Let's talk about some things that made me start this website and the idea of sharing my feelings and thoughts.

 

A lot of times what happens with depression (and people who suffer from depression) is that those around them can't fully understand what they think and feel.  This happens because only someone who has experienced the same condition or  similar circumstances can truly understand what is going on the mind of someone with depression – and even then they can never REALLY know the whole truth, as things change from one person to another.   

 

I'm here to share my experiences the best way I can to try to help people understand what happens with depressed people, and help those living with this affliction to try to understand themselves a bit better, too.

 

There is much scientific and psychological research available today about depression and other disorders, and their consequences. Let me share what I have experienced and try to make the link with those research findings as I mention them.

 

During the years since I was born, much has changed drastically in the science/psychological fields.  Myths have been proven right or wrong, "conditions" have been named, drugs have been developed, and the way "medicine" handles all of this changed too. Today different fields of professionals are working together to help develop new ways to understand the mechanics of the "disease" and make the treatment easier and more effective.

 

Some may not see depression as a "disease", but it is in my point of view (and at scientific community too). It's just like having a cold or a cancer; it's something that "exists", it is a real pathology, and people don't understand it.

 

Every single person can become depressed for some reason for a short period of time, and that is like a cold -- you wait a little while and it's goes away. Maybe you will need to take some medicine but once it passes, you’re all right, and you can go on with your life.

 

But, for some people, depression resembles more of a cancer:  it will start with small and in some cases spread and grow, like a cancer that devastates everything in its way.  In cases like that a deeply depressed person can die (by being suicidal – just giving up life and "dying of grief"), or can stay ill forever. Like a cancer, the person’s health can get better for awhile, but then suddenly the disease can come back without warning.

 

And the way depression is inherited is pretty much like cancer: if there are people in your family that had it in the past, there is a chance you can develop it sometime in the future.

 

But unlike cancer, people can't "see" depression. It's not something that makes your body drastically decay or look worse. Medical treatment will not make people look at you and "feel pity". Instead of "eating your body", depression eats at your very soul. It will devour your feelings and your mind.

 

Depression can change completely the way a person struggling with it will see and feel things, making them act "irrationally”. That behavior can cause people around them to feel hurt and/or angry. In some cases it can totally destroy people's lives without them "seeing" it.

 

Some people tell me: "You're lucky you're healthy, you should get up and live your life", without knowing how much it hurts.  I'm not "healthy" at all. If you lose your "mind" and the ability to think and/or feel, clearly you're not healthy.

 

People who have lost an arm, or becomes paraplegic, or suffer any "physical" problem but still have their minds in a "good state" will stand against adversities they face and fight them. They will go and change the way they live and "be an example" to everyone.

 

Flipping the coin, someone with depression doesn't have their mind in a "good state" and will not be able to stand and fight without help.  It can feel very overwhelming sometimes if they try to fight or be strong all alone. The feelings will be mixed. The mind will be numb and full of negative thoughts; fear will guide their lives to such a point of stagnation that they freeze and can't go ahead.

 

The fact people can't "see" it or can't "touch" it only makes things harder for those at this side of the coin: other people will act just like a doubting Thomas.

 

This is what I will try to change for those who want to be changed. This won’t be of help if they don’t want to change. But it should be helpful for readers with an open mind who want to try to comprehend what is happening.

A glimpse about the "genetic" research:

 

http://depressiongenetics.stanford.edu/mddandgenes.html