Sometimes the universe takes REALLY good care of you.
[rebelmouse-image 18345946 is_animated_gif=Some of the lucky people below were put in situations where they went with their gut instinct. Others happened by chance, and it's like the universe saved their lives for some unknown to us reason. Warning: violence and references to major destructive tragedies below.
u/S3Dzyy asked Reddit:
These are some of the lucky answers.
Hold The Pancakes Please
[rebelmouse-image 18347919 is_animated_gif=I once slipped on ice and into the street right after a truck went by. I had stopped to pick up my phone moments before, if that didn't happen I'd be a flapjack right now
Rob, A Robber
[rebelmouse-image 18350369 is_animated_gif=Didn't lend money to a "friend" because I was broke, few months later he disappeared with several thousands he had stolen from my other friends
Push Push Push
[rebelmouse-image 18350370 is_animated_gif=We were all set and ready to put an offer on a house. Did the paperwork with the realtor, signed the check, put down the offer. The realtor was super pushy but the room was 90 degrees and we weren't thinking straight. After signing the papers we go to see the house again with my in laws and notice a TON of issues we hadn't seen before. Got really anxious, big issues like plumbing, a huge wrap around deck that needed work, etc but we were stuck now.
Got a call the next day from the realtor saying that we never signed the bottom of the offer paperwork and can we please come sign it RIGHT AWAY. We decided not to and are going to wait a bit and do this smarter next time.
Don't rush when buying your first home folks.
Jobs
[rebelmouse-image 18350372 is_animated_gif=Got offered my dream job running an offshore aquaculture facility. Had to choose between the job and my SO's future. I reluctantly declined the job. A few months later i heard the facility was dealing with a serious disease issue and had no chance of being sustainable. Had i taken the job, i would have most likely being single living in a tiny seaside town, the job would have sucked, and I would have only worked there for max three months before the place shut down.
Truly Dodged A Bullet
[rebelmouse-image 18350373 is_animated_gif=Was in Vegas during the concert shooting. We arrived a couple of days prior and the stage where it happened was already set up. Everytime we passed by the stage my dad kept telling me "we should go there, looks fun". While I was in Vegas we went to a Golden Knights game and planned to go see what that stage was all about afterwards. I was so tired during the game that I could barely keep my eyes open. My dad noticed and told me we would go to the hotel to sleep instead of the concert.
Never Thought I'd Love Staten Island
[rebelmouse-image 18350374 is_animated_gif=I missed my ferry on 9/11, making me late to work. I saw the plane fly into the building from my next ferry.
So Many True Bullets
[rebelmouse-image 18350375 is_animated_gif=I had a ticket to the theatre 9 showing of Batman in Aurora 2012. I was the closing waitress at work that night and got "screwed" by a table coming in 5 minutes before closing. The person sitting next to my bff was killed- it probably would have me sitting there
Could Have Lost Everything
[rebelmouse-image 18350376 is_animated_gif=Moved out of an apartment complex this year where I did not have renters insurance. It burned down 4 days later.
Drive Defensively
[rebelmouse-image 18350377 is_animated_gif=Leaving work one day and I let someone else merge in ahead of me. We both get to a Traffic light and stop. The light turns green and we both start driving through the intersection. A SUV comes throught the guard rails and off the overpass just past the intersection and lands ON the car ahead of me. The car is flattened.
If I had been more agressive that would have been me.
Literal
[rebelmouse-image 18350378 is_animated_gif=I didn't understand how tickets worked. There was a fee and a court date and I assumed I had to go to court that day and pay it there.
Missed the court date.
Went to the district attorney's office and she looked right my 17 year old self and said "Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to reduce your speed, I'm going to completely ignore the fact that you were out after your curfew, I won't have a warrant out for your arrest, and you'll just have to pay a large fine. This is an almost literal get out of jail free card, don't waste it."
I wanted to hug her through the glass, and I don't think I said thank you enough
So Much Work
[rebelmouse-image 18350379 is_animated_gif=Buying the wrong house. Put an offer on a house that needed some work. Offer was refused. House sold a year later for $100,000 less than my offer. Bullet dodged.
