#mydailyblurb - Depression

One of the weirdest things about depression is that nobody seems to talk about it but so many of us have been familiar with it, through our own experience or someone close to us.

We see facts like these: "From 1999 to 2010, the suicide rate for those aged 35 to 64 rose by more than 28 percent. By 2009 there were more deaths by suicide than from car crashes." And hear stories like these: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-28765693

Yet it is still a conversation we struggle to have.

We have seen a somewhat rise in ‘Mental Health’ groups, charities, support systems etc. but the attachment to labelling, especially of labels like mental "illness" could be driving its stigma further. Made to believe that these somewhat temporary or long term mind states and emotions are "abnormal" and need "medical intervention" is exactly what drives us to believe...they are not normal. And what’s worse than trying to fit in to a society where anything that is deemed not normal is treated like the plague ready to infect us all.

Ironically, social networks such as these, where so many of us spend most our time, whose purpose is to keep everyone “connected” have left us far more disconnected than we have ever been. We false advertise our lives on what is deemed “acceptable” to share and what the world wants to see because the truth can be a very frightening thing for a society that’s been built on burying our heads in the sand. Escapism through foods, alcohol, drugs, reality tv, gossip etc are merely distractions.

I am writing this today because there are days where I struggle to get out of bed sometimes. Where the littlest of tasks might feel like the hardest. And I’m obviously not alone. It’s incredible how something as simple as the feeling of CONNECTEDNESS can uplift ANYBODY. Connecting through thoughts, emotions, feelings and REAL life. Listening with empathy not sympathy and understanding the difference! Even when you don’t understand at all.

So what I want to say is that It IS NORMAL to feel sadness. It is NORMAL to feel pain, hurt and anger. It is NORMAL to grieve, to want to do things differently, it is NORMAL to think differently, behave differently. Difference is the one thing we all have in common! It is NORMAL TO FEEL full stop. Emotions don’t need to be validated or invalidated they just need to be expressed and heard. Without opinion or judgement. The littlest empathy can go a long long way to uplifting ANYBODIES day. It’s how humans survive. On CONNECTION. Community. I love it when friends can share how they're actually feeling or talk about something that is going on, because its REAL. In a place we've created to seem so superficial.

One of my favourite talks:

#depression #mind #Psychology