503 upvotes, 6 direct replies (showing 6)
View submission: People WITHOUT depression and anxiety, what is life like?
Not OP, but usually depression gets you in really personal ways. It's's not just "I'm sad." It's "I'm worthless. I'm ugly. I'm not a good person." And in a grasp of desperation to not feel like an outcast and make it *worse* you tend to justify those thoughts (and simultaneously beat yourself up) with "well everyone feels this way so I should just shut up. It's not so bad."
And the "everyone feels like this" lie can cause contempt for people who are "normal" and have healthy, properly functioning brains. Their actions are seen as shallow and fake. You like how you look in that photo? You're lying to everyone. You put on makeup everyday? You're just vying for attention. When it's actually just people taking care of themselves and doing their normal shit. But because it's so difficult for you, it's perceived as extra effort and vain/shallow.
At least that's how it is/was for me.
Comment by titaniumorbit at 28/08/2020 at 07:31 UTC
91 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Oh man. I can relate to this so much. The depression really hits in the most personal ways... it’s exhausting.
Comment by dread_deimos at 28/08/2020 at 10:33 UTC
16 upvotes, 2 direct replies
"I'm worthless. I'm ugly. I'm not a good person."
It's not always the case for depression to be focused on internal issues. For me, peronally, it was about grim darkness and hopelessness of the whole world around. I've managed to hold the blame off of me and currently I don't have depression episodes (or rather they're rare and low in magnitude), only the anxiety part.
Comment by Vengeance164 at 28/08/2020 at 17:16 UTC
2 upvotes, 1 direct replies
This exact line of thinking is what caused me to avoid seeking help for most of my teenage years. That, and my Dad saying "Well if you really think you're that depressed we need to admit you to a hospital right now." So I just assumed everyone hated themselves but managed to find a way to deal with it, meanwhile I felt like I was drowning in a sea of self-loathing.
And then I saw a therapist, and she suggested I see a psychiatrist. Two months on an anti-depressant and the world genuinely seemed brighter. Colors were more vivid. And for the first time since I could remember, I could have a day where I didn't hate myself for some absolutely silly-ass reason.
I wish I could go back and tell younger me to insist on seeing someone sooner, or convince my parents that my lack of ambition wasn't some kind of moral failing or borne out of laziness. I just couldn't see myself succeeding at anything, so I didn't bother trying to do anything.
It's an incredibly cruel trick your brain can play on you.
Comment by iwannagohome49 at 28/08/2020 at 13:36 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Wow dude, I have never thought of it that way but it makes perfect sense. My brain is to fucked up to actually use this knowledge but still, very profound.
Comment by celebral_x at 29/08/2020 at 00:01 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Oof, that just made a lot of sense for me. People told me I am stuck up, arrogant and shallow a lot of times, when it was simply me being okay with being me.
Comment by Maros_99 at 29/08/2020 at 08:29 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Wow. When I was 16 and had an argument with a girl I was into and we stopped talking, it opened a lot of issues to me. I remember, that at a time, I was full of hate and anger, that I was convinced, that everyone works the same way I do: full of hate, anger and resentment. So I thought, that I was able to predict people. Boy I was wrong.