Happy Monday, readers! Time is racing past, but we “grab life by the horns,” right?
I’ve written about this before, but I feel like a lot of people deal with depression, or—rather—don’t deal with it, and it makes life extremely difficult, so I felt drawn to write about it again.
I was talking to someone about this earlier this week. Depression is a highly invasive and crippling entity, and yet it’s often invisible to outside eyes.
The real problem though? A lot of time, it’s unseen by the person who’s struggling with it.
Oh, don’t get me wrong. That person knows something isn’t right. Energy levels are low, moods are down, enjoyment is almost or completely non-existent, the list goes on and on…
Any sort of struggle with mental health has a huge stigma against it, though, and people don’t want to admit, even to themselves, that something is wrong.
Yes, that stigma is shifting bit by bit, but we still haven’t made it to the other side. There are still often comments like:
- “Just get over it.”
- “Fake it till you make it.”
- “You’re not really depressed. You just need to __________”
These are just some of the ways people try to help. Often, those sharing these words truly are trying to help. In fact, there have been times in my life where the words, “Fake it till you make it,” have actually been the ones to see me through a certain situation.
But not depression.
When we have friends sharing advice like the above, we may try to do things their way, but find ourselves sinking deeper and feeling more invisible than ever.
I’m writing this today to tell you: you are not alone and I see you.
Depression is real. The struggle is real.
But you are not alone.
How I make it through? God. I’ve talked about my faith here before, but I think it’s especially important for this topic.
See, turning to the things of this world never help in the long run. (I’m not talking about doctor-prescribed medications that actually assist when a diagnosed chemical imbalance is involved.) I’m talking about turning to things like: drugs, alcohol, sex, adrenaline-chasing, and many more things.
When we turn to the things of this world to block out the darkness, it may do so for a little while, but when the hit of euphoric feeling fades, everything comes rushing back with a vengeance.
However, when we turn to something, some ONE bigger than us, bigger than this world and the depression that tries to overtake us, the battle is more manageable.
I’m not going to sit here and say a relationship with God fixes depression. A look at my life proves that. But what I am saying is that when you have a relationship with God, you can hand everything over to Him. You give up control and let go. It’s not easy, but it’s completely worth it.
The struggle is real, but you don’t have to struggle alone.
There is hope.
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