1. Depression is an illness, it’s not a choice! No one would ever ‘choose’ to be depressed.
2. You can’t ‘snap out of’ depression or it can’t be made better by thinking happy thoughts. It goes much deeper then that.
3. Depression can be a chronic illness that can last a lifetime. It’s referred to as Major depressive disorder or Clinical depression.
4. That it devastates and destroys lives.
5. That 99.99% of what you think you know about depression is wrong.
6. That ‘sometimes’ medication and/or therapy has very little effect; it’s called treatment resistant. Not unlike someone who is receiving chemo and it’s just not working.
7. But then there’s the other side of the coin, the longer you leave it untreated the worse it can become. There is no wait and see with depression; it doesn’t just disappear one day!
8. Another truth is that everything can be lost to depression. Jobs, relationships, hobbies, passions and sometimes even lives. Depression kills!
9. That just because someone you know that is depressed laughs and smiles, it doesn’t mean they aren’t depressed, see point five.
10. Another sad truth is that not everyone ‘gets it’, not many really. Some people can help you through it but others can make it worse. The one ultimate person you can depend on is yourself; you are stronger then you think.
11. That depression is not a once in a lifetime occurrence. Relapses can happen at any time, at any age.
12. That you can try to explain how you feel with depression a million times and you still won’t be understood.
13. That stigma and prejudice are very much alive and kicking. Sometimes in places you would least expect it.
14. Depression can make a person feel like their life is over and there is no point in living. And this is why suicide is so common with someone who suffers from depression.
15. Lastly, depression is not a spiritual battle but an illness. Spirituality and mental illness are not directly connected, contrary to what many may think.
