Earlier this week, a friend posted a link to Hyperbole and a Half's post on depression (here), and something in it struck home. Every word, every sentence, every bit of it was what I go through on a daily basis.
It is hard for most people to understand how soul-sucking depression is. Everything seems muted, dull, less shiny. What once entertained us now sits in corners collecting dust; those who we call friend drift away because we retreat into ourselves. We go through the motions of eating, sleeping, working, waiting for something to get better, but knowing it won't.
Reaching out is hard, because we do not think anyone will understand what we are going through. We fear that people will look down on us because we aren't normal or right in the head.
And you know what? Sometimes we are right.
We are constantly told everything will be okay, that everything will work out in the end. Well-meaning friends suggest finding hobbies, family members encourage us to go out and meet people.
They don't understand that none of it matters to us, the broken, the depressed, the lonely. We are trapped in a prison that has no walls, no doors, no guards. There seems to be no escape from the monotony, the apathy.
To some of us, there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Our mental walls collapse and the only way to end the pain is to end it all, because who would miss us? We don't fit in with our families, our friends don't understand us (if we have any friends left at all), and our beloved pets would be better off with people who would play with them.
So we give up.
People tell me all the time that suicide is the easy way out, that living is hard. From our point of view, living is easy because we're just existing and going through the motions. Making a conscious choice to end our lives is hard, following through is even harder. We are consumed by pain that never seems to end, and we just want to rest.
Since I tried to kill myself in March, my life has seen some improvement. I am seeing a psychiatrist on a regular basis, and a therapist weekly. Medications have helped stabilize me, balance out my mood, but I'm still far from whole and normal(ish).
I have good days where I can clean, cook delicious meals, talk and laugh with my friends, and I have bad days, where I just curl up on the couch and cry, ignoring the world. Today was a better day, but who knows what tomorrow will bring.
