Loneliness: Why am I depressed?

I had a referral and just need to connect with the therapist. Playing phone tag right now. I have PTSD, too, as this move to the southeast from the southwest was unexpected. We lost our home suddenly as had an electrical fire. I was diagnosed with the PTSD shortly after experiencing all the loss that a house fire brings. Having major depressive disorder since age 14, I wonder how someone avoids life or handles the kind of stress I am dealing with. I get so tired.

I had a referral and just need to connect with the therapist. Playing phone tag right now. I have PTSD, too, as this move to the southeast from the southwest was unexpected. We lost our home suddenly as had an electrical fire. I was diagnosed with the PTSD shortly after experiencing all the loss that a house fire brings. Having major depressive disorder since age 14, I wonder how someone avoids life or handles the kind of stress I am dealing with. I get so tired.

@lindasmith1222 You asked how someone avoids life or handles the kind of stress you are dealing with. My answer, certainly not meant to be tongue-in-cheek or flippant, believe me, is to be gentle on yourself, and patient. You are in a fragile spot. As @hopeful33250 said, it is a situation that makes your whole body ache, and your mind has a hard time accepting everything. Getting outside for some fresh air will help. Letting yourself be grateful for what is in your life now, may also help.

What did you do today to ease your stress levels?
Ginger

Yesterday I went to a consignment store. My husband drove and I stayed in the car, but it was progress. I took a 5-minute walk last evening. Today I plan on going to the beach. I woke up with depression but it lifted after I moved around for 15 minutes, i.e., made coffee, fed the dog, which is usually my husband's 'job.' My self-care is much lacking, but I am mentally working myself toward the shower. It is baby steps and I am hard on myself.

@lindasmith1222 Congratulate yourself! I'd give you a high-five or a gentle hug if we were sitting at the kitchen table! I know it takes a certain mindset to go beyond where we are, and you did it. Even though you sat in the car yesterday, you got out of the house, and had different scenery. Do you think next time you might get in to the store and wander a bit?

A little story for you that relates to your house fire. Our neighbors who moved here in Dec 2019, lost most everything they owned due to a wildfire. Even now when she and I have gone yard saling or to a thrift store, she will mention, "oh, we lost something like that in the fire". So, you see, they pivot their time from before fire, to after fire. Like you, they also ended up moving about 500 miles from where they had been, to an area they knew nothing about, and knew noone. It is not easy, and you are doing good. Baby steps everyday!
Ginger

Dearest Linda, I can relate and this is what I have decided to do: I will no longer focus on taking the thorns out of the rose's stem, I will focus on the flower itself. By following too many "focus groups" I focused too much on the problems of everyone, I do not see many solutions. When I send an email I attach to it a signature going out:

How to be happy?Wake up with a positive thought, Practice gratitude. Organize a pleasant moment during the day. Do one thing at a time.

Responding:
Today's world is filled with bankers who want to die rich, bureaucrats embarrassed by the success of their peers, filled with ghosts who no longer know how to read or write and who have erased from their vocabulary the words: thank you, please, gratitude and poetry. Make an effort not to contribute!

You are not alone, God bless you and all of your love ones.

I love the thorn and rose analogy, @nanette2022. “I have decided to do: I will no longer focus on taking the thorns out of the rose's stem, I will focus on the flower itself.“

I wanted to point you to a blog post that Dr. Bento wrote in The Health & Mindfulness blog here:
- Find your MAP to your Habits https://connect.mayoclinic.org/blog/mindfulness-in-health/newsfeed-post/find-your-map-to-your-habits/

I think you and several others in this discussion group are singing from the same song sheet. 🙂

What roses did you choose to see today?

I chose to be Myself. Dear Colleen, about a month ago I joined AA in the but of finding hope and strength, what I found instead is a continuous remembrance of my alcoholism, almost to encourage me to continue to be an alcoholic; never did I find a way to break the mold to find a positive solution. I do not want to forget but neither do I want to focus on it on a permanent basis. I have gone online to attend several meetings and NEVER DO I FIND A SOLUTION. In an other matter, people keep telling me that I need to share, when I do, I am told I focus too much on the negative, when I bring up the good points in my personality, I am told that I am bragging too much, I am confused... Today, reading an article on the web, I understand why some people chose to go in isolation, there they/I am at liberty to focus on one thing at a time. I am tired of living; I wish I could find people who would share positive matters, who would feel free to share the good and not be afraid to be who they are.

I chose to be Myself. Dear Colleen, about a month ago I joined AA in the but of finding hope and strength, what I found instead is a continuous remembrance of my alcoholism, almost to encourage me to continue to be an alcoholic; never did I find a way to break the mold to find a positive solution. I do not want to forget but neither do I want to focus on it on a permanent basis. I have gone online to attend several meetings and NEVER DO I FIND A SOLUTION. In an other matter, people keep telling me that I need to share, when I do, I am told I focus too much on the negative, when I bring up the good points in my personality, I am told that I am bragging too much, I am confused... Today, reading an article on the web, I understand why some people chose to go in isolation, there they/I am at liberty to focus on one thing at a time. I am tired of living; I wish I could find people who would share positive matters, who would feel free to share the good and not be afraid to be who they are.