anxiety and depression

Hi everyone, this is my first post so I hope i do okay

Three years ago, someone dear to my family committed suicide. When this happened, Xanax was my friend everyday for months on end, it numbed me and helped me to not think about it even though I'd cry myself to sleep.
It triggered intense anxiety and depression within me. It creeps up and lately has been affecting me so badly nowadays. I was the last one of my family to see him, and heard him as he listened to a song about suicide.. yet.. I thought nothing was wrong. I feel as if I deserve to feel this awful.

Does anyone deal with anxiety and or depression? Or have you found a way to make it "go away"? I pray, and read about it from a diverse group of Christians, but nothing seems to soothe it.

Thank you for taking the time to read, it's greatly appreciated!

This makes me sad

Cuz it’s true

Hello to you,Rose! I'm sorry for your loss and the guilt you are feeling!
I know what you are saying but there comes a time when we have to give our feelings to God!
The enemy uses all unpleasant things in.our life to destroy us and take our trust and joy in the Lord!
Words mean nothing when you are hurting,prayers will be more effective,therefore I will take your name before Him!
May He give you peace and guidance!

I'm sorry Poinsetta! I love you!

I live with both on a daily basis... and to top the cake, I’m also 22 weeks pregnant, so you can imagine the feeling of hormones/anxiety/depression and all that plays with it and trying to focus at work when I have hard day’s at work. Plus having a 2 year old at home doesn’t do much for the mix either.

But yes I am medicated, not heavily and I’ve requested from my doctors to NEVER prescribe me Xanax as my uncle OD’d on that and I refuse to take it due to that very reason. But all kinds of mental illness runs in my family, I also was raised in a broken family, both my parents had bi-polar... and i grew up with that, but it didn’t HIT me till after I had my son and then my whole world came crashing down.

But it doesn’t mean you’re “sick” or that you have a mental illness, it means you have been through a LOT in your life and you have seen a LOT, and you know what it’s like to feel “empty” when you have exactly everything you could’ve ever asked for. I’m right there with ya. I just happen to have a loving and caring husband who also shares the same anxiety I do as well, so we help each other, we pray for each other and sometimes we cry together.

They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger... and I believe that with my whole heart. Don’t give up, and never stop fighting for YOUR life... you just never know who’s life you just changed by sharing your story. 😊

you need to find a better friend than Xanax. hopefully some of us can help you

I have A and D. But mainly A. heres what helps me:
1. Jesus Christ and the bible
2. exercise daily including yoga like stretching
3. hobby guitar
4. listening to music , all kinds
5. literature like Christmas Carol
6. old classic movies like 12 Angry Men
7. meet a friend for coffee and chat
8. go for a long drive in the early morning
. 9. humour...though i tend to overdo this one
10. quiet time/ prayer

i do numbers 4, 7, and 9 i work number 8.

Thank you so, so much for sharing your story!! It touched my heart to hear what you have been through but you steadily keep fighting and have wonderful people around you who is there with you 😊 this feels more like human to human, it's very refreshing and let's me know, no one is alone in this battle. God bless you and your family, I appreciate this bunches!💕

Thank you so much! God bless you, I appreciate it!! 😊

Firstly, I am sorry for your anxiety and distress, @rosemachine. These feelings are like shackles.

Secondly, do Not blame yourself for his death. You had no idea what would happen in the future. You do not deserve to feel this awful. Do not let the deceiver falsely accuse you! This is one of Satan's tactics against believers. John 8:44 tells that Satan is a liar. James 4:7 says if we resist Satan, he will flee from us.

In response to your questions, I dealt with depression some as a teenager. It was awful. My suggestion to you would be to quote Scripture and statements of belief aloud. Some verses you might consider verbalizing and also claiming personally:

Romans 8:1

Psalm 144:1-2

1 Peter 5:7

Philippians 4:6-7

❤️

I believe basically everyone deals with anxiety and depression at varying times or our lives....and we all have different ways of coping.

I'll share some of my experience, one time when I didn't deal with it well and one time when I did. My mother passed in 2007 and I did not deal with it well....it happened at a very difficult time in my life....my ex-wife had asked for a divorce and I found out she'd been having an affair with someone I thought was a friend after he'd fallen bass ackwards into a small fortune. I was depressed, angry, blaming myself, blaming the world. It was around this time that I began an agonizingly slow journey back to faith, a journey that continues to this day.

In 2013 my father passed away, and I was able to handle it much better....I had positives in my life, remarried with a child on the way. was still overwhelmed with grief, but I was able to deal with it.

Here are my suggestions:

Number one, its okay to be sad and depressed....these are normal emotions and we all have to deal with them. But at the same time you should not let them overwhelm you. My advice is to set aside some time each day to commune with your grief, to cry and feel sorry for yourself....embrace the sorrow you feel.

The important thing is to set a time limit, and then when the time is up....put your grief away. NOT FOR GOOD THOUGH. Come back to your grief and let yourself grieve....imagine its in a box that you open, after opening and spending time with it. close it again. As time passes I think you'll find you need to open the box less and less. It never completely goes away though, and that's okay. God created us to be feeling beings, so don't shut that off.

Number two, forgive yourself. Jesus has already forgiven you, you're not perfect. Nobody can go back, what is done is done. I have lost 2 friends to suicide myself, however not in a situation like you describe....I didn't see either or talk to them just before they gave up on God's great gift. Its not your fault, and its not your place to sit in judgement...not on anyone else, and not on yourself. Learn from your experience....you may be in a situation in the future where this experience may help you to help someone.

Blessings and Peace be with you....my faith says you will get through this.

I take medications for anxiety and depression.

It helps to share, my experience with mental health issues has taught me that broadly speaking there are three components. One is medication, then diet and finally exercise. Life gets so busy that it can be hard to manage those second two.

It sounds as if your anxiety and depression may be situational. There is no magic cure. Go get some counseling. There is a pain deep within you that is the cause. Working through that is your solution.
For the guilt and hurt you hold on to asking strangers online for opinions won't do you any good.

Counseling has done nothing for me, it surely isn't for everyone. And "asking strangers online for opinions" have helped a lot actually! It's real people and their experience, how they manage day by day; so it's much more than just their opinions.💕

I’m just like any other “human” out there, I have good days and bad days, and we all have our own specific ways of dealing with our issues. Some seek therapy, and some seek strangers and how they cope with it. I’m one who does both, I see a therapist... I am medicated (also 22 weeks pregnant) I have a loving husband and very supportive group I’m around, but sometimes we just have “days” where nothing is going right, nothing is going the way it should be. Or we feel completely out of body and just wanna curl up in a ball and sleep. And that’s perfectly ok.... cause no one is perfect, God created us to be exactly who we are. Perfect health or not... we are all children of the most high, with all flaws in hand, all trials and struggles in hand. Even true authentic Christians who go by the “books” and do exactly as the Bible says... I promise you, they also have “days” as well. No one is to judge anyone, we all have our problems, we face trials every day, it’s how we get through our days that counts. It’s how we find ways to cope with whatever issues we are facing, and who we surround ourselves with for support and love and to help push us through the muck of life we go through.

I’ve lost many loved ones in the past 6 years, I’ve also had a baby, currently pregnant and changed jobs... I’m still learning who I am, I’m still struggling with the fact that God has a purpose for my Life and what I do with it. But I do know one thing.....

HE loves me just as I AM. Just as imperfect and perfectly made as I am, he is WITH me through it all... and We will all overcome trials we face, and go home to be with our lord no matter what happens.

Sorry for the long message.... I just felt like sharing and that someone needed to read all the above. 💕