If You Love Someone Who Suffers From Depression, This Is For You
Depression is real. It is serious. It should never be joked about.
There may be days that consist of uncontrollable crying. Other days it may be the inability to get out of bed and face another day.
Being sad is often a temporary feeling and usually associated with a situation. With depression, many times people can't put a finger on it as to why they're feeling depressed.
So, asking a person with depression why they're depressed may be responded with a blank stare, shoulder shrugs, or simply a response of "I don't know".
2. Daily activities become far more difficult.
When someone is depressed, there are many activities, if any, that become almost impossible for someone to do.
Showering, brushing their teeth, or combing their hair is like climbing a mountain. It feels as if every limb is too weak and every activity becomes equivalent to climbing Mount Everest.
3. Suicide, sometimes, feels like the only option for everyone's sake.
Let me be clear about this. Suicidal thoughts are not always present in people who are depressed. It occurs in many people who are depressed but not all.
People with suicidal thoughts or previous attempts may feel that there's no other way to cope with depression day in and day out. They may also feel that depression is affecting those in their lives and the only way to stop that is by suicide.
Suicide is not a selfish act, as many presume. It is literally the scariest and sad mindset to ever be in.
People do not see any alternatives to help themselves and pain they've caused others.
Approximately every 40 seconds, a person commits suicide around the world. So, by the time you're done reading this article, 4 or 5 people around the world are dead by suicide.
Depression is more than the blues. It's considered the leading cause of disability worldwide. Depression needs to be acknowledged by people as a serious condition and stop characterizing it as the blues.
To those of you reading, please take it seriously. When I tell you most people would do anything not to be in that mindset, it is the truth. When I tell you it's not their fault, it's the truth.
Finally, when I tell you many people with depression feel they're causing pain or despair to others, it is the truth and they want nothing more than to take that pain away from you.
To those who suffer from depression, you're not alone. Help is out there as much as you may not believe that. Lastly, people care. As hard as that is to comprehend let alone accept, I am here. Your life is important to me.