Moving Forward

Question 1: How did you feel when you were diagnosed with depression?

Josselyn: I felt that it explained a lot of what I was dealing with. I never really knew what depression was, but when the doctor was talking to me about it it made so much sense. I was upset a bit because I didn’t, and still don’t, want to be known as that girl with depression or have my family members disregard my actions as me being depressed.

Question 2: Before being diagnosed, did you have a feeling that you had depression?

Josselyn: I never really felt that I had depression, I just thought that I was having mood swings. I am going through so much in my life that I just thought I felt that way because of the stress.

Question 3: In what ways have you learned to cope or distract yourself from feeling depressed?

Josselyn: Well, being an entrepreneur is one of the ways that I keep myself busy. I am a make-up consultant, financial aid advisor, and work at seven eleven. I think that the more I work, the more that I am able to keep myself occupied. It is crazy at times, but I love it.

Question 4: Are there ways or places that trigger your depression? If so what are they?

Josselyn: No, not really. It’s more of a feeling. I will be fine and happy, and then within in second I will be sad. It’s just something that I have to deal with. But yes there are times when I find myself sad. For instance, whenever I get reminded of my ex. He was someone really special to me. When I was told to move out, I packed my things and saw the huge box of letters and gifts that I kept from him. Whenever I look at those things I can’t help but feel overwhelmed with sadness.

Question 5: How do you calm yourself down when you are in a depressed state?

Josselyn: I find many things soothing whether or not if I am depressed. I love my cat Ceaser, he has been with me throughout many break-ups, many jobs, and when I was kicked out of my house. I love to be with him because he always calms me down. I also love makeup. I love that I can sit there and do whatever look I want. The fact that I can be alone with my makeup makes me happy. There are no rules to how it has to be done, and I think that is what makes me love it so much.

Question 6: In what ways do you feel that your medication helps you or doesn’t?

Josselyn: I feel that the medication I am taking does help me at times, but there are occasions where it makes it tougher. For instance, it works very well to help me sleep at night, so I am not thinking about the day I just had and all my worries. The times where it doesn’t is at nighttime. There are times when I take it at night and it makes my insomnia worse. I will stay up till four in the morning sometimes. It’s hard, but it’s what I have to go through.

Question 7: What interest have you loved to do, but seemed to lose interest in?

Josselyn: Um, well I liked to spend time with my family every Sunday to watch the walking dead. We would gather up, make dinner, and watch the show. We would talk and make jokes about how ridiculous it was that these people plans were. It was nice that we spent so much time together as we never really had time to meet up throughout the week. It was a day of fun memories that I won’t forget. But yeah, that’s what I really miss.