Depression: Advice for Navigating "The Big Sad"
Discover posts on what it’s like to live with depression, battle it and come out the other side.
Depression or as I like to call it “The Big Sad” has a habit of making friends with anxiety disorders. Depression is an entirely different animal however.
It can have you feeling hopeless, hiding away in your room and finding little to no enjoyment in the things that once made you happier than a kid on Christmas.
“The Big Sad” can find even the happiest of humans but it’s not forever. At some point, the dark cloud lifts and every day becomes easier.
Understanding depression is a useful way to master your anxiety.
Sad or Depressed?
The word ‘depressed’ is tossed around a lot, often used as a synonym for sadness. But, a lot of people don’t know what the word means. If you’ve ever been depressed, you’ll know firsthand that there is a big difference between being that and being sad.
Sadness is an emotion, and is usually temporary. If you’re sad, usually doing things you love will make you feel better. This could be a Brooklyn Nine-Nine marathon, a walk in the park, a music concert or simply snuggling your pet. After a bit, the sadness passes and you can go back to your life.
But clinical depression (or Major Depressive Disorder/ MDD) is not the same as feeling sad. Yes, depression is a feeling, but it’s also more than that. I find the best way to describe depression is as a dark cloud that lingers over your head, following you around, weighing you down. This ‘darkness’ can make it hard to find light on the brightest days. It’s not something that just passes or goes away. It doesn’t just get better over time, or go away after a while.
Recovering from depression requires assistance and determination. You have to put in effort. But when you’re depressed that can seem impossible. Luckily there are things like medication, therapy and mindfulness that can help us (and the other 5% of the population in the world experience depression) along. This section of the blog contains resources that you may find useful.