What Depression Really Feels Like
LOS ANGELES, CA – Multi-awarded comedy actor Robin Williams was found dead at his Northern California home Monday, law enforcement official said. According to a statement from the Marin County, California, sheriff’s office, the cause of death was ‘asphyxia’. Just today, police officers confirmed that the actor hanged himself with a belt. In connection with this, a representative for Williams, 63, said he was battling with severe depression.
His tragic end stood in stark contrast to the many characters he portrayed in movies and TV shows that did not only bring joy, but also inspired people in so many ways.
What does depression really feel like?
Robin Williams was one of the many popular comedians who made the whole world laugh whilst struggling with chronic loneliness at the same time. For people who have had severe depression and recovered, they knew how difficult things have been for the actor. But a lot of people are most likely wondering why Williams could have been depressed when in fact he had everything.
Whilst everyone’s experience is not the same, when a person is having major depression, the world feels and looks completely different and appears like it’s nothing but a dark place. It’s more than feeling lonely. A depressed person may believe loved ones, even their own children, are better off without them and nothing feels comforting, pleasurable or worth living for, so there’s often an intention to just get lost and disappear. There’s this strong belief that everything has always been miserable.
When depression hits, nothing and no one seems loving or lovable. Work gets boring and unbearable. Even the simplest activities like going out for a walk or cleaning the house takes many times more effort. Everything feels overwhelming that the depressed person would rather choose to sleep it off and wish he or she never wakes up. But then he or she will wake up. And because the body has had enough sleep, it won’t make sleeping easy anytime soon. After an entire day of sleeping, the depressed person ends up tossing and turning in bed at night. And again, he or she will struggle with gloomy thoughts that are energy-sapping and emotionally tormenting. The cycle continues.
Major depression also feels like intense pain that can’t be identified in any particular part of the body. You know it’s there but you just can’t figure out where exactly. It’s so painful that even the most comforting touch can make you weak. Worst, it feels like no one really cares and people trying to help seem insincere. Everything else seems meaningless, including past accomplishments. Those successes and achievements are overshadowed by negative self-images. There’s no point of having a mansion, nice cars, and all those fortunes – the world has gotten darker anyway.
Depression is utterly isolating. And you know what the saddest thing about it? It’s the belief that it will never end.
Recovering from Depression
It is difficult to describe all these to a person who hasn’t experienced depression. When people try to encourage the depressed person to look at the brighter side, get over it and move on, smile, change his or her thought, meditate, be grateful, etc., they minimise or try to disprove the person’s reality even if that’s not their intention. Hence, they don’t usually succeed in helping that person recover.
So what does a depressed individual need? Depression is a mental illness and just like all the others, it also needs treatment. Cognitive behavioural therapy and psychotherapy are among the effective treatments used to help depressed patients recover. The technique depends on the degree of depression – whether it is a major depression or one that is a response to a terrible loss. For some people with major depression, medications are helpful. However, they are more effective when taken along with therapy intervention, such as counselling. Acupuncture, hypnosis, acupuncture, nutrition and other body-based treatments can also help without the side effects of medication.
Among others, social support is indispensable to the treatment and recovery of the patient. As loved ones of a person suffering from depression, we do have a great role to play. We can show them love and support, without trying to take on their perception of reality. We can also gently tell them that depression causes their perspectives and everything else to change, which makes her them unable to think outside of the depression mode at the moment. Thus, they can set aside making big decisions or doing things that requires a non-depressed perspective.
We can’t expect a depressed person to heed all our advices, or recover immediately after telling them what to do. They are prone to relapse. You might see progress for a couple of days or weeks but they could easily go back to their dark world after. However, by showing them constant love and support, they can fully recover from this debilitating mental illness.
But supporting someone who has major depression can be difficult and somehow ‘depressing’ too. Thus, we must also take care of our physical and mental health to prevent burnout, stress and other things that disable us from extending love and support.
Robin Williams is just one of the thousands of people whose lives have succumbed to the dark world of depression. In fact, half of all suicides are committed by people with depression. May this sad news once again remind us of how tormenting this mental illness is and how serious it can get. If you or your loved one is suffering from major depression, don’t wait for anything worse to happen. With proper treatment, help and support, there’s a big chance to recover and get your life back.
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