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Alone

Step-by-Step Journals to Help You Understand Your Loved One's Depression

By Caroline ScheallPublished 6 years ago 3 min read
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First off, I am not writing this as an outsider. I am writing this as an individual who is suffering from depression. Suffering from anxiety. And want to work on making sure those who have it and those who want to help their loved ones who have it understand that they are not alone.

The very first thing that you need to understand with people with depression is that they tend to feel alone on the inside. The chemical imbalances in their brain tell them that they are alone, that no one cares, and so many other more thoughts that are completely unspeakable. In order to help those. Understand this.

It is not their fault.

When people have the mindset of being alone and that they have no one on their side. And when it comes time for someone to actually reach out in order to help, it suddenly feels like we're being trapped. Like a deer in headlights. It's not easy to accept that people want to help. Being tortured by people who say they care but really don't and then that evil person pried and pried and then finds out the truth, and then run, really leaves an impact. So. When the times comes and you really want to tell them that they are not alone. Mean it. Don't pry. Work harder and harder to listen and get into their heads. But let them let you in. Do not pry.

Fear

Now, most of the issues that people like I have revolved around fear. We fear the worst all of the time. We are pessimists.We don't agree on anything that has to do with going out into public places. We don't want to have interactions because we always fear the worst, and sadly, there is absolutely nothing we can do to fix the situation. We try to fight our fears. We try to be brave. We try and get and try but somehow it never works. We also fear getting close to someone at all. We fear that if we get close to a person, something will happen and after trusting them they would be ripped away from us. We're scared. We get thoughts created by our minds that make us terrified even by just walking to school, or working. Depression can get to the point, if not controlled, that it becomes crippling. We do not leave our beds, we hide and sleep and do everything we can to avoid normal activities, because we are scared. We fear living in a world that is glum and doom.

Panic

This seems like a topic that most people would assume that they understand. But imagine this, you are sitting in your room about to go to a job interview. Your heart is pounding, you can hear blood in your ears, you're shaking, your breath is rapid and you cannot process anything going through your head. Guess what? That's a panic attack, for the most part. Panic attacks are literally unexplainable. No matter how hard someone tries, we will never be able to tell you what our attacks are like. We won't want to half the time because we FEAR being judged. I would never tell someone what thoughts I was having because I didn't want to be judged and sent to a hospital. It's hard. It's hard to explain and it's hard to comprehend. The best way for someone to handle this situation is leave a little space, but still be around. Being around will help the panic attack ease a bit. But if you caused the panic attack, back away. Bring some water and maybe a blanket and then give us some space. It really all depends on the entire situation. We cannot help our attacks. We hate them. And there is absolutely nothing we can do about them. So the best way to handle a panic attack is to either be there or back away.

depression
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About the Creator

Caroline Scheall

I suffer from depression. Depression is not clearly talked about. My job is to try to get others to understand and cope with it among family members and loved ones

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