Depression runs in my family. And because there's such a stigma against people who have it, I'm afraid to admit that I might possibly have depression. Or maybe it's just a teenages thing. I don't know. All I do know is that I hate feeling like this.
Anonymous
11:44:29 PM
7 comments:
make sure you arent condemned to this disease through self fulfilling prophesy
i hope you do okay
"And because there's such a stigma against people who have it"
Not really. Maybe if you had leprosy or something my might judge (damn lepers!) but depression is just like any other disease. Take a pill. Get normal. Who has to know?
"Nobody cares. Deal."
Wow, jackass, it's people like you who make it so hard for others to admit that they have a problem.
But, anonymous3... depression is much more complicated than, say... the chicken pox. You can't "cure" depression any more than you can "cure" anorexia or any other disorder of the mind. It takes recognition and therapy and a desire to change your life... and hope. It takes all sorts of things to stop depression -- compared to just a disease.
That said, I don't think that the "stigma" of depression should stop you from trying to go to a psychologist or a psychiatrist and seeing if you can work through it.
Those that care about you will still care about you if you're depressed, just as they would if you had leprosy. And that's what really matters, in my opinion. The ideas other people may have about you when they hear that you are depressed are childish and hopefully they will stop once your peers grow up to understand that everyone's life is different, and one mental disorder is not going to change a person into a monster.
"You can't "cure" depression any more than you can "cure" anorexia or any other disorder of the mind."
Sir, that isn't exactly accurate. I'm not going to say that we can "cure" depression, but some kinds of depression are certainly biological disorders, where I feel anorexia is something almost always pyschologically inflicted on oneself, perhaps because of a biological problem but it itself is not said problem, (right?).
"Nobody cares
Deal"
Perhaps the vast majority of the world wouldn't care, but I can name at least 100 people who'd care if I died (and that's most likely an understatement).
First off, I sincerely hope you find a way past the darkness and gloom, OP. It may take a while, it may involve talking to friends or a counselor, but you'll find your path, and people will be tolerant. Just don't feel like you have to go it alone.
Now, onto the second anonymous comment:
"focus on what OTHER people need"
This is probably the only point on which I agree with you, anonymous2.
It's almost always good to look out for others ahead of yourself. This can take many forms - a soup kitchen volunteer, a trusted confidant, or simply a friend with a kind word or deed.
"Nobody cares"
"Deal"
I agree with PChis on this.
While 6 billion people (and some change) may not care if you die, may not know you even lived, there is a significant, though relatively small, population of friends and family who would care deeply if any one of us were to pass away.
Every person's life affects others in irreplaceable ways - be it one other person, a dozen, a hundred, or a million.
Wellll pchis. I mean... depression is somewhat slippery. You can take medicine and feel happy, but if you stop taking medicine it will come back -- you aren't cured. You can go to therapy and try to find the cause of your depression and use that to make a change in yourself, but that's not a cure either.
To briefly use an analogy for the second way of dealing with depression:
It's like if you had AIDS, and you worried and were sad and scared. But then you went and talked to someone about just who you caught it from, and the circumstances became clear. And then if with those clear circumstances you were able to move your body to reject the AIDS virus.
That's why I don't consider psychological consultation a 'cure' for depression.
But I still love you, pchis.
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