I'm going to apologise now in advance for the seriousness of this post, it's a far cry from my regular posts of holidays musings, fluffy dogs and being drunk. But it's something which recently has been gaining a lot of media attention due to the heartbreaking loss of the amazing talent which is Robin Williams, and I feel as if I just need to have my say on the matter.
Depression.
Even the term itself oozes doom and gloom. I get so worked up every time I see that word, I have this weird mixture of emotions such as sympathy, rage, and complete and utter heartbreak going on inside of me.
It's not really a secret, however it's not something I openly discuss, but I myself have battled with this old foe for years. Personally, and I cannot stress enough that everyone goes through depression differently, depression comes and goes in waves of intensity for me. Currently, I'm thrilled to say that I have my demons pushed to the back of my mind, and that I'm okay just going with the flow of my life at the moment. However, I have had moments of complete chaos where I cannot face the world, and I genuinely feel as if I just can't cope with anything. It took me a long time to realise what was wrong with me, it took a few long years of suffering in silence, hiding all my feelings away even from my mum, before I broke out of myself and got some help.
But what does get to me, is the way people don't get that depression is a serious mental illness. It's completely misunderstood by anyone who is lucky enough to not come across it, but sometimes I feel this verges on ignorance. I've been a little bit wary about opening up with people about depression, because in the past I've been told "I have nothing to be sad about", and to "just lighten up a bit", because they just don't understand how depression works. It's not caused by any particular reason, you could have everything you ever wanted in life but still have depression, and there's no switch to miraculously turn it off and be happy again. It just doesn't work like that.
The lack of education and information available about depression is shocking, especially as more people than you may think do suffer from it. Because it's such an unknown to many, there's a lot of unwillingness to talk about it, to the extent that for many it becomes like 'the elephant in the room', which never gets discussed or mentioned, but is obviously there. Then there's the polar opposite, the part which really annoys me, is people throwing the term about because they don't understand how serious it is. Just the other day I was on the bus when I heard a girl saying to her friend that she was so 'depressed' because her hair wasn't styled the way she wanted it. It's just as bad as when people used to call things 'gay' instead of 'lame', it has just as much power behind it than people realise. And it's pure ignorance. I don't blame these people though, I just get upset that they obviously have never been taught how serious depression really is, so they genuinely do not know what they are saying.
Sadly, it's taken the death of one of the most beloved actors of our time for this subject to finally be getting the recognition it's been needing for years. Robin Williams bought a lot of laughter and joy to all who watched films such as Mrs. Doubtfire, Hook, and Flubber, and captivated audiences with roles such as in one of my favourites, Good Will Hunting. It's just such a shame that he couldn't find the happiness he bought to others within himself. I hope that people see him as the person he was, and not the demons he was fighting, and that the positive we can take from his death is that other people may find the courage to seek help and receive it.
I found a comment online which really made me think about all this, and it's what really sparked this whole rant/post. It said, "When somebody dies of cancer, they blame the cancer. If somebody dies because of depression, they blame the person. It's an illness too, and claims just as many lives."
So there you go, that was a bit of a change from my usual somewhat lighter posts, but it's just something I felt had to be said. If anyone reading this is currently being affected by depression, don't suffer in silence. There are people who can and will help you, and you're not a burden or troubling them at all. I've included a few links below to help you, or for anyone who is after a bit more information on the subject.
The Depression Alliance - http://www.depressionalliance.org/
Young Minds - http://www.youngminds.org.uk/
Depression UK - http://www.depressionuk.org/
The Samaritans - http://www.samaritans.org/
Much love ♥
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