Depression is not often thought of as a mental sickness, its seen as severe sadness that is easy to get over and can be cured by medication or therapy, although there are many people who benefit greatly with these treatments. Depression in reality its a lot more than that. It is different for everyone who goes through it, different cause, different severity, different coping ways, different recovery time etc. It is more than just a sadness, its a sadness that physically and mentally hurts you. Its something that can't be controlled. There's no warning, it just happens. An old song, a picture, a person, even certain words can end up causing an attack.
Depression is a feeling of empty and loneliness that ends in physical pain to the point where you will do anything to make it stop. There are many many ways people who suffer cope with these feelings; music, writing, screaming, punching things, and unfortunately in most severe cases self harm and suicide.
The families of people who suffer from this can be very supportive or not at all. My best friend told her parents how shes been feeling once and they told her to stop pretending. Depression isn't something you can pretend or shouldn't anyway and it defiantly should not be thought of something that can be made up. Depression is a very serious disease. The CDC states about 1 out of every 6 adults will have depression in their lives. There are 16 million Americans alone who are affected by depression every year. This disease doesn't just happen to adults, it can happen at anyone at any age.
Depression unfortunately in many cases leads to suicide. According to the CDC in 2016 45,000 people lost their lives do to suicide and since 1999 suicide rates increased more than 30%. If you know anyone who possibly is thinking of committing suicide look for the signs. Remember everyone is different some people will show all, some, one or even none of the signs.
- Feeling like a burden
- Being isolated
- increased anxiety
- Feeling trapped or in unbearable pain
- Increased substance use
- Looking for a way to access lethal means
- Increased anger
- Extreme mood swings
- Expressing hopelessness
- Sleeping to little or too much
- Talking or posting about wanting to die
- Making plans for suicide
If you do suspect that someone is at risk there are 5 steps you can follow to help:
- Ask
- Keep them safe
- Be there
- Help them connect
- Follow up
You can also go to this website and find more ways to help someone who might be at risk: https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/suicide/index.html
If you are going through depression and are thinking of suicide please please get help. You are on this planet for a reason and the reason is not to suffer. You are destined to do great things. I know I may or may not know you but if you are reading this please know that you are loved by many people even though it doesn't feel like it. There are many ways to get help, you can talk to a friend, a family member, a therapist, you can call a suicide prevention center and many other things. Asking for help is never a bad thing, everyone needs help at some point in their lives.
If you are not going though depression and reading this I hope you use this and other information to help others. Everyone is different, please be respectful and understand that not everyone sees everything and experiences things the same way.
In honor of Carolyn Jones who was between
the ages of 34-36 when she came close to losing her life
to depression after almost committing suicide.
We love you Carolyn ❤
She actually was in and out of depression her entire life. She always felt as though she was never good enough and did not matter, but that was not the case. Sometimes depression can make your perceptions a reality. She was a sweet and caring woman.
ReplyDeleteI never knew she thought of suicide at some point of her life
ReplyDelete