If you are reading this and you have any questions about emotions, mental health and living a fulfilled life. Please feel free to direct your questions to Adewale at adewale.ademuyiwa @ stresstherapist.net ( Remember that this email is all one word. I have separated it to confuse bots so I don't get an email full of junk) To ensure that he can answer you questions properly please make sure to give some context to your question.

Hey Adewale, I wonder if you can answer this question for me.

Why do I never feel like I can make it through the day? Is this how everyone else with depression is feeling also?

I just have no clue why I never feel like I can make it through the day. I feel like I am always walking on eggshells around everyone and everything. It seems like it doesn't matter if I have a good day or bad day, I still feel so bad for the rest of the day. It is really starting to drive me nuts. I feel like I am a walking zombie most of the time. I am doing a lot of things to take care of myself and try to get better, but it is like I'm just swimming against the current. I'm just hoping I will get better one day. If anyone knows what this feeling is like please help me figure out how to stop this feeling.

José from Mexico

Adewale's answer:

Hey Jose,
I am really sorry you feel this way. I totally understand how hard it is to feel miserable all day long. It is so easy to feel disconnected from your surroundings. You are lost in your own thoughts. You have very little interaction with other people. And even when you do, you feel so different, like you're floating in space and not really connected to anyone. There is no meaning to life and everything feels flat.

The truth is that what you are experiencing is depression. And it can be really hard to deal with.  

However, one thing that may work for you is to remember the things that gave you purpose and meaning before you got depressed. If you rekindle those activities, it can give you a sense of meaning in your life again. When you start taking care of yourself, you may be surprised by how much happier you feel.

Another thing you can try is to deal with any negative thoughts and beliefs that feed your feelings of hopelessness and helplessness. Because these thoughts are self-limiting, they are not helpful to your recovery. They will only keep you stuck in your current situation. A very good way to deal with negative thoughts is by using negative automatic thought records. A negative automatic thought record is CBT tool for helping you to identify negative thoughts and then challenge them.

Finally, it is really important for you to seek support from other people. It is important to find people who understand and know what you are going through. It can be really hard to talk to people who do not understand what you are going through. So it is really important to surround yourself with people who are supportive.

I hope this helps. Please feel free to ask if you have any more questions.

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