Everyday chit chat and normal conversation isn't as easy as it sounds to keep up. And there are some life stories and experiences we'd love to share but just can't. How do you fit in death, sorrow and misery? Some people have a gift to guide conversation in any possible way and the rest of us just shy away. But Lord the stories we could tell!!
Redditor u/MrGohan27 wanted everyone to dish about the one story that you can't escape.... What is the one story you want to tell, that you can never fit into a conversation?
Hey there baby Kong!
My dad is an OBGYN. He once got called by the local zoo to perform an emergency C-Section on one of their gorillas.
My mom has the baby gorilla's picture on the mantle with our baby pictures. EclipticEclipse
The Grand Story...
I went to the Grand Canyon years ago with my parents. A couple of stops in we get out at a lookout where there is only us and this biker couple. She was sitting on the edge of the canyon with something in her hand and he was videotaping her. We had to walk past them to get to a trail that led into the canyon. It didn't take me and my dad long to see what the couple was doing so we stopped and tried to give them space but my mom kept walking. The woman dumped something into the canyon and at the same time a wind blew out of the canyon and at my mom. The biker couple watched what they had dumped out fly into my mom's face. It turns out that it was the ashes of her brother and his last request was to have his ashes spread at the Grand Canyon. What followed is the most awkward 10 minutes of my life as they talked to my mom about the departed. At the end of the conversation the lady says "don't feel bad about it he loved to meet new people." My mom responds "well it was nice to meet you and your brother as well." Captain-Ellerby
Chris Tucker for the Win!
In 2011 I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, it was 4 days before my 17th birthday. When I got home from the hospital that day, I wanted to put myself in a better mood, so I watched Rush Hour, and then I watched Rush Hour 2, and then Rush Hour 3. Fast forward to a couple months ago, I volunteered at a high profile event that had a ton of celebrities. We weren't allowed to fraternize with the celebs and ask for pictures and autographs and stuff, but there was one celeb that I needed to slightly break that rule for. At the end of the event, I made sure to be near the exit and wait there for Detective James Carter himself. I approached him, I shook his hand and walked him out while explaining to him that Rush Hour got me through one of the worst days of my life so far and it made me smile during a time that I had no business smiling in. He stopped dead in his tracks, looked at me and thanked me for telling him. He then gave me a hug before sincerely wishing the best for me and leaving the event. And that's what happened when I met Chris Tucker. _BrooksWasHere
We love you Alec!!
I think I've shared this on another sub before, but I made Alec Baldwin laugh.
It was Halloween and I was in NYC, and my office was near the W 4th street station, which is on 6th Ave where they do the massive Halloween parade every year. I was trying to rush to the station before the parade started so I could get home and avoid the craziness. I was heading down Bleecker and already there are tons of people dressed up on their way to the parade.
As I'm speed-walking down the street, I get into an awkward shuffle with someone heading the opposite direction - you know, where you both go the same direction at the same time, then try to go the other direction, but you basically just keep blocking each other by accident. I look up and the person I'm doing this awkward shuffle dance with is Alec Baldwin.
I normally don't think so quickly on my feet (and I realize I pretty much peaked in this moment), but I blurt out: "That's a great Alec Baldwin costume."
And he laughed. ebroms
Damn you Stephen King!
I live in Maine in the same town as Stephen King. I have worked at several stores when I was younger such as Home Depot and Walmart. He has come in sometimes. He recognized me when I worked at Home Depot from Walmart and said "You really need to stop following me." Jokingly of course. He was a pretty cool dude. Bought some screws and lumber. TheSleepyAmerican
BAMBI!!!
This past summer me and 2 of my friends were passing the time by just walking in a creek (we're in high school so we had nothing better to do) as were walking we hear what we thought to be a little kid whining. The creek wound around an elementary school so we thought it might be some daycare going on. We continue to walk down the creek which then let us to a slow flowing river about waist deep. We swim down it having a good time when we hear the same sound of the kid again only it's sounds less than 5 meters away and it's definitely not a child. I look along the bank and spot a fawn (baby deer) stuck in some tree roots that were dangling over the bank.I don't know how long it had been stuck there but it's front left and both back legs were stuck in the roots. I ask one of my friends to hold my bag and I head over to the deer. It had to have been stuck there for a decent while because it didn't seem to struggle when I got close, presumably cause it was too tired to. I go over and lift the fawn up and carry him over to a less steep bank where he can make his way into the tree line surrounding the river. I don't know what happened to it after that but I'm hoping it found it's mama. Shaff_Daddy
I am your Father....
I had breakfast with James Earl Jones, then went into pre-school and told my teacher that I had breakfast with Darth Vader. She didn't believe me until an article in the paper came out the following week about him being in town. Hollywoodv1
McDonald's is Rough!
Okay so when I was about six or so I was in the ball pit at a McDonald's play place. The other kids and I were playing this game that involved grabbing whatever kid tried to escape the ball pit and throwing them back in.
So this one kid tries to escape and I grab his leg. He was an amputee and I had grabbed his prosthetic. I was six and didn't know it was even possible to lose a limb. His prosthetic came off and suddenly I was holding this stranger kid's leg in my hands - I thought I had ripped his leg off! I screamed, I cried, I apologized, and I ran to my parents who had to explain the concept of an amputee to me in a McDonald's. craftsmanspet
Big Score for Mom!
