What does depression look like? Does it look like that woman lying in the bed in the picture below? How do you know if you or your loved one is depressed? Here are a few things you should look out for. When you can’t get out of bed when you’re canceling nights out and taking days off from work just to lay in bed. When your house is a mess, and everything is in chaos in your life. When you’re binge drinking and getting drunk to oblivion. When your body aches and you’re unable to focus, eat or overeat. When you have many sleepless nights and worry about everything. Anxiety kicks into overdrive and you cry at the drop of a hat. You think the world is against you and you feel like a loser. You hate yourself and you feel unloved. You look in the mirror and think you are the ugliest person in the world. Yet through it all, you work, take care of the kids and your partner. Instead of making yourself happy, you make everyone else happy, instead of taking care of yourself, you take care of everyone else. You wear a smile on your face in public but inside you are dying. This is the hallmark card of depression.

 

Depression comes from so many things. To name a few, PTSD/Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, situational depression, and chemical imbalance. You can have everything in the world, be the best-looking person on the block and have a wonderful family and friends that treat you like a Queen but no matter what because of the illness of depression, it keeps your mind constantly in a repeat of negative thoughts. The thoughts in your head get louder and louder and unbearable at times. You may think that someone who suffers from depression is crazy, they’re not. They are mentally ill and need help and a cure. They can get help but a cure, there might not be one. Medication, therapy, meditation, and prayer are all great remedies until they no longer work. Bouts of depression are just that, they come and go and are brought on by triggers. Loved ones are always walking on pins and needles. They want to treat them the same as others but carefully.

 

Is it hard to care for someone who is mentally ill? Yes, it can be. They have working parts; they are smart but broken and unpredictable. They can be quite scary at times. You do not know if they will hurt you, others, or hurt themselves. Some mentally ill people are cutters and suicidal. A cutter is someone who cuts themselves to refocus pain, instead of the pain they feel in their head or heart, they inflict pain on their skin to redirect the pain. Someone who is suicidal takes their own life or makes attempts to. In some cases, they take others with them. Sad but true. I have suffered from depression mostly all my life and I've even made attempts to end my life. So, I ask you again, what does depression look like? It looks like me or the person sitting next to you. You never know who's fighting a never-ending battle in their head. Never judge a book by its cover. Never judge anyone who suffers from depression, instead get them help, support, and love them and appreciate their very existence.