Psyche logo

Living With Depression

A quick explanation for anyone who does not have it.

By Arielle AdornettoPublished 6 years ago 3 min read
Like

I have depression. And no, I do not mean the "casual sadness" that tends to hit some of us during the holidays, or even that of which hits us whenever something saddening happens in our lives. I have depression, full blown, clinical depression. But what exactly then is depression, if not just being sad a bunch, you ask? Why can I not just go outside more, take some vitamins, exercise and socialize more, that would help, would it not? The best way I can explain it is that it is not that easy. Depression is the constant and severe feeling that you are not good enough and that you never will be good enough. In fact, it convinces you that you never really were good enough in the first place. Depression is a loss of hope, a loss of courage, a loss of a will to live. It is a festering, nagging feeling that cannot be shaken so easily. Sure, I could go outside more, take my vitamins, "get help." But those are all just temporary, short-term fixes to a prominent, long-term problem. Even after trying all of those things, I would still have those terrible thoughts in the back of my mind, I would still have depression.

Living with depression is, to say the least, not easy and not remedied by a simple fix. The best example I can give of what it is like living with depression, is to imagine that you are cold. Very, very cold. No matter how hard you try to warm yourself up, you remain cold. You have grabbed so many blankets, bundled yourself up tight, perhaps even started a fire or turned up the heat Yet, you are still cold. Eventually, you learn to accept that you will always be cold, no matter how hard you try. You find ways to cope with the cold feeling, sometimes you might even forget for a moment that it is there. But it remains, and eventually, sometimes even at the most random of times, you are reminded again of just how cold you are and it becomes debilitating.

Understanding what it is like having depression can be hard, especially if you do not have it yourself. The best thing you can do for those who do have depression though is to listen to them and to never invalidate the way they are feeling. If someone confides in you about their problem, please do not suggest to them an easy fix. If it were that easy, no one would have depression, no one would have an issue with anything at all for that matter. Depression is a silent yet deadly condition, it hides itself neatly within the folds of everyday life only to spring out and frighten us when we least expect it. Sure, there are ways to prevent depression from sneaking up all the time, you can prepare and prepare until the cows come home. However, depression is tricky and will always find a way to pop out when it is least expected. It takes years, sometimes even a lifetime to be prepared for everything depression might throw at us and many more people than we may realize are dealing with it every single day.

Do not get me wrong, having depression is not an excuse by any means nor will I ever use it as such. Truthfully, it has only made things a little bit harder in life but not ever completely unobtainable. And I do not plan on letting depression run or ruin my life. It is something I have to live with, sure, but also something I can continue to try and improve upon, and most definitely something that is not going to hold me down.

depression
Like

About the Creator

Arielle Adornetto

The best advice I could give to you; remember who you are, who you want to be, and how far you have come.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.