When You're Depressed

Imagine something with me: you're sitting in a dark room. You can't see the walls, or the ceiling. In fact, you only know there's a floor simply because you're standing on it. All of a sudden, you start sinking into the floor. It's slow at first, so you don't think much of it. You try to pull your foot out, but that just pushes the other one further down. You reach down to try to grab it, but that just leaves your arms stuck. You sink down further and further, and any attempts you make to squirm out just make you fall in faster. Eventually, it's only your head sticking out of the floor, and other people walk by, saying things like "Why can't you just get up?" That's what it's like when you're depressed.

When you're depressed, it isn't like just being sad. When you're sad, you can get mopey, and you don't feel like doing anything. There's a reason for the sadness: usually something bad happened, or something good didn't. Either way, you generally know why you're sad. Once you've moved past the issue, by getting over it, dealing with it, or whatever else, you feel normal again. With depression, there is no reason. Or, if there is, it's incredibly difficult to tell what it is. You can be depressed for weeks, months, or even years at a time. I can be fine for months at a time, and then, without warning, I'll just plummet. Sometimes something sets it off, but most of the time nothing happens. And when I get into a funk like that, it's impossible to get out. Eventually, I'll slowly get back to normal, but it's always just a matter of time before I slip back into depression.

When you're depressed, you don't think normally. Every thought has this negative edge. You always think the worst things will happen in a situation. Every single good thought you have about yourself--if you can manage to have any at all--is followed immediately by a hundred awful ones. You're always worried that you're upsetting other people, that your "bad moods" are making people like you even less than they already do. You can't accept compliments, and criticisms only make things worse. You can't be optimistic.

When you're depressed, you can't do anything. I can't tell you how many times I've woken up and not even had the willpower to turn off my alarm. There are days where I won't get out of my room. I'll turn off my phone. Hell, sometimes I won't even turn on my computer. Simply because I just can't. Sometimes I can put on a happy face and try to get through my day, but I won't be able to socialize, and anything I try to do I'll only be able to do half as well as normal. But a lot of the time, I just can't even bother trying.

When you're depressed, you need help. Nobody can deal with depression by themselves. Some people make bad decisions and do unhealthy things, either to themselves or other people. For some people, alcohol has all the answers. For others, it's drugs. Other people think happiness is buried deep inside every other vagina. I sort of had a system for ignoring my problems. When I could, I would date somebody just so I could help with their problems. I was constantly putting myself into unhealthy relationships and letting myself get taken advantage of, simply because I didn't want to face my own problems. When there was nobody there for my to "help," I would smoke a lot of pot. It made me feel like I was happy, and it made my problems seem less significant. But neither of these things actually helped me to deal with my problems; they just put off the inevitable, if not just piling more on top.

For those of you reading this who are depressed, please get help. If you don't think you need it, but these things sound familiar to you, then you're wrong. You DO need it. And if you don't think you can tell anybody for whatever reason, maybe you should try anyway. I know it's hard. It took me almost 20 years of my life before I even admitted to myself that I couldn't do it alone. You'd be surprised how willing some people are to help, if you just give them the chance.

And for those of you reading this who aren't depressed, maybe this gave you a bit of insight. What I've written might not necessarily apply to all depressed people; I'm just going off of what I've experienced and the stories of a few other people. But hopefully know you'll know why we can't "Just cheer up."