how to express possible depression to family?
i've been asked by my mother several, and i mean multiple times, if i was depressed. but i didn't know if i was able to answer that question honestly. for one, i didn't know if i even knew the answer to that question, but i think ive pieced it together tonight. i genuinely feel depressed, and i think i have for a few months now. i have distractions in my life, like my friends, my boyfriend, my parents. but at the end of the day, the only thing i really feel is a lack of empathy, a lack of body positivity, forcefully making myself happy doing things i used to enjoy, or i just completely avoid doing them, etc. i could probably go on. but the big question is; how can i tell them in a way that won't break their hearts after i've been telling them i'm not depressed for months now?
Hi, I hope you're doing okay and pushing through with all that you're experiencing right now. Firstly, it's very brave that despite initially being unsure if you wanted to tell your family about how you're feeling that you now do. I know how hard it is express those kind of feelings, and I understand you don't want to break their hearts. I've been in a similiar position myself.
If you do intend to tell, make sure you can do it when there's not much going/ when you are not busy and they are free. This will give you a chance express to them how you a feeling. They might feel a bunch of emotions themselves, but remember how long you have felt the way you have too! In my experience when I had a similiar conversation with my parents, it was a relief taken off my shoulders that I could put how I was feeling into words and tell someone else. It takes courage to tell them, but hopefully it will make you feel like you have some power over how feel.
Sometimes saying it out loud in a conversation can be tricky, but remember there are other ways to tell them how you feel. Writing them down on paper for example and either giving it to them to read or for you to read from might take away some of the anxiety that can come from having the conversation.
I hope this helps a little!
@wonderousPenguin thank you so much, this definitely gives me a better idea of what/how to do all of this. i have a bad habit of pushing things aside though, so i really hope that i don't just find it irrelevant and push it away. regardless, thank you.
@ksacco
Keep pushing forward, it sounds like you're doing amazing <3