“If you’re depressed, reach out to someone. And remember, suicide is a permanent solution, to a temporary problem.”
– Robin Williams
Depression is an illness. Period. It is not just making a mountain out of a molehill. It’s an illness, one which like any other, requires medication. It is the 21st century and yet, we hesitate to talk about such important aspects. We live in a country which rates very highly on suicides due to depression and anxiety, yet, we live in fear of society. They tell you to hush it up, YOU SCREAM IT OUT. It’s not something one should be ashamed about! Do you hide the fact that you are injured? Do you say ‘oh, it’ll be fine’ and continue without medication?
If you have a broken foot, you don’t keep walking on it, you seek treatment to get better. Your mental health is just as important.
If you were a cancer patient, would you be berating yourself for having cancer?
If not, then why is it any different for your mental illnesses?
Sonder (an unofficial word) —
The realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own—populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness—an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk.
Think about this and then, remember that what you see is nothing more than a façade; you don’t know what their inner turmoil may be. Depressed people don’t radiate depression. They look like normal people. They don’t have a black cloud over their heads or a sign around their necks…
You know when people say mean things about you but it doesn’t affect you? Well, sometimes, the nice, appreciations don’t have any effect on you: you feel that everyone is being overly nice and they don’t really mean it.
What you need to remember is that it doesn’t matter what others say— what matters is what you think about yourself. If you wouldn’t say something about others, then you shouldn’t say that to yourself either!
I’d like to end this with a short anecdote:
“A psychologist walked around a room while teaching stress management to an audience. As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected they’d be asked the “half empty or half full” question. Instead, with a smile on her face, she inquired: “How heavy is this glass of water?”
Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz.
She replied, “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my arm. If I hold it for a day, my arm will feel numb and paralyzed. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn’t change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.”
She continued, “The stresses and worries in life are like that glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and they begin to hurt. And if you think about them all day long, you will feel paralyzed – incapable of doing anything.”
Remember to put the glass down.”
I like this!