When Depression Eats You Alive
Many people continue to suffer from depression in silence; they have no one to talk to because no one will understand. That is their belief. They also tend to believe that being depressed equates to being weak and that people will look down upon them if they find out that they are feeling depressed. But the truth is that many people around the world are currently depressed; it’s not something to be ashamed of.
The psychology behind being ashamed about depression has to do with the ego or the persona that you present to the world. When you feel depressed, you don’t have your best mask on to present to the world; whatever is lacking on the inside tends to manifest on the out. So for people who care a lot about their image, it becomes overwhelming to share their depression, so they either hide it or kill themselves to escape their reality.
But that’s exactly what makes depression a difficult disorder to deal with; it does its best to kill you within by first isolating you from the rest of the world. It’s very difficult to be depressed and continue living your normal life at the same time; the two pictures are no longer congruent. On the outside, everything keeps moving forward while on the in, everything is slowed down as if you’re turning into a corpse.
When this happens, depressed people start to fall behind and self-isolate. They start to feel hopeless for the future and begin to entertain suicidal ideations; they see the darkness as no way out but by only ending their existence. And it’s much worse for people who are ashamed of their depression; they’re definitely not motivated to even admit that they’re depressed in the first place.
People who are ashamed of their depression will deny feeling depressed or minimize it at the very least, “I guess I feel sad but it’s no big deal! Can I go home now? Can I be discharged?” The dangerous thing about these depressed people is that they sometimes hide their symptoms very well, fooling many around them into believing that they are not going through anything out of the ordinary.
If you are suffering from depression, please don’t be embarrassed to share your experience with others. You are doing yourself a disservice if you continue to hide your symptoms in the shadows. You deserve the help and support that is available from psychiatrists and other mental health workers. Don’t torture yourself behind the curtains; pull them wide open and let the sun into your life!
Please share your stories of depression with The DSM Ready Community!
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