Who else on the Tenerife Forum suffers from depression?

[Synchronicity]

Well it is my intention to start a deep & lasting thread, rather than something along the lines of "where in Tenerife can I buy shower curtain rings?"

I'm sure that we all know that moving to another country is just SUCH a big life change; unfortunately, we usually don't realise the magnitude of exactly what we've gotten ourselves into until it's too late. In my experience, moving here was about 10x more difficult than I could ever have imagined. Perhaps moreso.

I have a theory: in my opinion, recent expats have a high risk of becoming clinically depressed. So hands up everyone who has had a bout of depression!

More specifically, what was your situation? I'd like to know whether your outlook worsened after moving here, or if indeed it improved? What were the most important (or rather significant) factors? Your employment? Relationship difficulties? Change of Culture? Did the weather play a role? Eg: sunny South vs typically gloomy England. Did you make the move solo? Have you learned Spanish? Do you really feel at home here? Have you truly settled in?

For me, moving here definitely made this horrible latent condition rise to the surface. I just want to say I really struggled in the first 6 months. I fell into a terrible state: a huge, long-lasting rut of self pity, seemingly with no escape.

Living in Australia, I was the typical [ignorant] person who could never hope to truly "understand" depression itself, always relying on positive thinking no matter what the circumstances. And boy have I changed now.

It hasn't escaped my attention that many of you speak so darn positively of Tenerife... that your lives have changed for the better, and for some reason I still have this negative future image of Tenerife.

I wonder why this is so? Is it because the weather in the North is constantly shrouded in a layer of cloud cover? (You might laugh at this, but apparantly La Palma has the highest suicide rate in the whole of Spain -and it's always cloudy- is there a connection?) Could that actually have something to do with it? Is it because my family in Australia couldn't physically be further away? Is it the lower standard of living? I should explain that although my lifestyle (whatever that means) has improved I make WAY less money than I did in OZ. Or could it be something more sinister: could it have something to do with learning another language (i.e. brain reorganisation, being dominated more by the right-side emotional hemisphere)? Is it a combination of all of these factors?

It's the disease of the 21st century. So tell me your stories and make comments!!
Too much speculation?

[special_k]

well what a great thread this is going to be........ive suffered since i was 18 .people look at me as if im jolly happy and cant understand why i suffer from it ..
first exp it in 1982 after having my daughter .anxiety and panic attacks .so on and off for yrs ..
Ive actually had a few bad months here with it recently ..husband thinks im a freak ..crying all the time .cant face going out at times ..but i do try to look on the bright side so many other people with terriable problems life threatning ..mines all in the head !! im not really a depressive person but it does occur .ive actually felt better beeing out here .not alot else ican say ..but it is in me for what ever reason !!!!!!!!!!!
Im sure sun light helps i was only talking to my renter this morning nd saying the sun light helps .sounds terriable to say but my dear mother died 10/09/ 01 shed been ill for yrs .the next day we had 9/11 and that put it into perspetive if anyone can understand that ..the doc changed my pills i was on and i have been on them till 4 months ago .i dont have any and i just stopped well actually i have 2 left and if i feel the need i will cut them in 4 .but i dont think i will need them !!!

[Mike]

Interesting that you should mention overcast conditions and depression.
My wife also suffers from depression which is agravated by winter/dark conditions.
We still live in the UK so there are bound to be more of those conditions over here.
As to depression and Tenerife, I am sure that moving to another country is fraught with psyhcological and mental problems.
We have been to Tenerife three times in the last 18 months, soon to be four, as we are coming over again in September.
We have also discussed the possibility of moving there permanently or part-time but this is still very much in the air.
I hope forum members will keep this serious so that those who do have a problem with depression may be helped.

[special_k]

mike im sure your wife will feel so much better out here .more day light has certainly made a diffrence to me ..good luck to your wife

[Mike]

Thanks for that.
I know it's a big step for anyone, but our biggest problem is cash, or lack of it, as we don't own our home and we can't really see a way to making that jump.
We have though of entertaining as we are both singers and musicians and, really, that is the only viable option we have.

[boro gal]

hi helhod,

i don't think people who suffer with depression, should feel guilty, as you said, cos it's all in the head, and other people have life threatning illness's..

i think that people still frown upon, the illness depression, and it's a taboo illness....in my opinion, suffering with depression can be worse than, say having cancer.. the reason being is, others seem to have more sympathy for people who have an illness that they can relate to....people can't see depression, and lots of people don't understand it, some think, that if a person suffers with a mental illness then they are mad, my mother has suffered with depression all my life, and it's had a terrible effect on my childhood..


i think some people should look at depression with the same sypmathy as any other illness..

[Sunny 1]

What a great thread this is. I have family who have suffered depression/mental illness, it is indeed true, because you cannot see this illness & you can see a physical one, it is less, almost dismissed as ' pull yourself together' if the sufferer has the 'black cloud' over them it is the worst thing to say, it cannot be turned on & off, it is not imaginary, it is a true, debilitating illness, if affects also the family too.
I was told by a consultant when my family member was ill, it is a chemical imbalance of serotonin a neurotransmitter of the 'feel good' chemical we all can produce naturally. In depressive personalities the production is faulty. So medication is prescribed to correct this. Also S.A.D.S (seasonal adjusted disorder syndrome, lack of sunlight) can be a serious factor. Studies have shown that for example, Scandinavia has a higher suicide rate than the rest of Europe due to the sun/daylight hours being reduced there, compared to the rest of Europe, that in its self speak volumes.
What saddens me most is that people suffer in silence, pretending they are ok, due to the stigma attached to such an illness, this compounds the problem. Organisations such as 'MIND' are helping to gradually remove this but they have along way to go to change a centuries old attitude to an illness that now days can be improved somewhat for the sufferer with correct medication.

[blue marlin]

Was not depressed as such in the UK but boy now do I feel it having moved here for what I thought would be a better life

most days I feel very down and think what the heck have I done If I could have my time again I would not have done it but now I am at the between a rock and a hard place

Wish I had never heard of the word bureaucracy

[Mike]

How long have you been in Tenerife Blue Marlin?

[blue marlin]

feels like forever but since December