The Torn Mask

July 14, 2020


In a world full of introverts and extroverts,
I live the life of an ambivert.
I smile, cherish my life, accomplish my task,
I seem to be an achiever.

With a smile over my face, I return home,
A house made of four walls and non-living artefacts,
A cup of coffee and I stare at the emptiness of my life,
I cry over my broken soul.

Days pass by,
The emotions are hidden underneath my mask,
Making my soul heavier,
I am broke.

The greedy world dances to the tune of my cry,
I cry louder for help,
Rejection and neglect are all I receive in return,
I’m sorry. I give up!

Feeling Sad vs Depression

Are both same?

Feeling sad is a normal phenomenon. Almost everyone feels sad when things don’t turn up like getting a bad grade, losing a job, hormonal trigger, even a rainy day. Sometimes it doesn’t need a reason, it just pops up. We revert to normal within hours or a few days when circumstances change.

On the other hand, clinical depression is a psychiatric disorder and it doesn’t go away just because you want it to. For a person to be diagnosed with depression the symptoms need to occur for a minimum of two consecutive weeks. These symptoms interfere in the activities of daily living, work and relationship.

What Depression looks like?

Whenever we think of depression the only picture that comes is a person with a sad face with thoughts of guilt, hopelessness, uninterested in any activity, low tone of voice and many more.

But, does he/she look so?

Depression is not always an isolated person and a suicidal note. Sometimes it’s:

• The person who cracks jokes in your group/office/family
• The person you thought was emotionally detached.
• He/ she has learnt to fake a smile
• They learnt to text “I’m OK” when they are still crying
• They neglect their hygiene and may not take a bath for several days.
• Skips work to sleep

While the traditional depressive symptoms look like the following:

• Sadness
• Hopelessness
• Feeling of guilt
• Loss of interest in activities that he/she once found enjoyable
• Lack of motivation
• Increased or decreased amount of sleep
• Inability to concentrate or make decisions
• Loss of appetite or significant weight changes
• A feeling of tired or low energy
• Thoughts of ending life

What should I do if I have any of these?

• Seek medical help: A psychiatrist is the best person you could meet during these times. All you need is some medications and a counselling therapy to ventilate your piled-up thoughts.
• Support system: Without any doubt talk to the closest person. It could be your spouse, relative, a friend or anyone who you think you could ventilate to.
• Helpline: If you couldn’t find help with any of the above or you get any suicidal thoughts contact the helpline available at your country.
• Search for positive thoughts and paste it at your visibility area, like the wallpaper of your phone or laptop, your office desk, cupboard doors etc.

The rest of us who are mentally healthy let’s be considerate with the people around us and stop judging them. Check on your loved ones when they go quiet or withdrawn. Let us educate each other about depression and the ways to overcome it.


Pic credit: BROTE studio from Pexels, Dustin Belt on Unsplash, Sydney Sims on Unsplash

 

 

By Steffi Jenifer
Steffi Jenifer Quadras is from Udupi diocese. Currently residing at Bangalore. She is a Mental Health Nurse by profession. She has completed her BSc Nursing from Father Muller College of Nursing, Mangalore and MSc in Mental Health Nursing from Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE, Manipal).

In order to promote mental health awareness, she has started a blog called ‘The Colourful Salad’, which is also on Instagram @the.colourful.salad
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Comment on this article

  • Manisha, Banglore

    Wed, Jan 20 2021

    its really so beautiful with such a great information

  • Inesh, Kanajar

    Sat, Jul 18 2020

    Wonderful article and much needed during these days.

  • Steffi Jenifer Quadras, Bangalore

    Thu, Jul 16 2020

    Dear readers,

    Thank you for your appreciation for my article and poem. Your comments here and on social media means a lot to me. I also thank Daijiworld for providing me with a platform to exhibit my writing skills.

    Thanks again.

  • Prathima, Moodubelle

    Wed, Jul 15 2020

    Very informative for common ppl n nice poem.. Keep spreading awareness...

  • Nitin Mathias, shiva, udupu

    Wed, Jul 15 2020

    Good one Steffi 👍

  • Jossey Saldanha, Mumbai

    Wed, Jul 15 2020

    Awesome ...

  • Vincent Alva, Pamboor

    Wed, Jul 15 2020

    Dear Steffi, nice poem and a very informative article. Keep writing.

  • John, Mangalore

    Wed, Jul 15 2020

    God The Father advises to depend upon grace and reminds nothing occurs outside of His Divine will in a message to Maureen on July 8th.

    God The Father says: "Children, learn to depend upon the present-moment grace that often comes at the last minute to resolve the most difficult issues. This is what trust brings. You may find solutions where you thought there was only hopelessness. You may stumble upon treasures of grace."

    "Be assured nothing occurs outside of My Divine Will for you. My love for you is in every present moment."

    Read Psalm 4:5+

    * The Messages of Holy and Divine Love at Maranatha Spring and Shrine.

  • Bharathi Sharma, Bangalore

    Tue, Jul 14 2020

    This kind of insight is much required to every genre .. unfortunately we don't have willpower as a topic in academics.. these kind off topics with such details should be added in school and college curriculum to improve awareness.. well narrated Steffi! Way to go..

  • Lional Mascarenhas, Ajekar/Kuwait

    Tue, Jul 14 2020

    Very nice write up Steffi. Bravo 👏. Keep writing ✍️. Today’s Covid world 🌎 people are suffering from depression due to job loss as well as due to current situation that world is going through . Timely article from you to overcome from all these obstacles. Great write up.

  • Lancy D'souza, Kanpur. Uttar Prdessh

    Tue, Jul 14 2020

    Beautiful thoughts. Inspiring Verses. Very much relevant in the present scenario. Congratulations.

  • Joyal Dsouza, Shirva/Belle

    Tue, Jul 14 2020

    Beautiful narrated, well written. Worth to understand the reason for being low in life and how to over come it and most important "how we can help others to come back to normalcy". Thank you.

  • Arun, Mangalore

    Tue, Jul 14 2020

    Dear Jenifer, Valuable content, beautiful poem and an impressive article.


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