Preramble
A friend of mine has been feeling under the weather (emotionally) lately, and I told her something that actually took me by surprise.
Actually, it was something of an epiphany that allowed me to understand myself a lot better, or at least understand the way I used to be.
It’s essentially my thoughts on depression and why it’s something that’s so hard to shake.
I hope you enjoy it.
Depressive Missive
Depression is one of the biggest problems that plagues our society today. It’s a silent assasin that steals your happiness away from you.
Certainly there are many levels of you upon which it feeds: Mental. Emotional. Physical.
Perhaps this is why it is so hard to pin down.
Is it wrong? I’m not so sure.
We, each of us, is entitled to being in the dumps once in a while. But letting ourselves stay there is when the problem becomes severe.
Why do we let it stay?
Well, let’s just drag the reason out into the light: Sometimes, malaise can become so comfortable that it becomes a habit. We become negative. Withdrawn. We look at ourselves in the mirror and wonder why we would even bother to pick ourselves up and start fresh because we are useless.
So we sink further into the black hole.
This is only really a stop-gap, though. We simply end up at one step waiting to take the next one down a flight that leads us to complete and utter despair. Therefore, the easy way of surrendering to sadness appears more attractive in the face of the hard work to start climbing back up into the light.
But that’s where one would be wrong.
It is only perceived to be easier, when in fact, it will probably turn into just as much work.
Consider the alcoholic: At first, there is simply drinking. After a while, though, there is the withdrawal and the need to fill the emptiness with more drinking, which at this point may take some footwork to achieve.
The same goes for depression. You end up living to sip the next bit of malaise.
Is that’s why it’s so hard to stop? Maybe, like happiness, the body considers depression and sadness to be a deviation from the norm*, and thus wants more because it is different.
Perhaps this may seem odd, but I seriously wonder if that’s what may be happening. Depression and happiness could be two sides of the same coin, affecting the body with the same method yet yielding different results.
It would certainly explain why it affects us on so many levels. It would be something that integrates itself into the fabric of our being, and would take a great deal of coaxing to get it to let go.
Think of it as putting your foot on the accelerator of a car. Almost everyone craves the feeling of more speed. But does it matter what direction they are going in?
I think this might be something I would like to continue to explore. Perhaps you can help with your comments?
* – See this article about contentment.
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Barking Space 