What depression means to me.
I posted yesterday that I’m not doing so well. I think that may be an understatement, but rather than prattle on about that, I thought instead I’d share instead what depression means to me because I believe that everyone experiences it differently.
I believe depression is a black hole.
Once it gets you in its grip it slowly strips parts of you away.
Your sense of security.
Your confidence.
Your happiness.
Your self worth.
Your ability to feel joy.
Your motivation.
Your energy.
All sucked slowly away until the black hole has taken everything you have and you are left not as a shell of yourself, no, rather you have become the black hole.
You fear that you take things from other people, that you have become the thing you dread, that you take all these things from those around you, making their lives as black as yours. So you withdraw, further into yourself. You exist inside the black hole looking out. You can see the person you used to be. Everything you had, everything you desperately want back but you’re unable to reach it.
It mocks you this image, out of reach, you see echos of things you want and believe to be lost forever, because in this black hole you are numb to any positive emotion and feel only despair.
Now I know that with time many of us do find a way to release ourselves from the black holes grip. We slowly, piece by piece, rebuild ourselves, but do we ever truly escape that gravitational pull? I don’t think so. I believe we come to exist on the very edge, always afraid we will be pulled back in. I think that hard as we try to rebuild ourselves one part never fits securely back in place, and that’s our sense of security.
Once you have experienced the devastation of depression you are never ever the same. The fear that it will return is ever present, at the back of your mind, threatening your peace of mind.
So when I am asked about my own depression and if I am “better” now, I always reply “I live with depression, and at the moment it’s under control,” because for me it’s always there, just waiting to take me back into the nothingness once more.
Sweetgirl x
If you think that you may be suffering from anxiety or depression take the NHS test here.
I have linked this post to the Sex Bloggers For Mental Health week 43 as it is as relevant today as it was when I wrote it. Click HERE to see more posts on Depression.
I hope you are able to hang on to the edge and maybe even push the edge a little behind you. I’m lucky in that I don’t have clinical depression. Your description is very vivid though and helps me to understand it. My one daughter suffers from it along with a lot of other things. It isn’t easy to deal with. There is no magic treatment that works for everyone. I hope you find things to help keep you on the edge.
Thank you for your comments and I’m glad my description made sense to you.. it is very difficult to understand unless you have experienced it, and even that may not be how your daughter feels.
If you can and haven’t already read it, this is an excellent book to help families understand and help people with depression “Depressive Illness: The Curse Of The Strong (3rd Edition) by Tim Cantopher” it was the only book I found that made any sense to me..
As for me, I’m battling away and MrH is being an amazing support. For me, having too much thinking time isn’t good, working keeps me on a level playing field. I just need to get a job and soon!!!
I hope things pick up for you soon sweet. Hugs
I’m sure it will do ❤️ it’s just sometimes when I’m alone during the day it’s hard to remember that..
Awww I bet. It must be hard
It is vile, and feeds on isolation. I hope that by opening up and sharing about your depression you can climb out quicker this time, and stay out longer. hugs to you
Thank you
I *may* have been depressed a few times in my life and I say ‘may’ because I never went to see a doctor for it and got diagnosed. The black hole analogy seems true and I used to see that in my journals from years ago that I ended up destroying because I couldn’t believe just how dark my world was or how dark I saw it no matter what was going on around me. I hope things get better for you! Sending you lots of virtual hugs!
Take care and I hope you have people who are working with you. For me, natural light, candles and some space for me help most x
Gurl…you said it all in your post. Explained wonderfully and easy to relate to. Thanks for sharing this.
Happy Thoughts
Back at ya SassyCat x happy thoughts x
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