Mental health, not an aesthetic

(Mainly depression is discussed)
Being a part of this millennial generation, having shared many thoughts, ‘shoulder to cry on’ situations, it has never been strange to know people suffering from mental health issues.
Depression, anxiety, bipolar, PTSD etc. being fairly common these days especially depression.

Here I’d particularly like to mention there’s a difference between “being depressed” and “depression.”

Being depressed might be situation related. As this too is a part of concern but, depressing phase is not depression. So find out here for the difference between the two.

A person with depression might never know if they are depressed. Many a times they struggle to understand their own feelings. And the severity may vary from just being sad to suicidal thoughts. ( Find here) And it does not necessarily have to be associated with a particular event as it may be genetic, associated with some other disease or might be from the bits and pieces accumulated  throughout ones journey. And every journey is not the same, everyone would have completely different understanding of it, ending up at hurting themselves- mentally or physically.

No one would particularly wish to hurt anyone, at least from the one’s that I’ve known, so try being kind. People forget and forgive fights after some point, but will hold the gratitude of how one treated them forever. We all make mistakes but being humble enough to learn from them is the reason why those mistakes were made. So, try being kind to one another. It’s almost like that story of ‘The tiger and the mouse’ where being the smallest creature, the mouse saves the life of a tiger by biting through a hunter’s trap (sorry I easily get distracted by good stories.) But here’s what one can do and what must avoid to do:

• Don’t rush into making judgements

– one with good or ill-  wealth/ health/ knowledge/ love/ career/ independence or anything try to judge a little less.

• Waiting for them to feel good. Its not one’s responsibility to make someone feel better. You can’t. But try being a company in the highs and lows they face. Or least try to listen out if someone is in need.

Not an aesthetic part

So, It’s not that there were no such cases in past generations but mainly because it was not an issue publicly discussed and people were outcasted, tortured and heavily judged so they never talked about it. Nowadays it is quite common for people to talk and understand this.
A lot of times people use it as a part of their behaviour & lifestyle as an excuse. Depression is not like flowers growing on a head or living in a nest. It’s dark, darker than any shade of black. And it’s not a lifestyle, it’s not something that someone willingly chooses. Anything abused for selfish reasons would loose it’s importance. Which, being the primary cause for people to not be able to reach out and being misunderstood- misjudged. And also the reason for people not treating each other well. So one must take responsibility of their life. It’s a shame to dwell on someone else’s suffering.

And finally for those who’re suffering from depression, a warm note to you,
No one deserves this. But this is also a phase, this might seem unending to you but there will be days when you’d want to live a little more, live them to the fullest. But also there will come days you’d just want them to end, feelings might be overwhelming, life might seem like a failure, but this will pass too. It’s not that depression doesn’t end, but trust the process of healing and try reaching out for help. If possible, professional help might do good. But in the end it will be your own will, wanting to feel better, listen to that voice more often.