Depression is a misunderstood condition. If you’ve been very sad, grieved hard, been “down in the dumps” or “felt blue” but not actually depressed, you might think you get it. And if you think you get it because you’ve been very sad for several days, you may be unintentionally dismissive of the experience of a person who is or has been depressed.
To get a sliver of a “feel” of what it must be like, check out this video by the World Health Organization. For those of you with depression, you may feel understood by this video in a way you don’t often get understood.
Depression is painful.
The way out of it is often figuring out how to do the things that are so very difficult in the midst of it. The paradox of depression treatment is that it means doing things–connecting, reaching out, getting out, being outside, exercising, that the depression itself seems to forbid.
The black dog video paints a vivid and realistic portrait. It illustrates the point of view of how pervasive and how hopeless it feels. It also demonstrates how treatment strategies specific to each person can provide real change and hope.
Depression may not be obliterated. It can in so many cases, be managed. It is possible to have a good quality of life.
For a person with depression, it’s incredibly difficult to do things that will impact depression.
Every treatment strategy is the exact opposite of what the illness calls for a person to do:
- reach out instead of pull in,
- talk about it instead of disappearing,
- go out instead of stay in
- get active instead of hibernating
- try treatments instead of being apathetic
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