Finding joy in the everyday

Depression is more than just feeling sad —    it is a serious condition which makes coping with day-to-day  living  very hard and leaves you feeling down most of the time. Depression is REAL and it can lead to devastating results. When someone comes to you and tells you that they are feeling depressed LISTEN and don’t trivialise them.  Depression should never be treated flippantly, always take what you hear seriously.  Sadly not that long ago a blogger wrote a post and linked to Facebook about depression and provided very poor advice, which included “kick out self-pity quickly”. It was clear that this blogger didn’t understand depression and had never been around someone with depression. Someone wrote in the comments that they were feeling very suicidal that day. Someone else provided the emergency US suicide phone number. The blogger deleted it. I was angry as this was a call for help and the blogger treated it with distain. Here ...

I would love to have no trouble and difficulties in my life. It would be great to close the front door of my home and shut myself off from the world and live in a beautiful bubble.  No longer read bad news, see bad news or watch bad news - life would be blissful, peaceful, calm, perfect -- I could fill my blog with only good news and share with all the beauty around me -- but sadly this isn't reality for some of us and we are faced with reality whether we like it or not.  Caring for someone with depression is a choice I would never have made. There are days when I wish I could walk away from it all. But no mother can do that. Depression is emotionally draining for those caring for someone with depression. There are time when I see my mobile ringing or a text message flash on the screen and I really don't want to pick it up or read the message. I don't want to see another piece of bad news. Whilst the sufferer has bad days, so does the carer - ...

Source “If you know someone who’s depressed, please resolve never to ask them why. Depression isn’t a straightforward response to a bad situation; depression just is, like the weather. Try to understand the blackness, lethargy, hopelessness, and loneliness they’re going through. Be there for them when they come through the other side. It’s hard to be a friend to someone who’s depressed, but it is one of the kindest, noblest, and best things you will ever do.”  Stephen Fry Up until recently I didn't really understand depression, I found it frustrating, why couldn't a person just "pull up their socks" and get on with living. It really can't be that bad - every problem can be solved. If I can do it, why can't they.  Because they can't .  It is that simple. "Every thought is a battle,  every breath is a war,  and I don't think I'm winning anymore"  (author unknown) It is far more common that we would like t...