depressed for only a few days???

[centreoftheuniverse]

a couple of years ago (i think when i was eleven) i went through a four-day period where i was extremely depressed. i felt like i had this massive weight on my chest, and it was extremely hard to stop crying.

the thing is, it was only for those few days. i woke up one morning and while it wasn't completely gone, it felt like someone was helping me to carry the weight. a day or two later, it was gone.

i kind of feel like a fake for calling it depression since it lasted for such a short time. maybe it wasn't depression? could someone shed a little light on this?

[AussieNicholas]

I've experienced this many times over the past two years, especially since I entered my final year of school. I've found that I go through several 2-3 day periods where I feel miserable no matter what and nothing can really make me feel better, and then they pass and I feel better, although not perfect.

I wouldn't call you a fake and I don't think you should consider yourself one. I don't know your circumstances, so it's quite possible that you did experience a genuine mental health problem. A lot of people who have depression also face self guilt. I'm reluctant to call myself depressed because I feel as though I cause my own problems, even though I exhibit many of the symptoms. What you experienced may have been a form of anxiety or other mental health problem (as a psychology student, I can tell you that mental health is a spectrum rather than just 'mentally healthy' and 'mentally ill').

[thomasdown92]

Thanks to immense amount on academic, peer and parental pressure on teens, such brief phases of misery seems to be on a rise. Though I won't call it depression, but I can totally understand what you are saying. I have gone through this cycle way too many times in last 5 years.