A Breath Away
[rebelmouse-image 18350381 is_animated_gif=Not my story, but my moms. When she was a senior in high school, a bunch of seniors went up to the mountains to party a week before graduation. Someone's dad worked as a ranger, so we was able to secure the keys to everyone's cars. Mom's best friends show up late in their topless jeep. They decide to go stump jumping in the jeep. They drive up the path a bit, messed out of their minds, and my mom begs them to stop and wait for her while she pees. She hops out, goes to do her thing, her friends leave her. She hikes back to camp and tells everyone and so they go out looking for her 3 friends. Finds them the next morning, jeep completely turned over, everyone dead. If my mom went with them, she would have died too.
It absolutely messed her up, and she's said she's never had a best friend since that, despite her being very social and a wonderful person.
7s All The Way
[rebelmouse-image 18350384 is_animated_gif=The choice: A) Stay in a dead, remote town of 600 people because I liked (but did not truly love) the woman I was with, after the shop I worked at closed down. She had a good income (nurse), did not want to move, and was fine with me earning less developing my own business interests... or B), break it off and move to a huge city and roll the dice.
I chose B, and my girlfriend ended up fired for drug abuses (stealing them from work). I never suspected she was doing that, but she was making bank on selling what she stole. And I had an awesome time in Montreal.
Appendices
[rebelmouse-image 18350385 is_animated_gif=My appendix exploded, one hospital rejected me and told me to go home and use some low key painkillers. Got driven to another hospital immediately rushed for an operation. If I spent another day at home I would have died. I could have also ended up with a major scar from my ribs to the lady parts. So lucky but so shook.
Later Realizations
[rebelmouse-image 18350386 is_animated_gif=Bologna, Italy.
August, 2, 1980.
I was four years old and was with my dad at the Train Station, to look at the train timetables. We were planning our trip to the seaside the following week.
I was literally 10 meters tops away from where the bomb set off, two minutes before it did. We heard the explosion while entering the car to get back home.
That was horrific, but 4yo me didn't fully realise what happened till much later. I just remember my father being really scared while driving home.
Diverted
[rebelmouse-image 18350387 is_animated_gif=Death, twice.
First time I was 21 and was having stomach pains, like screaming in shear agony type stomach pains. But I didn't think it was anything crazy, I've always had stomach issues. Finally after a couple of days I went to the ER and that had to do emergency surgery. Found out I have diverticulitis and one of the nodules had popped, spilling bile into the rest of the stomach and had infected my appendix as well. Doctor said I had about 12 hours left to live.
Second time was this past year, around the scars from my diverticulitis surgery I had developed 2 hernia's. They weren't a bother for the longest time but finally late last year they started hurting. Each time I went to the hospital, they were able to calm my body down and then pop the bigger hernia back in and I was good to go. Until the last time (mid-May), surgeon came in and said "we're doing surgery now to fix this." Good thing too because he found some intestine had gotten stuck and was getting strangled and was dying. Said I was probably about a day or two away from having all sorts of problems if not straight out death.
I hate my stomach and it hates me.
Thank You, Eyes
[rebelmouse-image 18350388 is_animated_gif=When I was really young, I was pressure washing my driveway with my dad. My dad was watching the whole time but he had to go do something else, so he turned off the washer and said not to touch it. Stupid me didn't listen to him, and didn't appreciate the actual power of these things. So anyway I turned it back on when he left and ignored his instructions.
It suddenly cut out. I had no idea why, and I was freaking out as to why it was only pushing out a tiny trickle of water, and that my dad would be mad. I was trying to fix it, and I remember looking down at the nozzle. I remembered this years later as how dangerous it was-- I was essentially holding a misfired gun with the barrel right at my eye.
I am so, so. SO. damn lucky that thing didn't go off for whatever reason. So lucky.
Goodbye Mom
[rebelmouse-image 18350389 is_animated_gif=Was taken away from my mother at around 10 years old when I went to live with other family. I had some contact with her but very sparse, mostly letters passed between her and a neighbor at the time. 3 years later I sent an email to an email address I found in one of her letters. She had a good job and her life back together. Went back to live with her shortly after. This was around 2008.
