“What Have You Got To Be Depressed About?”
This is the usual reaction people get when they reveal that they are clinically depressed. Personally, I think it should be a law that if anyone asks you that and you have diagnosed by a doctor with depression, then you should be allowed to punch any idiot who says this right in the mouth. (Opinions like these are probably why I never got into law). They might as well ask a cancer patient, “What have you got to be sick about?” Same question — different illness.
It’s Not Your Fault That You Have Depression
Clincial depression or bipolar disorder (another kind of depression) are still often thought to be character flaws or punishment from God about some misdemeanor you did in your past. I used to go to a strict Christian school where you were screamed at for being a sinner and not trusting in God enough should you happen to slip up and admidt you were feeling depressed. I graduated from that school in 1987 and I hope they still don’t take that appraoch with their students, but you never know. People hate to change cherished beliefs. For example, I came across this debate on Helium, “Bipolar Disorder: Illness or Excuse?”
We do not know why some people get clincially depressed or get anixety disorder or get bipolar disorder. We do know that it seems to run in families, but how did those families get in the first place? One thing for sure is that depression doesn’t come about because you are somehow “bad”.
It Is A Mental Illness
Clinical depression and it’s bretheren are illnesses of the brain function, thought to be problems in the brain’s chemistry. But, due to the stigma associated with mental illnesses, many people who don’t have clinical depression asssume that all people with mental illnesses need to be locked up and are incurably dangerous.
Clinical depression is a mental illness, but many people with it can still function in society, holding down a job, paying the bills, whatever. It is not because we woke up one day and thought, “I know what. I’ll be miserable for the rest of my life!”
Depression isn’t a choice. It’s an illness. And, oftentimes, a manageable one. So, you do have something to be depressed about, even when others can’t see it.
August 17th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
[...] Paranoid_Psycho wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptClinical depression is a mental illness, but many people with it can still function in society, holding down a job, paying the bills, whatever. It is not because we woke up one day and thought, “I know what. I’ll be miserable for the … [...]
August 23rd, 2008 at 10:33 pm
Here Here! I don’t know how long it will take people to come to realize that this is as real as diabetes, thyroid disease, etc. But, I feel like I am as passionate about it as I can be and I keep putting the word (and my disgusting story) out there so that maybe, just maybe, one person some where will look at it and say, well, maybe she has a point. Thanks for linking over!
August 24th, 2008 at 10:34 am
You’re quite welcome, Jerri Ann. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
March 15th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
[...] depression CAN’T “snap out of it”. That’s like telling a cancer patient to “snap out of it”. The only thing you will accomplish is making the loved one with depression hate your guts. And [...]