The Secret Truth About Depression

[wanderkid]

I wish someone had told me.

I wish someone had told me that I had a disease. This disease has no cure. This disease can be fatal. I will fight this disease until the day I die. Some days will feel healthier than others, but this disease will never fully go away. This disease is a disability that very few people will consider to be legitimate. No

Comments

MOD

[hip_hop_korner]

Can you please fix your lj-cut? You have to delete two of the "more under the cut" links.

Re: MOD

[wanderkid]

ah fixed. sorry about that, html is not my friend.

[redcliches]

Thanks for posting. My old therapist and grandmother thought I was petulant for calling my depression an illness. Major depression is so misunderstood. I always feel the undercurrent of depression--it doesn't just go away, even when I'm not in a depressive episode.

[wanderkid]

it always makes me so sad to hear about a medical professional saying that depression isn't an illness or that depressed people are overreacting/should get better soon. We live in a society where a doctor's opinion is like the word of god and it can shape our whole relationship to our disease. There is definitely a need for awareness and advocacy in the medical community.

[persiascarecrow]

this article speaks to me so much. i'm not constantly depressed but when the depression hits it hits really hard. i had to withdraw from both semesters last year because i felt too miserable and useless to do anything. while it is true that exercise and eating well can do wonders to help your mood, it's an ordeal to bring yourself to the gym when just getting out of bed feels like more than you can bear. there is a ton of misinformation and preconceived notions about mental illness. i find separating myself from my illness helps me to not fall back into my depression. identifying as someone who has depression as opposed to a depressed person helps me feel like i have control over my life. but it's hard to feel empowered when you're depressed. i'm just rambling now...

[addienfaemne]

I have chronic major depression and will probably need to be on Zoloft or a similar SSRI my entire life, but I still have this guilty feeling that depression isn't one of the "real" disabilities. Fucked up, right? Thanks for writing this, it helps a lot.

[kinda_famous]

THIS.

[illusivevenstar]

same.

[madeline_may]

This... is so beautiful. It really honestly is. I feel like you're inside my head.

I wish someone had told me that it wasn’t my fault. People love to say that I am depressed because I am not exercising enough or not eating right or watching too much TV.

Sometimes I function just fine even when I feel my worst. But sometimes I find myself physically unable to move, like someone has pumped lead into my veins and made all my limbs unbelievably heavy. I am exhausted all the time, I get chronic headaches and backaches, sometimes my hands shake uncontrollably, sometimes I am nauseous for hours at a time and sometimes I throw up. My immune system refuses to fight a New England winter and I always have a mild to moderate head cold. These are all symptoms of my depression. These are all elements of a disease. But no one told me that. I just thought I was lazy and a hypochondriac.I need to send this to my mother. The last time I tried desperately to explain all of this to her, I got the "Well you just aren't DOING enough" response. Mom. Not

[morgabe333]

My mother is the same way. The worst thing is, she is also chronically depressed. Since hers isn't as severe as mine, though, she doesn't understand why I am so paralyzed against any action. She doesn't understand that criticizing me for eating junk/eating too much and being inactive is only making it worse. Even now, when I am doing so much better through drugs and therapy, she still makes me feel like I am not doing enough because sometimes I just can't make myself do anything at all.

[lvsinsanity]

My mother was similar, although she told me all depressed people need is a better income.

Her theory is that money magically fixes everything.