Holiday depression, or just ... ?

I'm going to talk about depression for a bit.

The goal of this discussion, is to give those who don't deal with depression some understanding about what depression is, and to give those who are depressed and aren't getting treated some access to seeing that there is hope.

Even for someone who is themselves depressed, it is nearly impossible to see a depressed person as anything other than selfish and self-pitying. Even in mass media articles about depression, the tone is that it's all in the head of the depressed.

 Being depressed is an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness, of pointlessness.  There is only a certainty that nothing will get better, ever.

It's not something one just "snaps out of".  It's not selfish, although the matter tends to be self-focused.  It's not something that one can smile one's way out of.

It is a closed, self-fulfilling, self-validating circle that blocks out everything else.

You can't talk someone out of it.  Helpful suggestions are not helpful.

My sister recently complimented my Zoloft for my improved mood and behavior.  Uh, thanks.  Zoloft did cut through the fog long enough that I could start productive talk therapy.

Medical research is now beginning to show that the vast pool of anti-depressants don't .. um .. do anything.

Productive talk therapy, with a patient who is intent on changing their life and their patterns does work.  So does exercise.  Sometimes.

Everyone is quite different in small ways; what works for one person won't necessarily work for someone else.

Bottom line, don't think you know what's wrong with a depressed person because you watched "Oprah" one afternoon, or because you've heard that SSRIs do wonders.  You're just justifying your own judgment.

Try walking ten miles in the blinding fog of a depressed person and see how judgmental you're feeling thereafter.