Well we got into an argument one night, our cat was sick and she refused to take it to the vet. It got heated. I called my grandmother to get me. While talking to her my mom cut the phone cord and slipped a note under my door threatening me. They tried convincing me nothing had happened and I was making it up. I never went back.
Mom lost her job, got back into drugs, had a psychotic break, and was thrown into jail for threatening to kill multiple people, including a law enforcement official. Meanwhile I managed to pick myself up and while I am still dealing with some issues I have an ok life. I have no doubt that staying with my mom would have left me with serious mental health and or drug issues. Maybe worse.
Horrid Future Consequences
[rebelmouse-image 18350390 is_animated_gif=I dated a guy for almost a year, but he was abusive. I found out he cheated on me and he went to live with the other girl (much to my elation! I helped him pack).
A few years later, I see him on the news. He killed and dismembered his girlfriend (not the girl he was with when he left). They had a month old baby together too. It was disturbing.
The Tree Missed, Thankfully
[rebelmouse-image 18350391 is_animated_gif=There was a bad windstorm in 2008 in Cincinnati, Ohio that came from a hurricane. Cincinnati is actually in the Ohio valley which means it doesn't typically get that windy. It was my future father in law's birthday and we were trying to make it over to their house for lunch, only 5 minutes away. The main road is blocked by police cars as a trees and power lines had fallen, no worries I'll take the back way. I go a little further and have to turn around because another tree had fallen and blocked both sides of the road. I turn around and go another direction. I get to the end of the street and can go either left or right. The left is blocked by a cop car and another car just turned around so I'm going to go right. It's a 3 way stop and I stopped first. I started to go and the car on my left who just turned around wasn't stopping and ran the stop sign. I was frustrated but heard a creaking sound. A 25'+ tree fell with the trunk perpendicular to where me and my now wife were sitting covering all windows with branches. We crawl out of the car and notice the tree itself is only being held up by stretched out power lines. If those power lines wouldn't have held the tree we would have been crushed without a doubt. We just celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary and have 4 beautiful children but it all could have ended that day.
And there are just as many grievances for which we are not at all sorry.
Curious to hear about people's track record of their questionable behavior, Redditor NanoPKx asked:
"What is something bad you have done with no regrets?"
Is it petty theft or flat out stealing? You decide.
The Parting Gift
"'Forgetting' to bring back a company ipad after they forgot about me having it. Actually they never asked for it back so I still have it and use it."
– Koetjeka
Furry Companion
"I stole a barn kitten while delivering packages for FedEx. He kept climbing my legs and getting into the van, sitting under the wheel when I tried to back out (it was a steep driveway, no way to swing the van around). I called the number on the package, looked the name up on facebook, called the local non-emergency to get contact info, all failed."
"So I took him. Now, if you're not from a rural environment, you might not understand that barn cats like that are 'no-man's-cats.' For all the owners know, he got sick or got got by a coyote. And he would have died, because when we got him to the vet he had a nasty upper resp infection and some other nasties."
"Now, one deformed nasal passage and the cutest snore later, we have a bonkers little orange cat with the heaviest penchant for snuggling I've ever seen (his name is Monty btw)."
"Edit: I forgot to pay my Cat Tax: https://imgur.com/a/HIXS4us"
"Edit Part 2: Monty loves the attention. Thank you for loving him as much as we do :3"
"MmmmMMMMRrrrrrrrrrrAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW" -Montgomerey Valentine, 2022
– SonOfSkinDealer
The Dirty Treat
"A housemate of mine kept eating mine and my girlfriends food and even though I asked him to stop the only thing he would ever say is 'I thought it was mine' then keep eating it."
"Well I bought my girlfriend some ice cream she really enjoys and she put the half she didn’t finish back in the freezer. Well when she want to get the rest it was gone and it made me madder than I think it probably should have."
"The very next time I saw him and somehow keeping a straight apologetic face I told him how he accidentally ate our sex ice cream and that bits of it had been on our parts etc. I told him I felt guilty not to tell him and that I had to apologise for him to eat such a thing."
"I will never forget the face he made when I told him. A face of pure self disgust and shock to which all he had to say was 'I wish you never told me that' and proceeded to move out around a month later."
