"You can’t keep the birds of sadness from flying over your head, but you can keep them from nesting in your hair." (From the book Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech)
Depression.
I don't think that I have ever met anyone who hasn't been blue and down before.
Even if you are lucky enough to not have inherited a predisposition towards depression, we have all had difficult times, loss and sadness. This is part of being human.
But most of the time, people bounce back, either slowly over time or quickly after a turn of events. What happens when you just can't bounce back? When that dark cloud hovers over your head, coloring all that you do, feel, experience?
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Symptoms of depression include loss of interest in previously pleasurable activities, loss of energy, too much sleep or insomnia, weight gain or significant weight loss, trouble concentrating, and feeling hopeless, helpless, worthless and stuck. Deep depression can include thoughts of suicide.
When people are depressed, they often struggle with feelings of shame, “Why can't I just shake this off, what is wrong with me?” Others may judge you or offer advice that shows a lack of compassion, understanding: ”Just pull yourself
up by the boot straps, get over it, stop dwelling on the negative." It can feel like there is no light at the end of the tunnel, no end in sight for the suffering. The good news is there are steps people can take.
Step 1 is truly important: Talk to a physician to rule out that the depression is the result of a medical condition like hypothyroidism, cardiac conditions, traumatic brain injury, dementia, or substance abuse. It is good to get a thorough check up and can be a first step to taking better care of yourself.
Next steps can include seeking counseling, talking to a spiritual adviser, sharing your struggle with a good friend, taking care of your body through nutrition and exercise, joining an online chat group for depression, getting outside into nature, volunteering to help others, doing art, listening to music- anything that makes you feel better, gets a foot up the ladder out of the darkness.
What can seem like tiny steps to others, are actually enormously heroic steps for someone in the midst of depression. It can feel like it takes super-human strength to just get out of bed. Even if you can barely get out of bed, you can call crisis support services 24-hour hotline 1 800 309-2131 to just talk to someone anonymously who can offer support, encouragement, and local resources.
Sometimes you have to fake it til you make it....taking steps even if you feel that it is useless and won't help, eventually the steps create the life that feels different, that feels more comfortable. The dark cloud begins to thin out and feels less oppressive, the air feels easier to breath in. The birds of sadness continue on their journey- seen in the distance, not overhead.
