A Revolutionary Word About Depression

The United States is the most depressed country in the world. YES. You heard me correctly. Above Lebanon. Above war-torn Ukraine. According to an article in The Richest, 9.6% of our population report being depressed. And these are just the cases we know about! There are certainly more cases that are undiagnosed and unreported. Depression leads  to all sorts of devastating things: physical symptoms, a loss of interest in the things you once loved, in extreme cases, suicide. So, it’s worth it to investigate what’s going on.

Shocking? There could be a lot if things impacting that number–no study is perfect after all. But, our rate is certainly very high. So, what’s going on here?! We’re one of the wealthiest nations on the planet. Shouldn’t we be more content?! Not really when you break it down.   

What’s Attacking You From the Outside

Well, let’s keep it real. There are plenty of external factors for why we are such a depressed nation. We are a nation that doesn’t take care of its citizens well. From medical needs, to education, to property, to legal services, to therapy–the quality of everything is determined by how much money you have. We live a nation where you gotta pay to play. Whereas in many other countries, your taxes may be higher, but your tax dollars go towards making all of these services free or cheap.

And with the income gap is widening daily, it’s no shock. We know that the rich are getting richer, while for the middle class and the poor continue to lose out on more money. Their incomes have barely changed since the 1970’s, while costs for everything have gone way up. All of these things are recipes for disaster. It is becoming increasingly difficult to deal with everything. We are forced to spend so much time and energy focusing on work to make ends meet, it leads to very lopsided living. The average American worker works an average of 47 hours per week (or 6 days per week). The 40-hour work week that community organizers fought so hard for is starting to become an old fairytale.

And if you’re a person of color in this country, or part of a group that has been or continues to be discriminated against, then your problems increase tenfold! (More of that on another post).

Depression is definitely impacted by all of these external factors. It’s easy to feel hopeless, when your sanity is constantly under attack from financial issues, societal pressures, etc. And there are a variety of ways one can deal with them externally: education, community organizing to support each other’s rights, etc.

What’s Attacking You on the Inside

However, there are also a variety of things we can and MUST do internally to stay afloat. Studies also show that our mindsets are just as important to our mental health. Our quality of life greatly affects how we view the world and our mindset. Now, there are many acts of resistance one can take in the external world, BUT, one of the most important acts of resistance has to happen in the mind.

Depression is not just “sadness” it goes way deeper. It’s particularly nasty, because people often don’t realize that they are depressed. People get caught up in it and become mired in inaction and hopelessness. Many people often don’t realize that they are depressed! So, how can you take action when you don’t even know the depths of what is going on with you? taking action seems like an impossibility.

I’ll give you the perfect example from my own life. A few short years ago, at age 25, I was depressed. My self-esteem was in the toilet. I was in and out of an abusive relationship with my former high school sweetheart. I had taken up with someone who I thought would fill that void, and he started having commitment issues. My mom’s health was taking a major downturn and I now had to care for her completely. In addition, her debilitating disease is hereditary and I risk getting it some day. And it the midst of all this chaos, my best friend got shot and killed. As a result of all of this, I had to reset the life I was living in New York, and move back home to Oakland, CA, giving up a phenomenal teaching job in the process. I was grieving, my self-esteem was in the toilet, I was broke, and confused about life–a natural recipe for depression.   

I walked through life in a fog. I felt like I was looking at life through a filter, or veil. The world looked like a darker place. Everything I saw was through grey-colored glasses. I viewed my unfortunate circumstances as a product of me just having a “f***ed up life”. I felt like a victim of life’s circumstances. I felt like life was just throwing me curve ball after curve ball and was somehow “unfair”. I felt like I had control on what was going on around me. So, naturally, if you believe that your life is doomed to fail, and you’re powerless to stop the pain, at some point you think about suicide.

I thought about ending my life, on a couple of occasions. Fortunately, I never actually attempted, but I wanted to somehow find a release and end what seemed like circumstances that were out of my control. And that’s why depression can be so debilitating. You don’t see how deep your problem is! Well, until you do or think something that freaks you out.   

How to Help Yourself Through It

Having suicidal thoughts and my spontaneous crying in public places was what finally convinced me to seek out help. I knew that something wasn’t “right” and I wanted to explore what was going on with me. If you’ve been there or are there right now, the one thing you need to understand is that depression impacts you on a chemical level. It’s not something you can just “shake off” and move on from if you don’t understand what’s going on or have the tools to deal with. You must get help.

It took several months of therapy, reading every self-care book I could get my hands on, and renewing my spirituality to help me through that time. I finally started to see my own power, and how my own mindset would not only help a situation but had the power to change it completely!

The good news is that while it was a very difficult time in my life, I truly credit this time with saving my life. My mindset had been really unhealthy for a long time.

  • It forced me to learn about myself, and learn to love myself no matter what was going on with me.
  • I’d grown up being a people pleaser and was very disconnected from who I was. It forced me to get to know myself in a loving manner.
  • It also taught me how to really see life for what it is. Life is neither good nor bad, it is a collection of experiences that are both wonderful and difficult–for everyone, not just for me. It’s in the difficult ones that we actually find opportunities for growth, learning, and healing. Life is not happening to me. I have the ability to change and move and grow! And believe me, there are very difficult ones, but I bounce back a lot quicker, because of this fundamental belief.

And, I credit depression for pointing me to my true passion and calling: how to help others who are in similar situations. There is happiness after depression. There is growth after depression. I’m thankful for what I went through and the strength it gave me.

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