Stress related or Depression?

We’ve all heard that saying, “It’s not what happens to you in life that counts, It’s how you deal with it that counts.” Right? Well that got me thinking….

I know this girl. She’s a great person, nice to be around and has a great heart. She really cares about what happens to other people. She has a great sunny personality…when things are going good.

On the other hand, as soon as things start getting tough, as soon as stress is factored into her life, she becomes a totally different person. The “Devil” in her comes out.

Recently, she has been under a lot of stress “again” and this little devil has overtaken her personality. From the nice person she is, to a royal pain in the _ _ _! Nobody wants to be around her. Nobody can talk to her because she will just argue with you no matter what the subject or the reasoning.

I feel sorry for her because I know she can’t help it. She just plain get so overwhelmed by this negative anger (is there positive anger?) that she doesn’t know what to do about it. She is aware of it while it’s happening but can’t control it. Isn’t that one of the worse feelings in the world: being in a situation where you have absolutely no control over it?

No, it’s not PMS as I’m sure some of you are thinking. I can count on it happening every week or two and lasting from a day to five days. Could it be that “chemical imbalance” I was talking about in a previous post? She thinks so. Could it be her diet? She doesn’t think so. (She does eat well) Could it just plain be that she is someone who can’t deal with stress once it reaches a certain level and it takes a while before the pressure resides again? Perhaps she is afraid of something and the stress brings it to the forefront? Or is it something, some long unresolved issue deep inside her that is released time and again when the chemicals within our body change due to? I have talked to her many times about this situation, with suggestions ranging from meditation, positive thinking, quit smoking and other alternative treatments etc... No luck. She has even, in the past, seen “doctors”, from mainstream to holistic, but with the same results. To sum it up, all the various attempts she has tried to curtail these “explosions”, have all failed.

I’ve even suggested that maybe it’s a learning opportunity. Maybe this is a chance for the soul to grow by overcoming this challenge confronting her. Remember, spiritual growth is obtained by overcoming our challenges and fears. And occasionally, on our path to growth, the soul will conjure up opportunities specifically for us to confront and challenge in order to attain that growth.

Or, maybe, it’s actually an opportunity for me to overcome one of my “weaknesses” and she is just the unfortunate messenger? MMMmmm….

What do you think?

Is this stress related or....Clinical Depression....or.....