Depression or Momentary Sadness?
Trying to differentiate between the two can sometimes be a difficult task. Depression is a chemical imbalance in the brain while sadness is merely a normal human emotion. Both should be dealt with accordingly, but it’s important to know the difference for your long-term health, both mental and physical. I, myself, am still trying to figure it out. Up until recently, I’ve been in this weird foggy state of mind where everything was just on autopilot and I thought my existence wasn’t crucial to whatever this world has planned for me. It was a dark time... I always put on a smile and helped others with their problems. In my head it was easier to deal with others' problems instead of my own. I was raised in an environment where if I cried I would be told to grow thicker skin or that other people had worse problems. Maybe even that’s why I tried so hard to solve other people’s problems, because I wanted to validate finally dealing with my own. But nonetheless, I went on doing what I was doing. Never shedding a tear. I wanted help, but didn’t want to ask for it until one day my sister—who has severe depression—made a deal with me that if I were to seek help that she would finally seek help. Desperate to help my sister get help, I opened up to my dad and stepmom about what I’ve been feeling. A few days later, I was given vitamins and told to, “Get over it.” That was a definite let down. Not only could I not get help, but now my sister would not get help either.