"Although he didn’t actually eat sex ice cream, like why the f'k would you put it back after use anyway? Sometimes I wonder if I went to far but in that moment I just did not care at all. He still doesn’t know it isn’t true and I’ll probably never see him again."
"F'k you Vitas buy your own food."
– SpicyDolphin74
Vengeance is sweet.
Payback Time
"A drunk driver hit my parked car, left a huge dent in the front driver’s side door, and then drove away. I happened to be looking out the window at the time and saw the whole thing, including his plate number. Cops got there not long after and took my statement. After a couple days and a couple phone calls, I found out nothing was going to come of it because he was the son of the sheriff the next county over."
"Fast forward a couple months, I see his car parked behind a local bar within walking distance of my apartment. I got out my hunting knife and sliced all four of his tires, and made a couple trips around it destroying the paint job. Yellow Pontiac Sunfire, and I still remember the goddamn plate number even after almost 20 years."
– IgnoreMe304
For The People
"I was a GM for a retailer that was going out of business. During the liquidation I let my employees that worked until the end store product they wanted to buy in a closet I claimed I didn't have a key to. Oh the final days I sold them all the items they requested for 95% off. 70" tvs, ipads, gaming laptops whatever they requested."
– Midnights606
Surreptitious Swap
"Years ago I worked for a wealthy dude who was married to someone semi-famous. He would waltz in every morning and talk about the fantastic dinner he had the night before, how he hung out with some other famous person or whatever else."
"He paid me peanuts. I had a hard time making ends meet."
"I was the office assistant and IT guy. So it comes time to get a new computer for one of the designers. I spec something out, and show it to him. It was a ripper of a machine for the time (early 2000s). But it wasn’t expensive enough for bossman."
"So I added a really high end graphics card. Boss was happy then. The card added nothing for the designer: they only did illustrator and photoshop."
"So I came in that weekend and swapped the graphics card for my aging one from home."
"No one ever knew. Or cared. And I got a new graphics card."
– Dudeinairport
When times are tough, people had to do what it took to survive.
T.P. Crisis
"In college I was so poor I would steal toilet paper from the supply closet in our major building."
– Business_Loquat5658
Hungry College Buddy
"I stood watch for a college friend who was going hungry because he’d been disowned and his roommates had made living with him intolerable after he came out."
"I was loosely affiliated with an off campus program with local churches that gave free student dinners on Thursdays. We would go to church to eat, then bring dishes into the kitchen."
"Anyway, he would go in there and steal stuff like peanut butter, literal bread (not an allegory), granola bars etc. while I watched out for the pastor."
"Eventually we both got caught, the pastor for the college students got a bit mad because he was responsible for us while we were there to eat. And I think it was offensive on some level to steal from church. But then he saw what my friend was taking, and asked him if he had enough to eat. My friend shamefacedly said no, not usually."
“'Okay, fine. Put the food back, and come with me.' Took my friend grocery shopping instead, got him connected with the food pantry and community garden at church instead."
– SchnarchendeSchwein
Based on these examples, people didn't twice about their actions in the heat of the moment.
Within reason, we all gotta somehow get by.
But do you think their actions deserve punishment?
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When a person sees someone they care about going through a struggle or crisis, their instinct is to uplift them with positive advice.
But sometimes, the wisdom imparted by friends isn't always helpful or relevant to the situation.
Curious to hear from strangers online who could do without specific knowledge, Redditor Saibotnl1 asked:
"What life advice can just f'k off?"

These Redditors have a problem with how certain people have on outlook on life.
Time To Rest
"Sleep when you’re dead."
"Cool, but you’re going to be dead a lot sooner."
– Tag2graff
Irrelevant Sadness
"People have it so much worse than you so don’t be sad!"
– notrachelmar
"To that I like to say, 'people have it so much better than you so don't be happy!'"
– ___jupiter____
Your Life Path
"Almost anything relating to what age you must be in order to buy a house, have children, marry, have a profession, or do anything else. Seriously, everyone's life is different from everyone else's. Make your life the way you want it to be. If you so desire. Up to you."
– Frn071
On The Contrary
“Cheaters never prosper”
"Yes, they f'king do."
