“It’s all in your mind, don’t be sad for silly reasons”
“Why are you exaggerating things?”
“That’s life, learn to deal with it.”
Often these are the kind of responses one gets, after showing signs of depression. Little do we realize, that no person finds happiness in being in a disturbed state of mind, there must be a strong reason that they have become that way.
Depression is not when you complain about anything and everything ongoing in life.
Depression is when you are in a room full of people, yet feel the need to be solitary because you have lost interest in socializing.
Depression is when you still have to convince/coax yourself to sleep at night, inspite of being exhausted, after keeping yourself over-occupied during the day.
Depression is the pinch you feel when you are walking down the roads alone and you see a group of friends hanging out together; or how a once-cheerful girl doesn’t remember when she smiled last; or a once extrovert man has confined himself to the four walls of his room; or when your favourite colour is not your favourite colour anymore ‘coz you have now lost interest in colours.
Extreme streaks where you constantly feel that things are going (or even worse, HAVE GONE) out of hand;
The pinch that you feel with each of these incidents.. that is depression.
And just to clarify, this is not about just a period of one week or one month, there is more to it. It is feeling suffocated, or feeling consumed on the inside.. The agony repeatedly eating your peace of mind in a manner that it becomes a part of your day.
It is really an illness, and the person suffering from it may not even show all the signs to his immediate family/friends. But of questions, of what good are our loved ones if they can’t even recognize such significant changes?
In some cases, relationships itself become a reason of depression.
If you know somebody who is showing even the slightest signs of depression, then try to be there for them. You don’t have to take them to therapists, that is too far and sometimes the person won’t even reach that stage if he/she has this support they’re craving for.
An all-hearing ear, a helping hand, a reliable shoulder, a kind tongue- these are things which can matter like a huge deal at such a delicate mind state. It takes a very humane and understanding heart to empathize and lend a helping hand.
This is right from the horse’s mouth. Take my word.