Recently, I've seen a growth in the number of sad posts on social media. It seems like everyone is sad these days and to best express their true feelings, they end their posts with "#depressed." I have no idea when exactly it became a trend to be depressed or overly sad but it’s getting a bit ridiculous. While not all trends are particularly good, this isn’t one the youths should jump on.

While it is OK to be open about your feelings and why you feel that way, there are some emotions that should be kept private, in my opinion. This is especially true on social media, where there are people with a large following that give off these vibes, it makes it seem like it’s cool to feel this way, which newsflash–it’s not at all. It takes away from those who actually do feel that way and need that support.

Depression, as defined by Mayo Clinic, is “a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. Also called major depressive disorder or clinical depression, it affects how you feel, think and behave and can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems. You may have trouble doing normal day-to-day activities, and sometimes you may feel as if life isn’t worth living.”

Depression is a terrible disorder and as someone who has suffered from depression, it isn’t something that is particularly fun to have. It feels terrible. It makes it difficult to get up in the morning and the symptoms change depending on the person. No matter what, though, it makes life a bit harder and sometimes, not always, it goes hand in hand with anxiety and other disorders.

There is an extreme contrast between being sad and feeling depressed. If you are upset because your mom didn’t buy you what you wanted and you use "#depressed" in a post, I’m upset at you. How dare you take someone’s pain and make it a joke? It is normal to be upset about a family death and situations like that for an elongated amount of time. Those feelings may even develop into depression but it should be professionally diagnosed, not assumed.

Most times people self-harm and hurt themselves because they don’t know how else to treat the situation. So, if you’re upset and want attention, say that. Doing this makes it easier on everyone to understand what's happening with you. The main point being, don’t take the pain of others for granted and don’t make a joke out of others struggles. When it is you on the other side, you will never want someone to make a joke out of your feelings. You don’t know the half of it, so you don’t deserve the attention.