 then i wake up at one. then if i'm not busy, i just stay in bed all day. which makes me feel even MORE depressed because i feel like i'm wasting my life away.

Hi Leslie and Katelyn, I'm back in that rut too. I had been doing pretty good for several weeks, but this past week had a set back and bang--right back to the crappy sleep schedule. It's 'safer' at night, not business hours, OK to be alone I guess. It's really hard to break out of.

Chaos:

Same here. I feel "safer" at night. It's peaceful and quiet and I actually don't feel lonely. I get lonely and depressed in the daytime when it's all sunny and bright here in NM. I need more cloudy days..

You literally just explained my exact problem. Have you tried stimulants like concerta or provigil? Keep me updated on your treatment/problem I'd love to see if there's a diagnosis or cure for us I don't know of yet

I feel like we're twins.

Every thing you said is exactly what I do, and feel. My mom even nags me about it, too. Except... I don't know if I have sAD. During the summer vacations, most nights I go to bed at 5-7am, and wake up at 2-4pm (That's over now. Unfortunately, I have school starting in a day and classes start at 7:30am). One time, I fell asleep at 4am, and woke up at 6pm. I couldn't believe I slept for 14 damn hours!

Even when I'm not in this crazy sleeping routine for summer, I sleep a ridiculous amount. My usual routine is: 4-5 hour naps after school (I'm a junior in highschool now ... pathetic, right?), go to bed at a decent time, wake up completely exhausted STILL, and fall asleep during class.

Some people say it's oversleeping, but I've tried to regulate and reduce my sleeping but it didn't work. My doctors say it's the depression, and they prescribed me Vyvanse, a form of Adderall. It helped, but I still sleep a lot when I'm depressed.

Yeah, I've slept 14 hours before. Can't get myself to go to sleep at a decent hour. I like the darkness and peace that comes with the night. I guess it's a good thing I don't have a job, I'd be falling asleep at it. Back when I was in High School I was depressed but instead of oversleeping I had chronic insomnia. The last few days have been horrendous because I have a really bad cold and can't tolerate decongestants. They make me "jittery". I've been taking cough syrup but still wake up every hour hacking..I'll probably be up to 5:00am again tonight, morning, whatever. And naps, yup! If I lay down in the middle of the afternoon to watch a movie, I fall asleep in the middle of it. Guess I better cancel Netflix if I'm going to fall asleep in the middle of the movies and have to keep them for day...Sigh

Hey Lane:

Unfortunately stimulants wouldn't be a good idea for me. I'm bipolar and I find anything (even caffeine) that has an "upper" effect agitates my manias, Although I have much more "lows" than "highs"

I can't even take decongestants. I took a Mucinex a couple days ago and it gave me the "jitters"

I just can't win

Yeah, I have many theories about my sleeping throughout the day. One being that the sun light makes me really tired, especially since I have some weird problem where my eyes let in too much light. For the past few nights, I've felt like I've had insomnia. I really cannot sleep at night; only when it's about dawn.

Oh well, maybe its just a phase people go through. I hope you feel better!