Living with depression is like living in a dark room, completely black with not even the slightest hint of light. You’re alone, you’re scared, and you feel like you’ll never get out of there. You’re trapped. You have two choices:
- You accept that you’re stuck there and will never get out. So, you sit there alone in a dark room where you will live out the rest of your days. You give up.
- You search for a way out. You feel around for a door or a window. You find a single candle and a single match. You light the candle and begin to see that there is a way to get out. You have hope.
Which do you choose? Do you just stop everything and give up or do you search for the tiniest bit of light? Anyone who has ever had to live with depression would most likely choose to just give up, to stop trying. But you can’t. I know for a fact that it is easier said than done. You have to search for the tiniest glimmer of light because that tiny glimmer will begin to shine brighter and brighter. The light will show you that you are not alone. You can get out of the room, you won’t be trapped.
Living with depression is an everyday struggle. A struggle that only those who live it understand. Some days you have to force yourself to get out of bed, you’d much rather sleep the day away and dream of a life that you think is better than your own. Some nights you get no sleep, you spend the night thinking of all of things you’ve done wrong in your life. Some days you have no appetite and don’t eat, other days you eat too much because it comforts you. You constantly feel like everything you do is wrong, you hate yourself. You could be surrounded by dozens of people and yet still feel completely alone. You feel like a burden to others and that you bring them down. Some days are better than others. You have to live and look forward to the good days.
For those who say people with depression that they need to cheer up, it isn’t that easy. The images of our lives have been distorted (and not in a good way), telling us to “cheer up” doesn’t help, it makes us feel like you’re belittling us. For those who say people use anti-depressants as “happy pills” are most likely uneducated on the severity of depression. They aren’t used to make people feel “happy”, they are used to fix a chemical imbalance in the brain, as well as helping with the signs and symptoms of depression which make every day life so difficult that people choose to end it. You need to help end the stigma of mental illness not encourage it.
For every single person living with depression, you are not alone no matter how much you believe it, you’re wrong. You can make it out of the dark room and live the life you dream of. Find people who understand you and that you can talk to. Fight. Find hope. Never ever give up. You were put on this Earth for a reason, find that reason. I believe that every single person living with depression can find the light in the dark room. I know it’s hard, and you might not want to, but you have to because you are worth so much more than spending the rest of your life in a dark room.
mandymae2323 