Ok, real-talk for this post. Whether or not you may be aware, I like many many others live with Major Depression Disorder. This is a real, diagnosable mental illness that while research on it has made leaps and bounds in the previous years, there is still a veil of ignorance around the subject (and I don't mean that in a bad way, nobody knows about everything).
There are multiple probable causes of Major Depression, as well as its natural cohort, General Anxiety, which can stem from traumatic events which can also lead to PTSD, or a chemical imbalance in the brain that just causes you to feel terrible and also causes you to obsess over unpleasant thoughts or memories. I'm 26 and sometimes I still lie awake at night reliving embarrassing moments that happened a decade ago in my head. It's a truly awful bag of issues I would give literally anything to be without.
Now there are people out there to help, trained professionals who have studied these symptoms to death and while there is no actual cure, there are a wide variety of treatments available to help people deal with their mental illnesses.
But I'm not talking about those today. Today I'd like to focus on the people who might fancy themselves savvy to the inner machinations of a depressed mind and think themselves a therapist.
These people are all very well-meaning and just want you to feel better, but this is way WAY outside their wheelhouse of understanding.
Ok, imagine for a minute that everyone is running in a race, and at first it's just a regular race, but then all of a sudden a giant monster just pops up in front of you and pushes you to the ground. Everyone else is completely unfazed and runs right past, meanwhile every time you get up the monster pushes you back down. After a while people who run past attempt to help you by offering unsolicited advice;
"Just push through it"
"It's all in your head"
"Have you tried just ignoring it?"
"You know everybody has problems, your monster isn't as big a deal as you're making it"
"It's up to you to say 'this monster isn't going to stop me from doing what I want to do'."
Meanwhile the people offering this advice might as well be enjoying a leisurely stroll through the park. My point being that if you know someone dealing with depression, the only advice you should offer is to help that person to get professional help. I know you may mean well, and the advice you doll out may make some sense, but like any other job; computer programmer, surgeon, welder, you can't just do it because you have an idea of what it is. Therapists are trained professionals, they went to college specifically for this purpose. Watching doctor phil does not equate to a diploma in psychology.
Now if you'll excuse me, I still have to find a therapist.
