Reading some of the posts here just break my heart. There are so many people that have been, or – in some cases, currently subject to the most hideous abuses by those that are supposed to care for them. Those with drug addicted or alcoholic parents, those that are being physically and sexually abused by members of their own family, or even worse.  It makes the trials and tribulations of my formative years, whilst far from idyllic, seem like paradise in comparison.
Then, there are those for whom fortune has gone and taken a great big dump all over them. These are the people that were once fully functioning and relatively settled members of society, but now stand to lose almost everything because of an freak incident that happened outside of their control. An illness; an injury; the sudden loss of a loved one … all potential catalysts to send one down the road of self-destruction.
This, in turn, fills me with guilt. What right do I have to be clinically depressed when there are so many others out there going through much tougher times than I am? With these thoughts, I feel even more depressed. This then feeds my guilt, which then feeds my depression.
2 comments
I totally understand where you’re coming from. I have been lucky enough to suffered my hardly any of those things. Why should I be depressed? I sometimes think to myself. Don’t worry you’re not alone on that one 🙂
You aren’t your circumstances, and you are where you are; some have it better, some have it worse, but at best, that valuation is subjective to where you are, and where they are. I feel bad complaining that I don’t have healthcare or a job, yet things could be far worse.
So that brings me to this masterpiece of indie music that I love…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANY55YTY1I4
“Just go around me if you’re so keen to win the race to work, whose prize is work…”
There’s no competition. You’re human, and so is everyone else. You are where you are, and you are who you are. Just do the best you can with what you have. If it bothers you that other people have problems that seem worse than yours, let your struggles shade your compassion.