I have lived with depression as along as I can remember. Sometimes I’m on medication. Sometimes I’m in therapy. Sometimes I’m not. My depression is something that I’ve spent the last few decades learning to manage. There are many times that I really can manage without assistance, but the trick is to be able to identify when to ask for help. Am I just having a few bad days (this totally happens) or am I entering a serious episode? It’s easy to let things go until they get bad, so I have set up a support system that I can check in with regularly.
It starts when I have been depressed for a few days. I go to my support person and say “I’m depressed, but I’m not sure if it’s bad enough to get treatment, yet.” My support person will follow up with me in a few days or a week to see how I’m doing. If I’m still depressed, she’ll keep checking in until I’m okay or until she tells me it is time to make an appointment. Then she’ll follow up on my treatment. “Have you made an appointment?” “Are you taking your meds?” Whatever. It’s that easy. Okay, when you’re depressed, nothing is EASY, but still.
In my opinion, a good support person MUST be someone who has been there. Only a person who has lived with depression can really ask the right questions and understand the complexity of your symptoms. If I were to tell someone else “I’m depressed. I have no motivation and it’s hard for me to do what needs to be done at work.” they might think, “Yeah, I don’t love my job either, but I do the work even when I don’t want to.” I need someone who understand that this is a symptom of my depression. I’m lucky that I have that person and she was easy for me to find. My support person is my mom, who also has depression and has been there to support me since I was diagnosed.
As I have become more open about my diagnosis, I have discovered more people in my life with whom I can be open and honest and who are willing to support me and will let me be a support to them. I hope that as acceptance of mental illness grows, so will those communities, so that no one has to try to go through recovery alone.
It starts when I have been depressed for a few days. I go to my support person and say “I’m depressed, but I’m not sure if it’s bad enough to get treatment, yet.” My support person will follow up with me in a few days or a week to see how I’m doing. If I’m still depressed, she’ll keep checking in until I’m okay or until she tells me it is time to make an appointment. Then she’ll follow up on my treatment. “Have you made an appointment?” “Are you taking your meds?” Whatever. It’s that easy. Okay, when you’re depressed, nothing is EASY, but still.
In my opinion, a good support person MUST be someone who has been there. Only a person who has lived with depression can really ask the right questions and understand the complexity of your symptoms. If I were to tell someone else “I’m depressed. I have no motivation and it’s hard for me to do what needs to be done at work.” they might think, “Yeah, I don’t love my job either, but I do the work even when I don’t want to.” I need someone who understand that this is a symptom of my depression. I’m lucky that I have that person and she was easy for me to find. My support person is my mom, who also has depression and has been there to support me since I was diagnosed.
As I have become more open about my diagnosis, I have discovered more people in my life with whom I can be open and honest and who are willing to support me and will let me be a support to them. I hope that as acceptance of mental illness grows, so will those communities, so that no one has to try to go through recovery alone.
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| My mom and me :) |
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