Depression Misconceptions

Depression is an experience I can’t describe in a sentence. Sometimes you know the causes, sometimes you don’t. Sometimes the triggers are identifiable, sometimes not. People are always looking for these things to be explained in logical terms. 

The problem is that, very often, what a depressed person feels and experiences isn’t logical. In order to help people who are depressed, we must first learn to accept that it doesn’t always make the strictest “sense”. 

Accepting this will take us a long way. And of course, we have to understand that it’s not okay to get testy because you don’t “get” whatever a depressed person is telling you that they experience; often, they themselves don’t “get” what they’re feeling either.

Depression is not a fantasy fiction story. It isn’t like people who are depressed have seen “depression” on the internet or on a television and thought, “Oh, this looks fashionable; let me try it out.” It happens. It hits you. 

Sometimes you don’t even know what it’s called when it does. It’s not something that makes us look cool, tortured and artsy. It’s something that occasionally may want to make you end your own life. Suicide isn’t trendy.

Diagnoses are difficult; do you know why? Because nobody’s going to cut open your brain or heart and say, “Oh, this is what’s physically happening, tangibly, that makes your intangible emotions do what they’re doing.” 

Psychologists and psychiatrists can usually only understand whatever is happening with us based on what we reveal about ourselves. 

So you might want to take your time before you slander people whom you believe have “self-diagnosed”. If you can’t even begin to imagine exactly what someone else is feeling, that’s a sign that your perception of what they’re feeling and why is probably wrong already.

-Akotowaa