My 50 year old mother is one of the best 2048 players in the world. Her high score is somewhere in the millions and she doesn't see it as a big deal but I googled it and she's like top 5 in the country. Nobody other than myself is interested in this so I don't get many opportunities to brag on her behalf. Jbachner19
We See you!
My drunk crazy uncle showed up in an Action Bronson episode about the south bronx. They filmed him drinking beer out of a straw hidden in his jacket. Steamedcarpet
DANNY "I LOVE YOU!!"!!!!
So the wife loves Disney and I love the Philadelphia Flyers. I took her to Disney to propose and everything's magical. The next day was my birthday and we are waiting in line when the woman in front notices my flyers hat and says, "oh you're a flyers fan?" I said yeah as I look at her husband and it's Danny Briere! So I got to ride the tower of terror with one of my heroes. Also we had nearly identical outfits on. Also it was Danny's birthday too. BigBuffHuff
I'll Never Forget....
One time me and my brother were being signed up by my parents to do a Rugrats Campbell Soup commercial. My parents were both in chairs in front of this desk talking to a man. And I was sitting leaning against the wall by the door behind them. Then a hand comes through the door and clamps around my mouth and I get dragged out of the room. He's dragging me down the hall and I'm trying to kick and scream but he's this 6' ft 2" white guy with a long beard and I can't budge or make a noise past his hand. Then halfway down the hallway in the lobby the receptionist looks up at us and he let's me go. I run back to the room and sit on the floor between my parents chairs. The guy comes in again and whispers something to the man my parents are talking to and leaves
It still makes me angry today because when I told them this story they didn't believe me (I was 5). Im 27 now and now they believe me. It was so traumatizing I still remember it. Ayatoyato
Let Me Out!
7 years ago, I (18 at the time) was out to dinner with boyfriend's extended family and got stuck in a bathroom stall (had a door knob, not a latch). I panicked and kicked that crap open. I came out the bathroom, calmly sat down at our table, and said nothing. I felt guilty for breaking the door but also surprised at my ability to do so. Prudytudy237
I found the Right TOOL....
I met the bassist from Tool once. Super nice guy. The whole experience was great, until I went home and told my family.
Me: "Hey guys, I think I met someone famous today. Do you know the band Tool?"
Family: "No way you met someone from Tool?! Who? What did you say?!"
Me: "... I asked him if his band was pretty popular."
They mock me to this day. TheFalseShepherd77
But I have Pizza!
I used to deliver pizzas. I roll up to this one house, waltz to the door, have a knock and start waiting, when this cicada starts dive bombing me, kamikaze style, with rage. Like I could almost hear it screaming at me. This went on for the several minutes that my customer wasn't answering the door, and then the cicada conveniently flew away right as the door popped open. So I'm sitting there stressed, kind of in shock with a pizza in my hand, and tell the customer what happened for some reason. They don't care. Whatever. I walk back to my car, get in... the cicada is in my car. Attacks me again.
One of the most surreal exchanges with nature I've yet encountered. commiedad
Bowie Forever!
My dad was good friends with David bowie for a while. My mums best friend was having potentially life ending surgery (open heart for the 3rd time due to marfans disease) so my dad told bowie that she was a big fan, he ended up recording a video for her wishing her luck and she still watches it from time to time. (She's having another surgery on Tuesday.) rhgarton
The Good Ole Days....
I got done with my bartending shift in a college town over a summer, and headed over to my friends house for after bar. Everything in this town was walking distance, and since it was summer it was fairly quiet night at around 4:00 am as I'm walking home from the after bar by myself. Suddenly, a couple of guys come up behind me, completely wasted riding a tandem bike. These guys were barely keeping this thing on the street, when a car drove by, slowed down, and a girl from the back window of the car leans out and flashes her chest at them. They guys crashed their tandem bike into a curb in a fantastically comical way, and the car sped off.
I miss small college town life. huxley2112
Donate Now....
Two good friends of mine from medical school found out they were half sisters after they both separately sent in kits to 23 and me. The kicker is that the sperm donor was also a medical student. beakerbrains1785
Follow the Dog!
My girlfriend and I were at 7-11 and Dog the Bounty Hunter was there. My girl drives a smart car, which is adorable in its own right, but as we came out of 7-11 to leave Dog held the door for us and then when we were getting in the car he said, "that's one cute car!" My girlfriend had NO idea who Dog was until I told her, then she couldn't stop giggling that one of the most aggressive bounty hunters out there thought her car was cute. qu33fwellington
No More Death!
When I was about 8 years old, I was playing outside with a friend and her little brother (2 or 3 y.o). My friend was slowly riding my bike on the sidewalk and I was walking besides her, but her brother insisted on riding his tricycle on the middle of the road (it was a dead end without movement). There's a funeral home nearby that often left their hearse parked on that street. Little guy was right behind the hearse when it suddenly starts moving backwards. I quickly pulled him out of his tricycle as he was about to get ran over.
It still creeps my out how the kid could have died that day by the same hearse that would have taken him to his funeral.
Sometimes I see him on the street and wonder if he remembers he almost died that day. amargs_
Who is strong enough to admit one of their weirdest stories you can't escape?
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?
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
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.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
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.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
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.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.