– waqasnaseem07
People can get out of any situation they find displeasing.
But others feel people should just "stick it out."
Ignoring Bullies
"Just ignore bullys or get someone else to handle it for you. I have never seen this work, only makes it worse. The only effective way I've seen to deal with them is by not making yourself an easy target and make them scared to f'k with you again. If going psycho on their a** is the only thing they'll respond to that's their fault. Also want to add in schools they will punish you for self defense but that punishment is only sitting around a few hours in detention or sitting around at home with a suspension. The punishment is temporary boredom, it's absolutely nothing compared to being bullied and when it's over the important message will still stand that you will not tolerate being a victim."
– User Delted
Remain to be Miserable
"Stick it out"
"Whether that's sh**ty jobs, shi**y relationships, shi**y living situations..."
"By all means don't just give up on things when you face challenges, but if something feels wrong or is wrecking your peace then take some control and change it if you can!"
– petitezoey
"Easy for you to say," might be an auto-response to these suggestions for many people.
Invitation For Recklesslessness
"Live like everyday was your last"
Yall know what people do when they learn they have a single day left to live?"
– LimeGrass619
A Possible Consequence
"I did that as a teenager and ended up homeless and addicted to heroin. Didn’t pan out for me too well."
"19 years sober though today."
– Open-Section-7263
A Practical Approach
"If I knew with certainty that I had one day left, I'd double-check all my financials, my will, and my insurance policies, make sure my wife had all of my passwords and knew where all the money was, spend the rest of the day with her and the kids, then call the medical examiner and ask to lie down on the gurney so that when I die they won't strain their back moving my remains out of my house."
– Asteriad
Nose Stuck In A Book
"Work while they sleep. Study while they party"
"That's not a recipe for success, that's a recipe for a lot of white hairs, burnout syndrome and a stroke before your 40s..."
– Khomuna
Doesn't Apply To Everyone
"Do what you love and money will follow"
"I love walking my dogs and grilling food for my friends but That sh*t doesn't pay the bills as well as my engineering degree!"
– Elons_android
While people's intentions are good, they're better off keeping their two cents in their own pockets.
Not everyone likes to hear platitudes.
Sometimes, people just want to know they're not alone with their problems over listening to unlikely solutions that are nothing more than superficial pick-me-ups.
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Kids start going to school from the age of five, and for the most part, they spend more time at school than at home. Because of that, teachers can become very important figures in the lives of their students.
Some students don't have the best home lives. Some keep it to themselves, but others confide in their teachers.
Curious about various situations, Redditor Delicious_Mastodon83 asked:
"teachers of reddit what is the saddest thing you found out about a student?"
In Need of Parents
"Not a teacher but was a school-based therapist. Had a student (7 -8 y/o) I didn’t know knock on my office door and ask if I’d adopt her and “if you have room, my brother too, but if not, that’s ok, we can be split up. We’re split up now. And I don’t take up space. I just need a sleeping bag”. Broke my heart."
– secretkpr
Heartbreaking, But Industrious
"My mom taught at a school in a bad neighborhood in Chicago in the mid 90’s. There was a second grader that would save his milk and ketchup packers from lunch for his mom so she had something to eat when she got home from work."
– PowerstrokeMe
Big-Hearted Mom
"Not a teacher but a parent with a 9 year old son. Every day I pack extra in my sons lunch because he tells me he has a friend that never has anything to eat. It's winter and my son came home and told me his friend was turning up with shorts and shirt and holes in his shoes. So I sent in a jumper and long pants for him to wear and some slightly used but good condition shoes. I have been up to the school recently and the teacher pulled me aside and thanked me profusely for helping this child. Apparently teachers are not allowed to aid kids they teach here in Australia and they have already reported the issue 3 times to child welfare without results so I was the only one helping this child. The teacher told me before I started sending in more food and clothes, this child would steal others food from their lunches and look through the bins because he was so hungry. They doubt he gets fed at home. So now I make sure to always send an extra lunch and some school clothes/supplies when I can. I can only hope child welfare eventually does something but it breaks my heart."
