OmbroParanojo

I found this posted in a group I'm in and I completely agree.

"My theory on the way depression is misunderstood is down to the name "depression". I think everyone feels depressed from time to time due to struggles in their life, illness leaving us tired, broken relationships, etc, etc so people think they can relate to the people that are genuinely clinically depressed.

The wide view of depression is feeling a bit down because something has gone wrong, and that's why its quite often regarded as things getting on top of you, something that just makes you feel crappy til either it blows over or you snap out of it.

You'd not say that of someone schizophrenic, or with bi-polar, so why with someone with depression? Bi-polar is just another name for manic depression - general depression caused by a chemical imbalance but with greater highs and lows, ups and downs. If it was called ups and downs depression it would be ignored and misunderstood, like depression is. Everyone has ups and downs and feels depressed from time to time, so it wouldn't be a big deal.

I think the fact that it has a label - bipolar, makes it less easy for people to think they can relate to it. Depression and extreme highs and lows are a side affect to the bipolar condition. Then people have the choice to admit they know nothing about it or to study the symptoms, therefore seeing that theres an incredible amount more to feeling down!

If "Clinical Depression" was renamed, and no longer referred to as depression, then wouldn't it work the same way? depression is just a side affect of this horrible, life limiting, unshakable illness. You wouldn't refer to Meningitis as "A Rash" which can be one of the symptoms, because then people would not realize the seriousness of the illness, like people don't with the so-called "depression"

Depression is a chemical imbalance within the brain, it can be triggered by an extremely horrific event, a life changing event, or just appear all by itself.

It can cause sleepless nights, or permanent lethargy or a combination, it can cause loss of appetite, loss of sex drive, or even an increase in these things leading to an increase in feelings of guilt and self rejection.

It can bring feelings of worthlessness, pointlessness often to the point of wanting to die so it stops. Numbness, often to the point you want to cut yourself to feel something, anything. It can cause you to lose all regard for your personal hygiene, personal appearance, or to go right over the top on these things so nobody knows that there is anything wrong.

People can suffer a combination of any of those symptom. Sometimes feeling sad and unhappy, sometimes not at all, just feeling nothing and not being aware of it until you look back over a week, a month, years to never remember how you felt about something, like your life for that period was like watching someone else's life rather than have feelings associated with events that you have lived through.

The name depression brings with it a stigma - depression isn't so serious a word, its more a state of mind, which this illness most certainly is not. How can anyone possibly understand that when it's so losely termed as something that describes a feeling of unhappiness? I fully understand why people who don't understand the illness expect people to snap out of it, get a hobby, etc.......... and it makes it so hard for the people who have depression to know who trully does understand what they are going through and feeling or who are secretly thinking "get over yourself and cheer up"

I think that's what makes the internet such a big key, so much available information for relatives and friends to try to understand the illness, support groups for people with depression are fantastic, because they know people truly understand what they are going through and don't think it is all a state of mind you can snap out of." -Anonymous

So, people, if you think you can relate, or if you think it's not a real mental illness and that people should just get over it, know that it's not that easy. It's like your life is in a fog, or that you're numb. You can never concentrate on things, and dark thoughts are always in your mind. You forget what it is to feel happy, what it is to feel loved, because you simply don't see your friends and family trying to help you. It affects your relationships. It affects your school. You simply lose interest in everything. This can go on for years, getting worse and worse until you are a serious danger to yourself.

*sigh* I don't think that's just having a bad day.