Is anyone else tired of the suggestions people make to alleviate depression? Taking a walk, ordering my favorite food and listening to music seem to be the most common ones. But I’ve heard everything from go roller skating to go square dancing. I realize people mean well but it’s almost insulting. Such superficial actions do absolutely nothing for clinical depression and it’s evidence of the total lack of understanding of the condition. I’m so tired of taking psychotropic medication. It does help me sleep but that’s about it. And as I’ve mentioned here before, my insurance pays zero for me to see a professional clinical counselor. And many people expect you to somehow just get better over time and that obviously doesn’t happen. The lonliness and isolation are unbearable as is the sense of having no purpose. Is it really any wonder to any rational, thoughtful person as to why an individual seriously contemplates suicide? You can only tolerate a finite level of pain and misery. Everyone has their limit and after decades of this I’ve reached mine. Enough is enough. Despite my condition, I still believe in God and Jesus Christ and know my eternal home is in heaven.
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Square dancing? That’s one I’ve never heard. That would make me more depressed, my coordination issues make dancing a rather frustrating thing to try and do.
I usually tell the rare person who knows me and wants to say something like that; either I’ve tried it, I will, or it is not a practical option (like square dancing)
Some stuff does help, but getting to it is the problem. I’m going to try and get back into swimming, because swimming in a chlorinated pool is one of the things I know that makes a dent, especially because summer is the hardest five months of the year for me.
Also, clinical help is hit and miss. I’ve got a new therapist I started with last month and it isn’t going as well as I’d hope. We’ll see. The problem is how atypical I am, I don’t want the things other people do.
I don’t want to be told what to do to alleviate depression, but it’s not something people can stop doing. It’s like people have this innate need to feel useful by offering their opinions.
Does it help? Maybe it makes people feel useful. But personally, for my own depression, what I really need is for someone to listen, not to make suggestions, but to make me feel as if I matter.
It just sucks that in real life, I have nothing but strangers behind computer screens, despite having a family who could logically be there for me.