I didn't talk about my depression & anxiety for a long time. I would bury it & pretend it wasn't there. It seemed like admitting defeat or acknowledging weakness if I talked about it.
Little by little I have become more comfortable talking about it. There are a lot of misconceptions & so many people don't understand it. [Think: all the people who tell me to just "be happy."]
I've had the opportunity recently to talk to two different people who have a loved one struggling with depression. I hope that my being open about my own struggle can, at least in some minor way, help these other people with theirs.
As I sit on the other side of it, trying to put into words what it is to be depressed, I realize that in a way I am grateful that I know what it is like. I am grateful because I can tell people who have no idea, who could not start to understand, how it works. I can tell them that it is hard & you want to help but sometimes that doesn't help. I think people expect there to be a quick fix to everything and depression is definitely not something with a quick fix.
I've learned that & have embraced that it will be a lifelong struggle. Hopefully I will continue to get better at coping & handling it & recognizing when I am starting to be depressed so I can combat it, but as my therapist recently said, the possibility will always be there.
One of the people said that I seem fine now! I was slightly offended at first, as if I didn't seem fine before, but I guess it is not a bad thing that someone sees me and thinks that I am handling it versus being handled.
Little by little I have become more comfortable talking about it. There are a lot of misconceptions & so many people don't understand it. [Think: all the people who tell me to just "be happy."]
I've had the opportunity recently to talk to two different people who have a loved one struggling with depression. I hope that my being open about my own struggle can, at least in some minor way, help these other people with theirs.
As I sit on the other side of it, trying to put into words what it is to be depressed, I realize that in a way I am grateful that I know what it is like. I am grateful because I can tell people who have no idea, who could not start to understand, how it works. I can tell them that it is hard & you want to help but sometimes that doesn't help. I think people expect there to be a quick fix to everything and depression is definitely not something with a quick fix.
I've learned that & have embraced that it will be a lifelong struggle. Hopefully I will continue to get better at coping & handling it & recognizing when I am starting to be depressed so I can combat it, but as my therapist recently said, the possibility will always be there.
One of the people said that I seem fine now! I was slightly offended at first, as if I didn't seem fine before, but I guess it is not a bad thing that someone sees me and thinks that I am handling it versus being handled.
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