Skip to main content

Depression: The importance of support groups


It wasn't until I experienced it that I understood how harmful and “deadly” it was.

It was like falling down a bottomless pit, if that makes sense, you're looking for something to hold on to and there's nothing.

I was scared, probably more scared than I've ever been. Especially when I found a way out and fell back right into it.

It became a sort of cycle, come to think of it, I now have a better understanding of why people fall into all sorts of addictions when they're depressed.

I didn't know where to find help, who to talk to or how to help myself.

How do you explain something you don't even understand?

Something our society considers embarrassing, we hardly talk about depression and the negative effects it has on people.

Where does one go to when they're depressed?

I'd love to see more help centers that people can walk into or call to speak to a specialist.

I'd also love for our society to openly discuss Depression. As a people, we need to learn more about depression, so we can reach out to people who suffer from it.

There is this awesome support group called “Purple People” for people who have or have had depression, anxiety and related conditions.

We need more of such support groups.
Depression is one battle you can't fight alone.

Laurie.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Female Sexual Coercion: How Women really feel

I am 40 years old, I promise you! Well yes I have only literally lived for a quarter of a century but I swear, I am 40. Or more. I say this because some of the time, or a lot of the time I feel like I have seen too much for my age. More recently I have learned that our experiences lead us somewhere good when we let them. I have seen mine do just that and it makes me thankful, not to say to have experienced them was a good thing, but that it turned out alright after all. I wouldn’t wish that any woman goes through even a hair’s breadth of it. I seem not be clear about exactly what this is about right? I know, I actually have so much in my head right now I probably have to slow down and take them one after the other, and so I’d do just that. This is only part one.    I am writing this about women, but I’d wish for everyone, irrespective of gender, to read because it is so important, I believe. It is the matter of coercion. From what it entails (its definition) to how ...

Women, Marriage, Child Birth and The Blackmailing Older Generation in Ghana

S ome years back, in my late teens, I always told myself I’d get married before I was 23. The thought of being able to enjoy life with my companion in holy matrimony without being pressed (physically, psychologically, or biologically) for children was ideal. I wanted to travel the world. Know people. See places. For my partner and I to get our act together before creating and bringing life into this world.   Maybe the motivation came from knowing my parents discovered each other and started life together quite early. My mother had me when she was barely 21. Three kids down the line, my dad is now in his late 40s, with my mom, a little behind. Definitely, the ‘young old couple’ thingy is attractive. But. I’m currently in my mid-20s. And unmarried. So many things replaced the desire for me to tie the knot before 23. I realized, somehow, that there was no rush. My priorities had shifted. There was education, a lot of growing up to do, and basically life! And there was also ...

Rape Is Not Just Sex. It Is a Crime of Power and You Don’t Tell Victims To ‘Just Get Over It.’

Photo Credit: Vox.com What most people do not understand is that rape is not something you just ‘get over’. No, it does not work that way. When the choice of consent is snatched from beneath you, it is a violation of not just your body but your mind too. Rape, is like a robbery in which something is taken forcefully from you with every unconsented thrust. Yet unlike robbery where items taken can be replaced, rape takes away parts of you that can never be replaced, only learned to live with. When a person is raped, it isn’t just the body that has been invaded but also the mind. And this unwarranted invasion can lead to a thrashing of a person’s mental health. Walls get broken and victims without the right help and counselling may never get around to becoming who they used to be. Their present comes to a standstill and the future turns to gloom. Some dire psychological effects of this violation may even be that victims may be broken to such abysmal levels that they acce...