?You know, in the twenties, a few months before I found myself with a new prefix, I realized that stress had been inside me for a long time. As a result of school, career, personal and family problems, I had treated the symptoms of stress with medication, which I don't even want to name, despite the fact that anyone in my situation understands what it's all about. word.
Anyway, I'm writing to you for another purpose. I said above that stress was destroying me, and I didn't even realize that until one day, in a debate, someone approached me with "look, I'm getting depressed and that's how you do". That sentence served to get me through searches, the internet, brochures, and realize that I was actually depressed.
I'm not talking about what happened next because I suspect it's worth it. For me, without getting too long, it is important that people, those who are not depressed but have a friend or family member suffering from this serious illness, know how to behave. It's not easy, I understand, but at least try.
People who are depressed are like children who need someone to help them walk before they run.
During a time when my mind was really a big mess, it was occasionally suggested that I "go out of my way" to do so. I want people to understand that this letter is not about a day. It's not even a matter of days. They are weeks and months away. Maybe years. So don't tell someone with depression to go out and have fun. To make sure it is not helping her at all.
"Until now, give yourself strength," one friend wrote to me. I understand he tried to give me courage, but I wouldn't want to tell him anyway. So "inspirational" words just hit my face that maybe I wasn't doing enough.
I would also like them not to be told that they "knew how I felt and understood me". How? "You've never been depressed," I howled inside me. How the hell can you know ?! I would like people to understand that feelings are not the same. People face it and experience it differently.
My whole life trying to help me, unable to help me, kept telling me "why should you be depressed?" For him, I didn't miss anything. Right, I had all the material. But how could I explain that they didn't fit me? That I felt empty? I just wish he hadn't told me.
For my mother, "I had life ahead". Right, but would she be called depressed? Not for me. Again I hoped he wouldn't mention me as a sentence anymore.
If you are wondering what I would like to have been told, it would probably be best for at least one to handle my situation the way it was, without minimizing it.
People with depression need no remorse but support. They need someone to tell them that they trust them. Sometimes you just need a warm shoulder, without having to say anything.
To close, am I depressed today? I do not know. I guess I managed. Today, I feel good and I love life.
Depression for me and many other people, is a beast that sleeps in a dark corner of the soul. Me and they try every day not to wake him up. ?- written by an anonymous girl for Anabel; edited by Anabel on the occasion of World Mental Health Awareness Day.
