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Have you tried not being depressed?
Sep. 10th, 2018 05:50 pmToday is national suicide prevention day. Where suicide is discussed along with possible strategies to help people who might be contemplating ending their lives.
I can tell you that when one has depression, it can be hard to explain why what one person did that helped them is not particularly helpful in this case.
We have bookshelves in libraries and bookstores with self-help books on how to feel happy/better/at peace. And for some people these give them the tools that they need to help themselves so they feel better. I applaud those people for finding what works for them and publish it trying to help others. Some of it can sound like snake-oil but if it stops someone from killing themselves then it is useful.
I remember years ago I told someone about the fact that I got the Winter Blues, now know as Seasonal Affected Disorder, and they said to me, “Have you tried not feeling depressed?” then went on a lecture of it all being in my head and with the power of positive thinking I could over come my ‘sad’ feeling. This is when positive thinking was the stock answer for anything that went wrong in one’s life.
I listened and nodded at the right spots then got the hell away from that person.
Depression is not a switch you can turn off and on at will. Depression is not an inconvenience that you can just put aside so you can get things done.
There are times that I am depressed and it makes no sense if you look at it from the outside. Things are going my way. I have a good life. There is so much I am blessed with. The list goes on and on and I have heard this before.
But that’s depression. There is no rhyme or reason to it.
When there is a reason people are more sympathetic with your situation. And that is situational depression where you can point to the reason you are not happy.
But I have depression that I can see the roots of but it makes no sense why I cannot just snap out of it. I can see what I have but I really don’t care at that point. I have to push to get up and get dressed and pay attention to hygiene and the dishes and food choices…the list feels endless.
It is here that chemistry comes into play. My brain is not making the connections needed and anti-depressants can bring me back to the middle so I can deal with the world around me. Better living through chemistry as one of my friends says.
Also by this point I have a mental tool box that I use when I recognize that I am going down into that dark hole. I can usually bring myself back to functioning adult. Again what works for me might not work for someone else. This is how I deal with my brain.
I put these out there in hopes that it will be the thing that turns it around for someone.
I am grateful for those things I have learned that help me out of the pit of despair.
I can tell you that when one has depression, it can be hard to explain why what one person did that helped them is not particularly helpful in this case.
We have bookshelves in libraries and bookstores with self-help books on how to feel happy/better/at peace. And for some people these give them the tools that they need to help themselves so they feel better. I applaud those people for finding what works for them and publish it trying to help others. Some of it can sound like snake-oil but if it stops someone from killing themselves then it is useful.
I remember years ago I told someone about the fact that I got the Winter Blues, now know as Seasonal Affected Disorder, and they said to me, “Have you tried not feeling depressed?” then went on a lecture of it all being in my head and with the power of positive thinking I could over come my ‘sad’ feeling. This is when positive thinking was the stock answer for anything that went wrong in one’s life.
I listened and nodded at the right spots then got the hell away from that person.
Depression is not a switch you can turn off and on at will. Depression is not an inconvenience that you can just put aside so you can get things done.
There are times that I am depressed and it makes no sense if you look at it from the outside. Things are going my way. I have a good life. There is so much I am blessed with. The list goes on and on and I have heard this before.
But that’s depression. There is no rhyme or reason to it.
When there is a reason people are more sympathetic with your situation. And that is situational depression where you can point to the reason you are not happy.
But I have depression that I can see the roots of but it makes no sense why I cannot just snap out of it. I can see what I have but I really don’t care at that point. I have to push to get up and get dressed and pay attention to hygiene and the dishes and food choices…the list feels endless.
It is here that chemistry comes into play. My brain is not making the connections needed and anti-depressants can bring me back to the middle so I can deal with the world around me. Better living through chemistry as one of my friends says.
Also by this point I have a mental tool box that I use when I recognize that I am going down into that dark hole. I can usually bring myself back to functioning adult. Again what works for me might not work for someone else. This is how I deal with my brain.
I put these out there in hopes that it will be the thing that turns it around for someone.
I am grateful for those things I have learned that help me out of the pit of despair.
