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  3. I’ve written and said many times:

    Depression does not recognise
    Age, colour,sexuality, where you were educated, social status,rich,poor, relationships, height, weight,money,chronic illness,stigma,suicide,self worth.

    It is truly an equal opportunites abuser, which when it gets a grip on you and holds your mind hostage, you can be lost for many years ir even forever.

    Those who deal with it on a daily basis know the difference between having a bad day,and feeling nothing except silent pain.

    Unless you have suffered from this debilitating illness or have taken the time to learn, I say shut up! your only making things worse.

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  4. Thank you. There’s a reason why I was always afraid to even utter the word ‘depression’ let alone admit to my own depression that it did in fact exist. It is the stigma associated with it that made me feel so weak for succumbing to it, in bowing down and bending to it’s will. The stigma must go. I will not stop being open about my experiences until all are comfortable in having the conversation.

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  6. Since finally deciding to take anti depressants I find I have been hiding the fact from most of my friends,family and colleagues because I’m embarrassed but if I was on antibiotics I wouldn’t do that!

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  10. Often it is these stigmas that lead to untreated mental illnesses. Patients who never report their symptoms and quietly get wasted away as the illness gradually eats them up. I think it is one of the worst things to happen to anyone, among others.

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  11. Short answer: Yes? A sad answer but I think for a lot of people they can’t understand something if they can’t see it and it frustrates them when it can’t be explained to make them understand. How can you explain when you feel it, be it mentally of physically if you can’t understand it yourself and even if you can understand it, how can you find the words or the drive to actually explain it in a way they’ll understand?

    I think a lot of people can empathise and sympathise but I think an amount just can’t unless they experience it or know someone that has. Two of my very close friends have been diagnosed with depression, one of anti-depressants an one trying St Johns Wort. One is very anxious, hardy ever communicating and often isolating herself. Some of our not so good mutual friends have written off her friendship because they don’t feel she puts in enough effort, that she’s selfish and doesn’t bother to support them as friends so why should they? I understand feeling angry and annoyed or taken for granted, but my friend cannot help feeling anxiety and isolating herself. She can’t explain the need to, nor should she have to. Some have stuck by her but most have buggered off. It’s really sad and speaking to those people, there’s nothing we can do to change their minds. They just can’t empathise. My St Johns Wort taking friend is the opposite, he will socialise, she forces herself too which means those friends compare the two and see friend a as being weak when it comes to dealing with her depression and/or they see friend b as being not really depressed- both of which are wrong. Friend B, she hurts herself a lot and punishes herself, she has bouts of rage and days when she can’t get out of bed. She just tries not to show it.

    It’s an invisible illness and some people just lack the ability to see it. Or possibly the imagination.

    My IBS isn’t visible really, I may be scrunched up in pain sometimes and they may see me vomit or race to the bathroom but largely those things are hidden. The stomach cramps, nausea and gripping pain, alongside the paranoia that I feel whenever I’m somewhere new before I locate the loo. I often had sceptical glances and comments, made to feel I was a hypochondriac about it.

    Those first three things, they lack the word ‘not’ while the last two should have ‘not’ removed.

    Sorry for the essay ><

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