Too many people suffer in silence.
Too many people bury their feelings under mountains of successes or failures.
Too many people live fragmented lives, consciously or unconsciously.
There are many faces of depression.
When I was in college we had a guest speaker come in to tell us about her experience of living with depression. She said the more depressed she was, the better she appeared on the outside. She recalled looking at a photo of herself, in the peak of her depression, smiling happily and dressed perfectly. No one would have ever known. Inside she could barely hold herself together.
Sometimes we have an expectation of a disorder or disease (lets call this a stereotype?). Depressed people don’t get out of bed, they don’t shower or care about how they look, they mope around and drag others down. This isn’t always true (although in my case it was 😉 ).
Many people suffer from depression, many more may not even know it. Depression can be mild and severe. It can range from ‘not feeling quite right’ to wanting to take your own life. Depression can lash out in sadness, anger, or manic states.
Depression can be situational/environmental or it can be a chemical/hormonal imbalance. Depression can come and go. Depression can consume people. And sometimes, perhaps the most dangerous type of depression, is invisible.
Depression can effect men, women and children. It can destroy relationships and families.
As a society we are just beginning to move away from the stigmas of mental health. As more and more statistics and studies are done, we are discovering that depression and other mood disorders are actually not that uncommon. I almost might dare say… they are normal.
Depression is treated differently by individual doctors and healthcare practitioners. For chemical imbalances, medication often helps re-circuit the brains messages to the nervous system, bringing relief. For some medication causes worse side-effects then the actually depression itself in which case natural therapies can be more beneficial. Often a combination of both is ideal.
If you are suffering silently from depression, please get help. Know you are not alone, even if it feels like you are. Every situation is different, but if you can, reach out to resources in your area, or online. Take the steps you can, to start rebuilding your life.
There is hope.
MOVEMBER
This month of Movember people rally together to spread the word and raise funds for prostate cancer and men’s mental health. If you have a story to share, this is the time to do it! If you have words of strength or inspiration, this is a great opportunity to do so! Check out Bloggers For Movember and see how you can help.
Gentle Hatha Yoga | Jenni Burke 
It’s very reassuring to have found there is a community of others who understand what I am going through myself. In the beginning stages it’s easy to say that nobody else knows what you are going through but when you realize there are it’s nice to know you aren’t alone… in a bittersweet way of course.
Glad to have found your blog!
It is bitter-sort-of-sweet isn’t it… glad you connected 🙂
I commend you for a post that will help so many feel less alone and bring them hope and maybe someday joy!
alison
Thanks Alison, glad we’ve connected!
Hey,
Great post, so agree with you on this.
Depression is difficult to deal with, most people are sceptical about it, and don’t understand. Even Doctors push pills rather than solutions or resolutions.
Thanks for sharing this.
Take care, Bex
Well said Jenni. My new GP took one look at me and said “You’re not depressed” I don’t know how someone can make such a statement after only talking to me for 15 minutes.
That is just as worrisome to me as the doctor who would check you out for 15 minutes and hand you a box of pills. Either way it’s lose-lose. Finding tools that help sooth ourselves/souls is sometimes more empowering then relying on someone else’s opinion of our state of being. When that does not work, some self-advocating for help is next… keep all your options open Wendy 🙂
She’s no worse than my psychiatrist, upon meeting me for the first time stated, “You really need help” followed by “you need to talk to someone” as he handed me a prescription and ushered me to the door.
Sometimes people seem so happy that you can’t even tell that they’re depressed, and those cases are usually the worst ones =(
Exactly!
I think those people are able to cover up their feelings,may be able to recover faster if they are helped at the right time than those who show all the visible symptoms. Just my thought , I don’t know exactly ! Any way, depression is the biggest disease of the mankind, say some recent reports. But mostly every one ignores it! That’s sad!
I agree is it sad that we ignore depression, that is part of the reason I have started blogging more about it… I think we need to start facing the reality of it in our society.
Yes, it is high time!