Beyond the Blues
Understanding depression is difficult; hear from Psyche's community of peers on their experiences with this mood disorder.
You Know This House (and Yet...)
“Well, what is it like?” It’s like walking through your house in complete darkness. You’ve lived in this house your whole life; you know exactly which barstool is never entirely pushed in. You know exactly when you need to shift your hips slightly to the right to avoid the surprisingly sharp corner of the awkwardly-placed table at the end of the hallway. You know exactly how many steps you’ll take until you step on the hollow tile in the middle of the hallway, and exactly how many steps after that you’ll take before making a sharp left. You know exactly when to stop trailing your hand along the wall so as to avoid breaking your fingers on the edge of the doorjamb. You know this house like the back of your hand. A comfortable confidence settles over you as you realize all this, and you feel certain that you can safely navigate through the darkness.
Elizabeth GreyPublished 6 years ago in PsycheDescribing Depression
This picture is of me (on the far left) and my siblings at a family wedding in October 2017. What you won't necessarily be able to tell but will have probably guessed from the time of this post is that I have depression. I was diagnosed with depression at the end of May 2012, about 3 months before I was due to go to university. I was on a college course, not failing, but not meeting my expected grades either, although that statement probably underestimates how badly I was doing within myself. That particular episode was not the worst depressive episode I've had, those came later, but I was far from alright. I now feel it is important to discuss mental health openly, particularly for men and men my age, as suicide is a highly prevalent problem for my age (mid to late 20s).
Duncan AinsworthPublished 6 years ago in PsycheDepression Is a Silent Killer
Suffering from depression myself as an adolescence, I learned that being depressed was one of the worst pains I had ever felt. Compared to physical pain such as cysts in my throat, depression was even worse. Perhaps this was strictly because of the fear of not being able to be cured. Going to the emergency room quickly cured my throat, but nothing could positively make my pain go away with depression. Not even until this day. However, it is not as pronounced as it was three years ago. Some people become depressed after bullying, but mine is said to be hereditary. My mom had it, then it was passed down to my older sister at a young age, and then down to me during my high school years. However, I believe it was a more physical approach that caused me to become depressed. When I was younger, I was involved in an incident which ended with me getting knocked upside my head with a steel baseball hat. It caused me to lose some of my eyesight along with slight hearing loss in one of my ears. Not only that, but I believe it may have been a slight contributor to my mental illness along with the already present trait.
Deanna GarrettPublished 6 years ago in Psyche- Top Story - February 2018
Things to Understand About Someone Who Hides Their Depression
Going through your teen years is hard enough, but when you're trying to deal with your own depression, anxiety, or other mental illness on top of that, life can be a total nightmare. That, in one sentence, is the story of my youth. From the young age of eight years old, I was in and out of more therapist offices than I can count. When I was 14, my depression and bipolar disorder reached its full strength. Every morning I woke up wondering if I should leave this world, and every night I went to sleep knowing that I had hung in there for one more day.
Diagnosed!
Everyone has a story and everyone's story is different. Everyone goes through hard times in their life, but not everyone deals with it in the same way. Some people bottle it up, other people talk about it. Some people get sad, other people get angry. Some people overthink, other people go out to take their mind off everything. Everyone deals with it differently.
Kera ListerPublished 6 years ago in PsycheNoises in My Head
Self-Doubt Mental health has become a hot-button topic for most people in today's society. I see posts from my friends almost on a daily basis saying that they're so depressed that they can't sleep at night; that their thoughts keep them awake and affects their days and it continues in a vicious cycle. Only recently have I stopped denying that I, too, suffer with this.
Angela CashPublished 6 years ago in Psyche5 Tips to Help Support Your Friends with Depression
I am certainly no stranger to the black dog appearing in my life. I've also watched my loved ones suffer in silence because, often, people don't know how to reach out and help them in a constructive way. Here's five simple methods to support your loved ones through hard times.
Victoria KPublished 6 years ago in PsycheLiving with Depression
It should be noted that the experiences I am writing about here are exclusively my own: they should not be considered a generalization of what is an incredibly complex and polarizing illness, and I want it known that I am not claiming in any way that what has helped me will help everyone. Recovery is an incredibly personal thing, and something that is done differently by every single person.
Mopey MillennialPublished 6 years ago in PsycheSocially Depressed
Social: Relating to society or its organization. Media: the main means of mass communication (broadcasting, publishing, and the Internet), regarded collectively.
teisha lesheaPublished 6 years ago in PsycheA Lesson in Self-Care
I read an article a while back (after it had circled around on my Facebook feed) that discussed self-care. I agree with the author when I say this: People have a skewed view of what self-care really means. So many people today see self-care as taking a nice bath, eating a piece of cake, reading a book, and buying yourself new lotion, but that is not what self-care is.
Kendra Felicity WheelerPublished 6 years ago in PsycheBe Still
Some people say that if you travel far enough, you'll find yourself. I used to find comfort in that assumption. When I realized that things didn't have to remain consistent, I took advantage of it. When something went wrong, when things felt "off," or if an opportunity presented itself — I took it. It was easy for me to leave it all behind. People, cities, universities, relationships. I kept saying I needed to find myself. If only I had known that I was never lost in the first place.
Patricia batoonPublished 6 years ago in PsycheMy Truth on Depression
Depression is felt by everyone. Every time and everywhere in the world, usually, people have their own unique and first-hand experience on the concept of depression. Some like the feeling of void and absolute blankness that falls as tears fall down their cheek while some compress it, let it mold into a destructive force that swallows them whole.