– spetzie55
Amazing Big Sister
"It was right after winter break and before class started I was just talking with some students and asked if they got anything fun for the holidays. One girl said on no, I don’t ever get presents, my mom is a drug addict. But I went out and got some stuff for my little sister so that she can have a real Christmas."
"She just said it so matter-of-fact. She was so used to being the parent to her little sister that she didn’t even care about her own childhood. It totally broke my heart."
– tonydanzascaulk
The Importance Of Human Affection
"Second hand story from my mom, elementary teacher for 30ish years. She had a hug or a handshake out the door policy, just some small contact and a proper goodbye, and had this young boy who always picked the hug. She wondered why he always went for it, most kids would go back and forth depending on their mood that day, so she asked him why he was always so excited for the end of day hug? His answer, "It's the only one I ever get.""
– needsawholecroissant
Coming Out The Other Side
"Two teenage boys (16/14) with learning disabilities were on my caseload, they never missed school but often ditched class. They were homeless mid-year after they went home from school to find the locks changed, their Mom had abandoned them for a new boyfriend. She didn't leave an address for them to find her."
"*Edit: both eventually dropped out, however a couple of years later the younger brother came back to visit. He and his brother were both working construction, and his brother had gotten married, had a child, and was living with his wife’s family."
"The younger had roommates and was saving for a car. He told me it was a shame I didn’t have kids, because I would make a good Dad."
"People often persevere, even with the odds stacked against them."
– Kursch50
True Parentification
"Not me but my daughter is a teacher, she has lots of stories but one that stands out for me is one of her kindergarten kids saying she was tired and her asking why, the little girl explained that she had been up all night with her mums newborn baby. She did this every night, fed her bottles and everything."
– lb47513343
Luckily, He Was Resilient
"This year I had a 17 year old kid enroll at my school. He was sitting in my math class and I could tell he was struggling. After class I took some extra time to go over a concept with him. I asked him to read the question to me, and he sat there silently. He then looked at me and said “I’m not going to lie to you, I cannot read. I have no idea how to say these words""
"Turned out at age 17 he was illiterate and had been kept out of school by his very religious, controlling parents. Over the past few months he has worked very hard! Now he can finally read at an 8th grade level and he is STILL improving!!"
– User Deleted
A Heroic Teacher
"I worked in an inner city charter school. One of my students (`M10) had a sib (M8) in a lower grade. The mom was there every day in the beginning of the year encouraging them, helping them and generally being very supportive... until a CPS agent spoke to me asking about her behavior. After CPS left things went downhill. The boys showed up late to class even though they lived a half block away from school. When in school both boys were tired from sleeping in the car while their mom "went fishing". She also had two very young girls which she dragged around making the boys take care of them. One day the boys didn't show up and their teacher walked over to the house to find the mom had loaded up the fridge, paid the rent for the month and abandoned them. The teacher (a candidate for sainthood btw) took them in, adopted them and grew them up to be great men."
– mopedarmy
This is really heartbreaking stuff! Luckily, teachers aren't just another adult in your life; they can be your saving grace as well.
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TRIGGER WARNING: This article contains sensitive content about depression and mental health.
As the stigma around mental health lessens (however slowly), people are more forthcoming about the problems they are facing. One of the most common mental health issues is depression.
Depression can affect many different types of people. Factors such as gender, race, nationality, and even age have no bearing on whether someone suffers from depression or not.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), globally, "...an estimated 3.8% of the population affected, including 5.0% among adults and 5.7% among adults older than 60 years..."
Depression displays in certain patterns, such as mood changes, physical difficulties, and social isolation. However, depression manifests differently in different people and feels different to different people.
Reddit users divulged what depression felt like to them when Redditor iodineseaspray asked:
"What does depression feel like to you?"
Some of this is sure to sound familiar.
The Worst Kind Of Boredom
"Like being more bored than you could imagine but also not wanting to do anything at all, even breathe. So you want to do something, but you can't imagine anything that you would like to do so you're just sort of stuck."
– BuddhistSlater
"So you then spend literally hours staring at a blank wall hating yourself, your life, and everything around you. Well, as much hate as you can summon in the absolutely mentally numb state you find yourself sat in day after day."
