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Does it really matter who's depressed?

By sheri.weinberg August 6, 2011 - 7:17am

I posted a couple blog posts on Facebook last week about things not to say to depressed people. One of them was "Ten Things Not to Say to a Depressed Person" by purplepersuasion, and I can't find the other one (way to go, Swiss cheese brain).

These posts started an interesting discussion with a friend of mine. She's had a rough summer and is struggling right now. I have bipolar disorder , and although I'm fine now I went through a very long period of treatment-resistant depression. She has situational depression, I had clinical depression...but does it really matter? The cause of one's depression is of no consequence; nobody wants to hear anything like "snap out of it," "look at all that you have," "just smile," or any of the other trite sayings.

My friend said something very important ~ she made the point that we should be kind to any person who is struggling, because we can't know the true underlying reason to their depression.

By Mellonie August 30, 2011 - 5:34pm

Depression is depression, regardless of the reason. Hurt is pain despite how it is caused. The terminology I suppose they feel necessary to better describe the extent of a particular persons situation, so that other people better understand exactly how bad the depression is. I know personally, I have never accepted doctor's belief of how bad my depression is. Most of the time I was forced to see a doctor, and because i was depressed, i was not interested in seeking treatment, and certainly not willing to help the doctor find a conclusion. So the terminology never made a difference to me. Depression is depression.

August 30, 2011 - 5:34pm