picture is mine
I get irritated when a person says he or she is depressed, and others just take it like a joke and laugh over it. Some go as far as telling the person
"You're not depressed you're just hungry or maybe bored'
Listen, do you know that sometimes the symptoms of depression may not be a rejection of food but too much eating of food? Like eating too much food, why?
Because the person is trying so hard to trick his mind from what he or she is feeling.
How do I know this?
Because I've been there. Yes, I've been depressed at a point in my life and trust me it's not an experience I'll pray for another person. Not even my enemy.
So when I hear people talk about their depression I don't take it lightly. Trust me when I say it took them a lot of courage for them to open up about what they are passing, so that's the time they need more attention. Listen to their story first before mocking them.
I remember a few years back, I had just finished high school. I was waiting to get admission into college, and luckily, on my first exam, I got admission, but before I could process my documents, I got so sick.
I wouldn't want to go into details but trust me when I say that I spent years on the sick bed, I wasn't getting better.
I watched my mates graduate from college from my sick bed. I watched them post about their passing out to NYSC from my sick bed. I felt my life wasn't progressing but stagnated. That was when I fell into depression.
At first, I did well at hiding it; I was making people laugh a lot, and I was eating so much that I became overweight. People complimented me that I was looking healthy. They never suspected that I was in depression. I'll do all that in public, then fight my demons in private. Trust me you'll never suspect a thing.
Then, gradually, I began to seclude myself from people. I locked myself indoors a lot. I began eating mostly what the doctors told me to avoid. In a bid to find a way to hasten the process to the other side (if you know what I mean).
Like I said there are other things I don't want to go into details about.
What I learnt through all my experience is to show love more to people because you can never tell who's going through a lot. That life of the party might be fighting depression secretly. Look beyond the surface.
Check up on your friends regularly. Don't wait till they get silent before you do. Check up on them always!
Try to tell them how you love them and how they're doing great even if they're struggling.
Help them focus and fight for their goals. Keeping people occupied in things they love gets their minds off bad thoughts. It all starts with a thought.
More importantly, take care of yourself too. You never can tell if you might be the repressed one that needs help. So while looking out for others look out for yourself too.