1. There’s no way out.
Depression wraps your mind in a fog and at times it can feel like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel. The truth is, what you’re feeling isn’t permanent. Just because you can’t see the trees on a foggy day doesn’t mean that they aren’t there.
Depression can also affect your memory, making it hard to remember the times when you were happy, but it doesn’t mean those times didn’t exist. And while we can’t prevent bad things from happening in the future, we also can’t predict the good things that will happen.
2. You are weak.
Depression strikes indiscriminately. It doesn’t care about your social class, physical health, home life, race, gender, or orientation. Environmental factors can make you more likely to develop depression, but some people are more prone to it no matter their circumstances.
It’s not something you can control, and it takes time to recover from. If you catch a cold, it doesn’t mean that your immune system is weak. It works hard protecting your body from all sorts of threats that you can’t see.
Your brain is the same way. It does a lot of important things and does them well, but sometimes, things go wrong.
3. You are alone.
Depression can make those around you seem unreachable, but the people who really care about you will try to help if you give them a call. 6.7% of U.S. adults have a major depressive disorder, according to the ADAA. That’s millions of people who share the same experience.
It’s a common condition, so there are many treatments available for it. Often in media, depression is portrayed as something that can’t be overcome, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. People do recover from it and they do go on to live fuller, happier lives.
4. You don’t deserve help.
Sometimes, depression will overwhelm you with guilt over your past mistakes to make you think that you don’t deserve happiness or healing. Or maybe you feel like your problems aren’t bad enough to justify seeking help.
The problem with this line of thinking is that it implies that nobody deserves help unless they’re objectively suffering the most out of any human on Earth and have done nothing wrong in their entire life. No such person exists. We all have flaws and we all need help. That’s why we live in a society. Humans are social animals, and leaning on each other is how we’ve survived this long.
5. You can’t do it.
Depression is notorious for its ability to sap your energy. It’s true. But it doesn’t paralyze you as much as it might seem to.
Often, it’s an issue of inertia. An object at rest wants to stay at rest. By at least starting on a task, you could break through the mental block and be able to get things done. At the very least, doing what you’re able to means there’s that much less work later on.
Reflect & Refresh 