Depression & Society- Looking through the Lens

*hugs for anyone who wants*

@amiableBunny4016

Very incisive and thoughtful post, Bunny!

This is a huge issue. Punishing with negative misconceptions and stigma people who are already suffering! How cruel and hurting! It makes it even worse living with a mental health condition that is already such a heavy burden in itself.

I think that society is improving, but at a slow pace compared with our hectic lives. Things were worse in the past, and will be better in the future, I think.

Answering your question, one misconception I have seen is to view people with depression as "lazy" in two ways.

First, people with depression have a propensity to lower activity levels than ordinary, and on top of it, many antidepressant medications have side effects like making people tired or even sleepy. These effects are interpreted as "laziness" with a negative moral connotation.

In a second sense, people with depression are expected, as you say, to "get over it" at some point, and if they don't, they are suspected of not "doing their homework", not doing "something with their lives" that will bring them out of depression. The misconception is that they "don't put the effort" to "get over it" because they are "lazy".

But as we know well, depression is not a choice, and can't be defeated by mere brute-force willpower.

By its nature, it can decrease the intention and energy to do things and it can also create a vicious cycle by which depression makes it difficult to do activities that might help be less depressed.

Ignorance and lack of empathy lead to interpret this as a moral flaw: "laziness", instead of the mental health condition that depression is.

What are some misconceptions about The word 'Depression' and societies stigma's over it?

One misconception I've encountered is that I'm just feeling sorry for myself and trying to get others to feel sorry for me, too.

Another one is that I just need to cheer myself up, think about the good things in life, think about something I'm grateful for. No, that doesn't work. Yes, I'm grateful for a lot of things, but no, that doesn't make the depression go away.

Misconceptions I met with are that I'm depressed because I'm bored, or that I just want attention. Also I've heard that everybody else's problems are bigger so I don't have anything to be sad about, I should be happy with what I have because I have at least that and that.

It's those sentences that intend to support but instead do more damage than good because they are diminishing the issues you're having. Like for instance, people in Africa are dying from hunger so what am I freaking out about myself, it's nothing compared to that. I have a good job and a happy family, I should be satisfied. My sister's father died when she was little so what is my parent's divorce against that, at least I have a father and I don't know what it's like to lose a dad like that.

The stigma around mental health doesn't help very much either. You finally decide to open up to someone that you're doing a therapy and they're like Oh Jesus wow it's that bad, I didn't know. And then they rather change the subject to something positive. Like doing a therapy is something bad. I love how in US doing therapy is considered a normal and healthy thing and a part of your life. It's not like that in every country. People don't want to talk about the negative things in my country because they somehow fear it will jump on them and stick like a little invisible deamon. Or they're considered a negative person who always complains. If you start talking about serious things they always change the subject to something else and pretend they didn't hear anything.

That people can snap out of it, that it’s an excuse to be lazy, that people don’t try hard enough - I think these are the common myths unfortunately

@amiableBunny4016 I do not have depression so by no means can I say anything factual about it, but like many things the stereotypes do not do it much good.

Depression expresses itself in more than one way and not everyone deals with it in the same way.

I will admit my misconception is that there needs to be a reason to be depressed when that’s not always the case - a breakup, loss of job, bereavement doesn’t always result in depression . Could also be that a person with depression sets their standards too high I feel that is my misconception.

hmm, maybe some think there has to be a ‘reason’ for being depressed. As if it’s similar to having a bad day. sometimes it might be just a chronic and lifelong mental illness that you will always have to look after lest you go down deeper into it. As I try to understand my own journey with depression more, I feel that I will always have it apart of me. Even if it’s asleep in my back pocket from time to time. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to fully drop my depression. I can only hope to ease it and uplift it with lots of patience, compassion, and outside resources. + a support system.💗🧡

@amiableBunny4016 thank you for this bunny!

Someone who I thought was a friend called my mental illness a "disease." When I mentioned my depression, all they said was that basically everyone gets depressed, and that I need to move on. They basically threw my feelings out of the window and said they experienced darker thoughts as well, but were doing better. People seem to think that everyone should be able to deal with their depression the same way, and if not, then they aren't trying hard enough. They'll try to help you, and when you don't meet they're expectations, they'll call you ungrateful.

I apologize for ranting a bit, but the conversation just hit me hard since I've been dealing with that judgment for a while now