Beyond the Blues
Understanding depression is difficult; hear from Psyche's community of peers on their experiences with this mood disorder.
How to Overcome Depression
Before starting treatment for my bipolar disorder, I was suffering with major mood swings. Sometimes I'd be high and on top of the world, like nothing could touch me. But then there was always the depression. It came like a nightmare and stayed for what felt like forever so that I couldn't escape it. You don't have to tell me that it's hard to handle depression—I know it is. Now that I'm stabilized and clear-headed, I feel like a totally different person. Someone asked me, "What advice would you give to someone who is depressed or feeling lost?" Keep in mind, some cases of depression are a lot harder than others. But here's some advice that I can give, and hopefully, it helps someone on their journey to a safe and healthy mindset.
By Amanda Doyle8 years ago in Psyche
Depression and Dissociation; A Story of a Cruel Coalition
We’ve all heard the sayings, the motivational quotes, the words that guide you to look at the positive. Time is a magnificent creature, they tell me, and in its passing, you may heal. What if you no longer possessed the power to look at the glass half full; Susie! your own mind is working against you. Neither does it give you enough serotonin nor the strength to overcome the replenishment of the very resource. What if your mind made you forget what it's like to feel joy? True joy, not the high you feel from a fake laugh or dancing in the dark. What if it made you forget you ever experienced the feeling too? Like it turned the pictures of all the memories you stored in your heart to black and white. So you see the young version of yourself laughing as your dad tickles you utnil you cry but you no longer remember how that must have felt like. Oh! How the weary find their way to worsen the state they are in, without intention or action. What if the weight of each day became too great? Your lungs couldn’t even handle the weight that dispersed to your chest from your shoulders. Blame the mind that’s been placed upon the two, if you may. Every breath became a conscious effort. To have to think and schedule every inhale and exhale, now that’s what I call true exhaustion. Did your legs too ever stake claim to your burdens and lose the will to carry your body? It seems like you’ll have to learn how to walk again. My words, you read, but do you feel my pain. Do you feel it yet?
By Ayesha Javed8 years ago in Psyche
A Never Ending Battle With My Mind
Hi, my pseudonym is Annika Aura. I am an individual who has depression and anxiety since high school. During my high school years, I promised myself that I will not become depressed. Well, I was not able to keep the promise. This is my journey of mental illness.
By Annika Aura8 years ago in Psyche
What Is Loneliness
What is loneliness? What it is officially is alone; solitary; without company; companionless. But for me, it’s more than that. To me, it’s more than being without a person, because you can feel so alone with the weight of the world on your shoulders with a room of people. Even with people you love or trust you can feel so lonely, like you're longing for some unknown thing.
By Jennifer Martinez8 years ago in Psyche
What Depression Is Really Like
Depression; a horrible, horrible mental illness. Many people see it as sadness or negative feelings; no, it is way more than that. Depression is like a war going on inside your head. You never know how to feel. There's days where you are happy, then there's days where you never even want to get out of bed because you are so drained with the constant war going on in your head.
By Savanna Moore8 years ago in Psyche
The Pain of Depression
It hurts. It physically hurts in ways you can’t even think about if you don’t know it. My arms hurt. The bones in them, like they’re filled with lava, and they’re cracking. I’m amazed you can’t see it, burning through my skin, marking, scarring me from all the pain I can’t say out loud because if I did it would just be one long scream, no breathing, no pausing, no words, just sound, one long, agonised yell. Even if there were words to say it, I couldn’t articulate my brain long enough to do it.
By Lizy Carey8 years ago in Psyche
How My Illness Changed My Life
I haven't been able to work for a while due to my diagnosis six months ago. This is something I am not at all accustomed to, and it has been very hard for me to adjust to an unproductive lifestyle. Once I was an independent woman, up before the sun, picture perfect, and ready to take on the twenty-first century—though for now, this has been stripped away from me and I am currently playing housewife. The days can feel endless sitting alone in this new environment, and sometimes even longer when friends or family grace me with their company. But that's the nature of the illness.
By Sophia Merici8 years ago in Psyche
Reasons Why
Suicide awareness: What are your reasons why? If you’re reading this article, you’ve likely thought about it, attempted it, or know someone who has. It is estimated that one person dies every 40 seconds from suicide globally. That is over 800,000 deaths per year. There is no way to factor in how many people have considered the act.
By What's Up Warrior8 years ago in Psyche
The 'Ugly' Truth Behind Depression
It's the 30th of March, 2018. "Good Friday." What's so damn good about it? I look out of the window to my left and all I see is the constant trickle of rain which seems to do nothing but reflect my mood. I think they call it seasonal depression, but how can one have a mental health issue directly affected by the seasons when you live in England and you only really experience one season?
By Harley Lily8 years ago in Psyche
