Depression looks like a laughing mother playing with her children but can’t get out of bed when they go off to school. It looks like a comedian making a a stadium full of people go into hysterical laughter but going home and drinking his hidden sadness away. Looks like a friend that has slowly lost the light in their eyes or will to do the fun things you guys used to. Or a coworker that does perfect work but behind closed doors can’t get themselves to shower or eat or find the will to live.
You see depression doesn’t just look like one thing. It can look like anything because it is a matter of how you feel not how you look. It is a lot of the time suffering in silence. People mistake depression for just being sad. It isn’t just sadness that the next day you’ll feel better. Depression can feel like an emptiness that you can’t fill no matter how hard you try.
According to the American Psychiatrist Association, “Depression is a common and series medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think, and how you act.” Is depression a choice? Are we just lazy losers that don’t want to get out of bed and we just choose to be sad? Absolutely not. Depression is not a choice and it’s a real feeling. You don’t always have to have a textbook reason to suffer from depression.
Anybody can suffer from depression. It does not discriminate. People are confused when they see for instance celebrities suffering from depression or going as far as committing suicide. We see them as people that have everything. It’s not true, they have an ongoing battle in their mind or lack something we don’t know about. You could have the best support system, all the money and still be depressed. Depression primarily has to do with your thought patterns, things you’ve been through, a chemical imbalance and or a personal/family history of depression.
There are events in life that can cause depression like health issues, relationships, stressful life events, or loss. People that don’t understand depression think its a choice. They will say things like “Just be happy” or “You are ungrateful.” They may think they are trying to be helpful but their lack of understanding makes the sufferer feel guilty and worse.
Depression is a physical feeling it is not just psychological or a sad day. You will feel physical feelings like muscle aches or fatigue. You may feel things like everything is moving in slow motion or you are disconnected from your body/reality. Maybe you catch yourself sleeping all day.
Depression feels like you are drowning and when you go to scream nothing comes out. You feel exhausted, moody, hopeless, a burden, unloved, unwelcome, hungry or not hungry at all and most of all you feel a great loss of things in life.
It is an ongoing intense hopelessness and despair. Depression is different in every single person. There are people who hide it and you would have no idea they are suffering. They go about their day smiling but inside they feel completely broken, lost and utterly miserable. There are people who get exhausted at the thought of even having to get out of bed. They may not talk to anybody or just sit and think of ways they could end this torment.
Depression isn’t just sadness, depression may feel like you are in a hole and without the proper tools and help, every time you try to climb out you feel like you slip and fall right back down. It can even sometimes be mistaken for laziness.
Hang in there. You are not alone and help is out there. You may be suffering with depression and not even realize it. I know it can be hard to ask for help because you may not even have the urge to get help but there is more to life than this rough time in your life. It is never too late.
There is a better future where you don’t feel like garbage and so low. We can’t get better with the same thinking that got us in the depression. We have to do something different and that usually means reaching out for help. It takes a team of support to help get us get back on our feet. Your thoughts are whats hurting you the most. You are worth help, you are not a burden and you are worth a good life. The first step is telling yourself that.
You got this! You are tough, you are strong and you can conquer this time in your life no matter how hard it is.
What do you guys think? Have you ever struggled with depression? Do you have any advice? Leave it all in the comments below!
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