“Many people live with low level depression, seasonal, situational depression. Depression has many names, every case is different and varies greatly in degrees of intensity.” (I saw that posted somewhere and decided it fit.) I, personally, know several people who have depression and the quote above is so true. I, personally, am one of those. There, I said it! And, please, I am not writing this to get sympathy or comments. It’s just a fact. (Hopefully, I’m not going to be too embarrassing for my family and friends – if so, please forgive and please don’t defriend me.) I am writing this collectively for everyone that I know who have depression and have recounted to me their stories. From Harvard, “It’s often said that depression results from a chemical imbalance, but that figure of speech doesn’t capture how complex the disease is. Research suggests that depression doesn’t spring from simply having too much or too little of certain brain chemicals. Rather, depression has many possible causes, including faulty mood regulation by the brain, genetic vulnerability, stressful life events, medications, and medical problems. It’s believed that several of these forces interact to bring on depression.” We have lost a great person – Robin Williams – to depression. It is such a hard illness to treat medicinally. What works for one person, doesn’t work for another. Or, has such harsh side effects, that you are bounced from one prescription (or more) to another. I have been on countless prescriptions for depression for around 10 years and am currently on three different prescriptions. I’m definitely not knocking the medical community as there is no perfect drug for everyone and they are (at least, most of them) are truly doing their best to treat this disease, on an individual basis. I was on one prescription that knocked me on my behind. I would get winded just trying to take a shower or go up my steps. I thought, “oh no, my lack of exercise has caused this.” But, in reality, I was so busy with life and trying to keep up that I didn’t realize, until one day I stopped long enough to think it through. That prescription was more detrimental to my health than it was helping me mentally and emotionally. I have a close friend who has depression, along with one or two of other mental illnesses. I see her a couple times a month. We have known each other for about 20 years. Recently, her depression medicine was changed because her most current medicine stopped working. I had no idea. She chose to hide it through her humor and by her just being her. But, when it was changed, it had a bad physical reaction on her. But, she was told to try to hold out that the physical reaction would go away. And, thankfully, it did. (She is still waiting to see if it is going to work for her depression.) So, you see, not only do people with depression hurt mentally and emotionally, but they can hurt physically too. Why am I writing this? To make you aware of several things. Just because someone’s life seems great, or they appear to have money, or they have physical attraction, or they are physically fit, or, or, or….doesn’t mean that they can’t be hurt and damaged by others’ harsh words, sharp stares, off-the-cuff comments, etc. (I could go on and on [and remember, this is from others stories].) So, please do not let your own insecurities be a reason to make someone incur wrath that will hurt them physically, emotionally, or mentally. I don’t mean to seem like I’m on a soap box, I am truly just stating facts known by me personally and once again, by talking to others who have this terrible misfortune. I have been through physical pain – intense labor pains that went on FOREVER (not by my choice that I wasn’t given an epidural), pancreatitis, severe back pain, broken ribs on both sides (once I couldn’t even breathe without screaming out in pain), broken ankle (yes, I’m clumsy) but, I recently said that through all the “pains” I’ve been through, none hurt as much as mental or emotional pain. Now, I know there are truly worse physical pains that I haven’t been through and hopefully won’t. There are some people out there who can say, “She doesn’t even know physical pain,” which is true. But, my point is that mental and emotional pain can hurt hard. Please take what you can from what I have written here and mull it over. Be the person who nods with a smile at another person or waves at the person begging for money even though you can’t give it to them. Be the person who thinks through your words – I’m guilty about this at times. Be the person who God made you to be. Be full of love!! (Just in case someone feels the need, I have tried homeopathic cures and they just don’t work for me. I am on one natural pill that has worked tremendously for anxiety.) If you have made it to the end of my posting, I thank you!
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 00:20:07 +0000
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