Struggling with Anxiety and Depression: Is There Any Hope?

I'm sorry to hear you're struggling with this. I've gone through similar periods of hopelessness myself and it really is hard to deal with. It can take a long time to find a doctor who will pay attention to you and help you find solutions, but it's not impossible. Try to find small things to look forward to. Set attainable goals for yourself like taking walks or meditating just a few minutes every day, you'll feel good participating in those activities, plus you'll also feel accomplished when you're able to keep up a good habit for a consistent amount of time, especially if you keep track of it with something visual like a planner, calendar, or habit tracker app. Think about old hobbies you used to enjoy and maybe give them a try again even if you aren't perfect. What matters is that you're challenging your mind and creating something fun for yourself (painting, music, writing, crafts). Reach out to friends and family members. My own family can be so difficult sometimes, but they really keep me going when I'm finding it hard to have hope. Even if you struggle with mental health, there are still moments that make life worth living and things that will make you smile and feel a little less bad than you're currently feeling right now. Try to believe that things will be okay and that this is just a rough patch, it's not your fault, and there really are people out there who want to help. Show yourself compassion and be proud of yourself for hanging in there and making it through every bad day you've had so far.

Dig your heels in, if you genuinely feel there is something wrong that is effecting your quality of life, get a second opinion. If they don't want to work with medications they should at least be sending you to mental health professionals who can more confidently make those calls. If you do not feel like your doctor cares about what you are saying, it's time to see a different doctor. It can be difficult and frustrating, but hitting even small breakthroughs is worth the battle. In the meantime, note everything down! Even if you don't want to journal or bear your soul where a doctor can see (🤮) having dates and times where you have tracked the depressive episodes, just how bad they get, panic attacks, how debilitating they are, will have a physical map of your mental health for them to look at. In the meantime you got this💕 it's rough and definitely an uphill battle, but every valley has hilltops around it.