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