Depression
Depression can have us feeling alone in the world even though we know we aren’t.
"They just want/need attention.", "Why don't you spend time with your friends?", "Get over it.", "They are so dramatic.". These are all things that I have heard people say when describing someone that suffers from depression. What they fail to realize is that it is more than these comments or questions. Depression is not a choice or just being sad. Depression can be a debilitating weight that comes out of nowhere. One minute you're having the best day of your life, and in a split second you feel like you don't deserve any of it and just want to be alone in the darkness of your mind or more literally in a dark room alone. You question everything about yourself and the intention of those that love you. Depression holds all the power when it sneaks out of its cage.
I am not intending to “bash” those that make the comments or ask the questions mentioned earlier. People don’t know what they don’t know. My intention is purely to help people understand thata depression is more than just sadness or feeling down.
What we know about depression is that it can stem from a few different sources and not everyone who suffers from it has the same source. Depression can come from biological traits or family genes, traumatic experiences, upbringing, personality traits, cultural stigma/discrimination, or not having a strong social support system and many more. How depression develops in us depends largely on us as individuals. What are our coping skills like? Does our family have a history of it? Do we have a strong support system? These are a few questions that we can ask ourselves to better reflect on our own predisposition to depression.
Depression may also be a symptom of a larger issue. Many times people that have depression also suffer from another diagnosis or the depression is actually stemming from another diagnosis. Things like Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Postpartum Depression, Schizophrenia or even substance use and abuse are a couple of things that may cause or intensify depression symptoms.
So, how do we fix it? Well, we don’t. The fact of the matter is that if we have depression in our lives or are predisposed to it, it is not ever going anywhere. Don’t lose hope though, we can manage it. Through therapy, medication management, building our coping skills and support systems, we can tame the beast that is depression. You don't have to fight it alone. Let me join you and we can "put it back in the cage" together. Contact me for a free 15 minute consultation to see if I would be a good fit for you.