– merryman1
Lack Of Motivation and Energy
"Complete lack of motivation."
"Ignoring people that I love, and who are trying to help."
"Just sh*t"
– HatFromStraw
"I feel it extra at work. Letting things slide until you either get into trouble or trying last minute to prevent it."
"Funny those times when I'm working to save my butt, the depression goes away and i feel super focused and motivated."
"I try to carry that energy over but no, it's rinse and repeat."
– ExtraBitterSpecial
Powerful Insecurity
"Insecure about absolutely everything, no hope for the future, dissociation from society and not knowing how to “act” anymore, feeling like I’m not as good at the things I always thought I was good at or that the “talent is wasted on me”, only food cheers me up and sometimes even that doesn’t work"
– tenamonth
Loss Of Creativity
"This. It's like some numb fuzziness you feel in your brain. It's the worst thing ever for an artist who just wants to create but your brain comes up dry with a dense fog that wants to just lie down for a few hours"
– FinnProtoyeen
A Mental Inability To Breathe
"For me, it feels like I’m in a lake with a ball chain tied to my feet, desperately swimming up for air, the only problem is the chain isn’t long enough. I can only get an inch of my head out of the water to breath, and as soon as a high tide comes, the water just floods over me and I feel like I can’t breath again. I live like this, constantly feeling like I’m struggling to breathe, weighed down by my own mind. It’s a struggle and I can’t really describe it in any other way, I’m jealous of people who don’t worry about depression"
– DrowningInBrokeness
"Like suffocating under a heavy cloak"
– kmartfreak
"Like being crushed. Like if the air was crushing my muscles and bones and I can’t breathe because I’m being crushed…"
"Kinda like that."
– Afreshnewsketckbook
Listlessness
"Scrolling thru your steam library. Thinking you want to play something, either not settling on anything or not wanting to put the effort into the game. Going back to the scrolling."
– Aistadar
"It feels like you're forced to play a game of Monopoly (represents life) and your just rolling the dice to appease everyone but you genuinely don't care about where you go, where you land, what you pick up, what you pay, what you gain."
"You kind of just watch it happen without interest and while people are cheering or oh no-ing for you, you genuinely don't care. Everyone is a piece on this board that hardly matters and you feel like we're all just running in a circle over and over again and it's boring and disinteresting as hell."
"You lose all curiosity for everything and just let everything happen and pass by you. No motivation, hardly any love, hardly any care. Feels like the world is in black and white and your waiting for the game to end became it's so absolutely boring and disinteresting, but it never does."
"You come to resent the game and eventually hate it because it feels like you're being forced to play it and suffer it's consequences when you never asked to play it in the first place."
"That's what depression felt like for me. Since then I've been medicated and recieved therapy. I'm doing a lot better now and I don't feel this way anymore, thankfully."
- KnlghtLlghts
A Relation To Fantasy
"You know that scene in the Lord of the Rings where Bilbo is describing to Galndalf what having the Ring all those years felt like? "I feel thin. Like too much jam spread over too much bread." That's honestly the best way I've seen to describe it."
– Electrical_Age_336
"I always say the closest thing to compare it to is a dementor in harry potter. It sucks every ounce of happiness out of you until there is only darkness left."
"Side note: chocolate always helps"
– sunfacer
Fear Of Lack Of Justification
"Like someone close to you died yesterday. Expect no one has, and nothing has happened to justify how you feel."
– AlterEdward
A Physical Pain
"Physical pain in my heart, will start crying just by attending to the physical sensation in my body."
– sagieday
Help Yourself
"I've always described it as having a shadow fixed to your brain which fuels things like indecision and negativity. You can do things to temporarily help but you can't truly shift it. Previous normality is forgotten. But it's amazing how much you can mask it."
"I found I didn't realise how bad I was until I started to get better"
"For anyone suffering with depression. Please, please speak to someone. Best thing I ever did"
– DavosLostFingers
Depression isn't something you can just deal with or get over. Learning to cope is not easy. However, as Redditor DavosLostFingers pointed out, talking to someone can literally save your life.
If you or anyone you know is struggling with depression, contact the American Psychological Association by phone at 800.374.2721 or 202.336.5500.
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