Let me start by saying this article isn't saying you don't get to be sad. This isn't about not letting you declare your emotions. This is about how you broadcast it.
We've all heard it before: "I'm so depressed." Whether you are the type of person that takes that kind of statement and asks what's wrong or you are the type to just brush it off, these words have come up in your life. The word "depressed" is used so loosely that people forget the severity of actually being depressed.
Some might say, "It's just a joke. Lighten up." However, being "so depressed" isn't a joke to those professionally diagnosed with depression. They don't find having a mental illness that affects their lives physically and mentally in a negative way a joke. They don't see the hilarity of having to take medication to do simple functions because their mind is telling them they aren't worth anything. They don't find that having to go talk to someone professionally weekly about how they feel better after they hurt themselves and how they are ready die chuckle worthy.
Everyone has problems, no matter how big or small they are. If someone's problem is that their phone is broken, well, it's still a problem. It may not be as big of a problem as someone who has the flu at the moment, but the broken phone is what pertains and is occupying that one person's life at the moment. I get it. Sometimes problems seem detrimental even when they are small problems, but please don't say that it has made you "depressed." You using the term depressed so loosely really minimizes what I and many others go through daily and not just in situations of crisis.
Major depressive disorder affects about 14.8 million American adults in a given year. That's about 6.7 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older. That's also only the reported people. Imagine how many people are suffering, yet haven't told anyone or sought out help. One out of every eight children has depression. Whether you are aware or not, you most likely know someone who has depression.
When others joke about stuff like "I'm going to kill myself" while mimicking a gun shooting at their head or jokingly saying "I'm going to start cutting" while mimicking themself slitting your wrist, they don't realize how insensitive they are being. As someone who has major depression, I've gone through all the typical things you hear. All of us who have it do. Some of us cope with it better than others. We can handle your remarks, but that still doesn't make it funny or OK. You joking about killing yourself is definitely not funny, because people with depression have really thought about killing themselves to end the suffering. Most cut themselves to help with the pain they are going through. But please, don't let our very real problems keep you from joking about it because it's so funny to feel the need to harm and slice your own skin open to find a temporary escape from reality and the pain.
For me personally, depression has many times completely undermined my ability to do anything. I couldn't do even the simplest things like getting up to go to the bathroom or even getting dressed. All I could do was lie in bed and just cry and cry and cry. My depression has made me miss out in so many opportunities in life like meeting new people, learning in classrooms and accepting any offers that could better my life. So when you say that you are "depressed" when you aren't, it really hurts. It makes it harder for people to take depression seriously.
This doesn't just pertain to depression. There are so many other illness that are used in our dialect that get their meaning diminished. For example, OCD and ADD. Just think about it the next time you want to say, "I'm so depressed" or "You're so OCD" because trust me when I say this, you don't want to really be. You really don't want to lose friends. You don't want to not function. You don't want to feel helpless all the time. You don't.
So I leave you with one question,
Are you really "so depressed"?
