Being depressed is not feeling sad and staying in bed all day --- I'll tell you how it really is ...
From an unknown illness, depression has become an abused term. Therefore, now everyone should know how to recognize the symptoms of depression such as chronic fatigue, lack of interest, hunger attacks or the absence of appetite, and difficulty sleeping or getting out of bed.
But if depression were only this, then it would not be the social scourge that it is; or at least, it would be easy to recognize the warning signs, but we now know how much this is not true.
Why is that we cannot realize when a person is depressed? Why is the hypothesis of depression always considered only in extremis? The explanation is that we do not really know what depression is, even after all that has been said about it and with everyone saying that they also suffer from it.
via healthline.com
Psychology manuals report that one of the first symptoms of depression is spending a lot more time in bed or even just having the desire and intention to do so. Staying in bed means staying away from the outside world, not being part of the daily routine, remaining in a place where there is an absence of pain and pleasure.
Of course, depression is also this, just as it is also a loss of interest in everything, apathy, unmotivated and uncontrollable crying, an excessive desire to eat or the loss of appetite.
But depression cannot be just this and it cannot be treated like a cough that, when it appears, the only thing that is needed is some cough syrup. Depression is more like a shadow that is first identified as one's own shadow but that becomes bigger and bigger.
Depression means supporting a friend in a difficult moment but saying "I'm all right" when it comes time to talk about yourself. It is doing what you always do, but not having any control, feeling like everything just slips out of the palms of your hands without you having the desire and the strength to stop it. It is to say through the tears that something will come to save you, but knowing that you do not have the faintest idea of what and when. It is being in the company of your friends, but feeling hundreds of miles away. It is to be present only with your body and feeling soulless and without the energy to participate. It is smiling and feeling that it does not reflect what you feel inside. You wear sunglasses to keep others from seeing your face and telling you that "You look tired", because, no, the problem is not fatigue. Depression is a drop of serenity in a sea of despair: but people just want you to say that things are not going so bad.
Today depression can be overcome and it can be eliminated. You start by finding the right person to talk to, who is not necessarily always a friend or a relative.
On the other hand, do not expect to recognize a depressed person because they are someone who does not bath anymore or because they do not leave their house and do not eat. Depression also gets a hold on those who go to work, those who smile to their children, and those who make love to their companion. The most powerful weapon of depression is its ability to be confused with normality, in one's own eyes as well as in the eyes of others.
Never stop asking people "How are you?" and then stop and wait for their response, to try to pick up even the weakest signs of the need for help. An ear that is willing to listen and be intuitive is the most powerful medicine that is capable of eradicating depression.
