I deal with depression every dayboth as a regular person existing in this world and as a therapist.
Sure, from the outside, depression doesnt always make sense.
It may look like an outsized reaction to a certain stressor or even reacting over nothing.
Verywell / Dennis Madamba
Ive heard people use this to describe someone elses depression; Ive used it to describe my own depression.
For starters, blaming yourselfor someone else blaming youisnt going to help.
(Can you see my big finger quotes here?)
Just as you wouldnt blame yourself for having Stage IV cancer vs.
Stage III (we hope!
), theseverity of your depressionisnt your fault either.
Depression, like most other mental health conditions, exists on a continuum.
Depression might also look like the person in your mirror or in your house.
Often, these are the people who you’d “least expect” to have depression.
I was constantly laughing and cracking jokes.
I rarely had a free night on my calendar.
“I’m an extrovert!”
I would have told you at the time.
SSRIs and Talk Therapy Are the Only Treatments
Its a good time to be depressed.
There were embarrassingly few advances in depression treatment for a very long time.
Most modern depression medications arebased on theories from the 1950s and ’60s.
‘I’m an extrovert!’
I would have told you at the time.
But the truth was that my thoughts were too dark to be with alone… SSRIs come with side effects, and talk therapy can be very costly.
(With that said, both of them can also be very effective.)
Depression Only Affects Your Brain
Im not depressed!
Ive heard this countless times.
The person doesnt feel sad, hopeless, or suicidal.
Theyre just havingtrouble sleepingand eating, and have randomly lost weight.
Or maybe they have a lot of aches and pains and are constantly exhausted during the day.
News flash: Our brains are actually a part of our body!
In fact, they control the whole thing!
Our mental health can affect our physical health and vice versa.
For more mental health resources, see ourNational Helpline Database.
Inc G. U. S.Depression rates reach new highs.
FDA.Commissioner of the FDA issues first draft guidance on clinical trials with psychedelic drugs.
Gandhi ATP.The importance of somatic symptoms in depression in primary care.Prim Care Companion CNS Disord.
2005;7(4).
2013;46(1):34-44.
