Depression is not ‘sadness’. Sadness is simple to understand and easy to identify. Depression is so much more than that- so much so that it’s almost unexplainable…but I’ve given it my best shot…
Depression is…feeling like your mind is a prison you can’t escape; a room with no windows, no doors, no light and no oxygen.
Depression is…a state in which nothing looks, feels, tastes, sounds, smells or goes right and you are unable to think or make any decisions- yet you still have to carry on doing all those things, every damn day, even though you just don’t have the energy or the desire
Depression is…like trying to swim through an ocean of tar with your ankles tied to the sea floor; maybe you don't want to die but you certainly don't want to be there anymore
Depression is…feeling completely alone and hated by all, even when surrounded by people who love you
Depression is…the feeling of being buried alive
Depression is…feeling like you’re suffocating when the air is crystal clear
Depression is…feeling absolutely everything and absolutely nothing all at once
Depression is…when everything just feels “off” or “wrong”
Depression is…being unable to feel happy or hopeful about absolutely anything in your life
Depression is…crying, constantly, for no reason at all
Depression is…like your every thought, and every move is in slow motion
Depression is…like trying to climb Mount Everest when your lungs are filled with water
Depression is…when the simplest of tasks take all the effort in the world and leave physically and emotionally exhausted
Depression is…feeling guilty because you can’t stand to be around your friends and family
Depression is…not being sure if you still love your significant other
Depression is…going your whole day without remembering a single second of it
Depression is…feeling like your head is caged in a glass box with walls 6 inches thick
Depression is…paranoia, lots of paranoia. Feeling there’s someone watching you- always. Thinking that everyone is laughing about you and talking about you behind your back.
Depression is…a dark, helpless state of being
Depression is…feeling you can’t do anything right- like nothing you do is good enough and everyone is waiting for you to screw up
Depression is…not wanting to die, necessarily, but being willing to do anything to get the pain to end. You have endless thoughts of self harm and suicide that haunt you day and night
Depression is…a constant knot in your stomach; feeling like something bad is always just around the corner and there’s nothing you can do but sit and wait
Depression is…when your sense is completely deluded and all rational thought is lost
Depression is…the impossibility to sleep- exhaustion is no longer a passing feeling but a constant being
Depression is…when nothing seems comforting, pleasurable or worth living for
Depression is…anger; at yourself, at others and at the world, coupled with immense amounts of guilt for the way you act out
Depression is…empathy and understanding to all others suffering with mental health
Depression is…weight; a dense, unrelenting weight pressing down on you, completely killing your ability to breathe
Depression is…the inability to work, study, eat, sleep, have fun, concentrate or even function day to day to day to day
Depression is…extreme over eating
Depression is…extreme under eating
HOWEVER
Depression is NOT…a death sentence…unless you let it be…
Courage;
Alice xxx