Imagine going through your day feeling like you are drowning while everyone around you is breathing. You go through your daily routine with a heavy force weighing you down, being forced to see the world around you continue to function, almost as if you're watching a movie. What if you went through the motions of your life without being able to really feel, not really living, just being there.
Depression is one of the most prevalent mental illnesses in today's society, and yet it seems like it isn't taken as seriously as it should. As someone who has suffered from depression, self-harm, and anxiety, I would like to dedicate this article to giving you a little insight into what millions of people must suffer through every day. While I am explaining this from my personal experience everyone's depression is different, not everyone suffers the same way.
There is always a negative stigma that comes with living with a mental illness. Some people may treat you differently, some people won't take it seriously. But you can't blame the people around you for not understanding what's going on in your head. What a lot of people don't get is that depression isn't just being sad.
The media portrays it as a dark cartoon cloud or a blob following you around, it's kinda like that. There are good days, everything is going your way and you're happy; but, following close behind, pulling at the back of your shirt is the dark blob. Depression is a constant weight on your chest; never ending tiredness no matter how much you sleep; loss of all motivation and joy for doing things you used to love.
People with depression lose an interest in life, they find everything pointless, like there is no point looking forward to the future. It's like a pit of nothingness inside you. It's a voice in your head feeding you a constant stream of negative thoughts, while its good friend anxiety eggs it on, making you worry about every little thing. Depression causes you to hate yourself so much you wish you had died in your sleep every time you wake up.
In some cases, that self-hatred can lead to self-harm. I'd like to make it very clear that not everyone with depression will self-harm, not every self-harmer is trying to kill themselves, and it is almost never done for attention. For some self-harm is a way to give them control of some sort of pain. Although they may not be able to escape the emotional pain, they can, at least, control the physical pain, almost to distract from the emotional agony.
While depression is different for every person who suffers from it, the degree of their suffering should be taken equally as seriously. Depression is often an overlooked mental illness and is thrown out as someone being over emotional. It is just as serious as any other illness and needs to be taken just as seriously. By becoming more educated on the topic, we will come one step closer to being able to properly help those suffering.
