We all face events in life that try our spirits. Sickness, death, financial trouble, denials, divorce, conflicts in relationships: all of these things cause despair. In those dark hours it may be hard to find someone to trust, someone who will listen. In our society we largely expect people to pick themselves up by their own bootstraps and stand unassisted on their own feet. I recognize the value in that colloquialism, but where did that expression come from? Has anyone actually ever literally picked themselves up by the bootstraps? No. You’d end up on your back, but back to the point, sometimes overcoming depression requires more than just “snapping out of it.”
Merriam-Webster gives the definition of depression as “a psychoneurotic or psychotic disorder marked especially by sadness, inactivity, difficulty in thinking and concentration, a significant increase or decrease in appetite and time spent sleeping, feelings of dejection and hopelessness, and sometimes suicidal tendencies.” Depression can be mild, a state of mind that comes like a mood but dissipates with time and finding favor in life, or it can be deep and heavy requiring much more than time.
Everyone faces mild depression at some point in their life. Many people have moments when they just want to die and be done with their troubles. Then fortunes change, laughter comes, and the world’s bleakness slowly becomes brighter. This is the kind of depression that a majority of people relate to. Experiences with mild depression may be a factor in some people’s callousness toward major depression. Comparing symptoms, feelings, and resolutions associated with mild depression doesn’t help those who live in a state of major depression. Passing judgements associated with one’s lack in ability to come out of a state of depression only serves to deepen depression.
Sometimes the best thing you can do for a friend or family member is to listen to their concerns and suggest they seek professional help. Seeking help doesn’t make one crazy or an outcast. Seeking help shows that a depressed individual values life and acknowledges the need for help to get over whatever plateau they’re facing. There’s no shame in that.
I read an opinion piece that stated the difficulty of living that some people experience. And I can’t disagree, sometimes life is hard to live through. Sometimes it’s hard to find a reason to go on. For that reason we should afford a little more consideration and time for our loved ones and strangers that we interact with from day to day. Let’s make the act of living a little easier on one another. Let’s enable one another to find a reason for life.
If you’d like to read more on this subject, then check out an excellent article on Jen Reviews: A Blueprint When Feeling Blue: How A Mental Health Diagnosis Can Be Empowering.