No one wants to go to the E.R. - but most of us do at some point. I made more trips than I can count due to my colitis and subsequent surgeries. But others go for all types of reasons, like accidentally stabbing yourself while carving a pumpkin. Or being hit by a red-light-runner. Or dealing with the challenges of pregnancy.
vortish asked: What put you in the E.R.?
Submissions have been edited for clarity, context, and profanity.
15. At least you were wearing a helmet...
Motorcycle accident. My stupid ass didn't wear any protective gear except for a helmet. Scraped my kness and severely bruised an ankle. Never rode without gear after that.
And also a fracture in the very same foot like 7 years prior.
Motorcycles = not a question of IF you'll fall, it's a question of WHEN you'll fall.
Partly true. You can drive cautiously and not crash on your own, but when it comes to other people on the road; you'll most likely have close calls/crash sometime!
14. Guys - respect the term.
I fainted while pooping, while naked, while pregnant, while my toddler was in the bathtub. Not my most glamorous moment.
Ah, pregnancy. We're supposed to be beautifully glowing and serene, and... HAHAHANO.
When I was 37 weeks with my youngest, if it makes you feel any better, I laid down to go to bed one night and freaked out when my water broke all over everything. I called my doc, we got in the car, and headed to the hospital...
...Where they told me I'd actually peed. I wanted to bury myself somewhere.
13. Someoneclumsy is afoot.
Before Adulthood:
Stepped on a piece of glass. They had to remove it and got stitches on the bottom of my foot.
Was running a 105 fever one night.
I was running through a wooded area and tripped over an axe, which got stuck in my shin bone. Got stitches.
Fell off my grandmother's exercise bike and ripped my inner thigh on the screw that was sticking out of the base. Several stitches and I have a nasty scar there.
Drowning accident. Arrived by ambulance. I got shipped out to a children's hospital and stayed there for a week.
Adulthood:
Split my thumb bone down the middle to the first joint while playing softball.
Someone spiked my drink at work with something I was allergic to as a retaliation joke.
Got kidney stones. I do not wish that pain on ANYONE. The only relief I could get was laying out on the cold emergency room floor tile and not moving.
Coworker dropped an economy sized can of Hershey's chocolate syrup on my foot. It got knocked off a 12ft shelf. I got a lovely boot and a few black toes over that one.
And, most recently, I fell in an unmarked puddle in a grocery store and broke my foot.
Hindsight: My poor feet lol.
12. Roll with the first excuse.
It was before I got into medical school, I was volunteering in the ER. I walked in one night, and a tech was scrubbing a guy with road rash down his arm, his body, and his leg. It looked really painful, and I asked the patient what happened.
"I was on my Harley, and I was being chased by the cops. I went around a corner, hit some gravel, and laid my bike down."
I noticed the man's wife in the corner of the room roll her eyes.
"How does that story sound?" He asked.
"Sounds great," I said. "What really happened?"
"I was on my scooter going downhill and I fell off."
"Stick with the first story."
11. You should see an ulcerated colon *raises hand*
Appendicitis. I thought I had the flu and nursed it for over 24 hours. Not painful but most uncomfortable experience. My doctor showed me photos of what she saw and cut out so I guess that was cool/gross.
Been there too. The pain is insane.
For those who haven't had it, it starts off like a stitch in your side or a stomach cramp, and it just doesn't go away and gets steadily and steadily worse over hours until you're buckle over in the fetal position just holding yourself because you feel like you might pass out from pain. And standing straight up is one of the most painful things you can do so your body wants to do everything in its power to stay very still.
10. Never forget Scout training.
Cutting a pumpkin for Halloween. Turned to answer my daughter's question and stabbed myself in the chest.
"Honeeeeey? I think I need to go to the Emergency Room!"
"What ? Oh my god you're bleeding everywhere. Here's a towel, just hold it tight there, I'll get the car keys. Kids ! In the car, Daddy had another accident!"
A short wait and a few stitches later, we went out for Ice cream. Mr. Jack O'Lantern had some real blood on him that year.
How do you even stab yourself in the chest?
Violating one of the Cub Scout rules of using a knife... never cut towards yourself. And pay attention when using a knife. And use a sharp knife... it was dull, I was pushing hard to get through Mr. Pumpkin. turned to talk to my daughter and the knife made it through the pumpkin and carved me instead.
Bounced off my sternum so it no abdominal cavity penetration. But confessing to the nurses and doctor produced some laughter.
"I'd say the pumpkin won your knife fight!"
9. Survivor.
Bloody nose in 8th grade. I got hit in the face by a volleyball in gym class, bled for 45 minutes until it eventually stopped. and then once I got home and had friends over, one guy hit me in the face with a pillow and my nose started to bleed again. Went to the E.R, was there almost all night for a broken septum and a bloody nose. To this day my nose is still crooked, my plan is to get a nose job when I'm rich (probably won't happen, it's not very noticeable but to me it is)
8. Don't run red lights.
F*ckin' red light runners, man.
It's weird that people give me sh*t for checking both ways when the intersection has lights. Like, motherf*cker you've SEEN people run them yourself!
7. Cipro is a nasty drug.
At 2 years old I drank an entire bottle of children's Tylenol and had to go get my stomach pumped.
When I was 15, I split my chin open after falling while ice skating. I had to get 3 stitches in my chin and go to school with a giant bandaid over it.
In college, bronchitis+asthma. I asked the nurse if you could literally cough your lungs up, she said no, and then I had a coughing fit so hard my sight blacked out and I almost passed out.
2 years ago, it was an adverse reaction to ciprofloxacin. I became so weak I couldn't stand and spent 3 months in PT building up enough strength to be able to walk again. My gait is still abnormal, but improving with time.
6. A string of bad luck?
- Work shop accident when I was in high school. 13 stitches.
- Motorcycle accident when I was in the service. Fractured skull, partially amputated left ear, broken collar bone.
- Attacked by crazy girlfriend with an iron. 15 stitches in my head.
- Fell down drunk and split my chin open. 7 stitches.
- Heart attack.
In that order.
Think you should stay in bed for rest of your life but then your bed might collapse.
Iron like a golf club or iron like the thing you use on clothes?
Clothes iron. I turned around after she hit me and she was swinging it in circles over her head like a lasso. She went to jail.
5. Nope, thanks.
A softball-sized cyst twisted around one of my ovaries, decided that it was done lurking, and spontaneously ruptured.
I had a golf ball sized cyst rupture as well. Worst pain I've ever felt
4. Unnecessary edit but okay.
Quarter in my throat...
Edit: I forgot to say it got stuck and partially blocked my air way.
"Safest place to keep your money!" they say. "Don't trust the banks" they say, safe my ass.
Now I get why the mafia always wants people to "cough up."
Your mistake was not putting them up your ass. You clearly had the wrong hole!
3. Men are stubborn creatures.
Kidney stone that my gp said wasn't a kidney stone, just muscle spasms.
My husband on the other hand:
- Bicycle accident: broken arm, road rash
- Bicycle accident: cracked rib, collapsed lung, separated shoulder
- Bicycle accident: leg broken in three places
Still rides his bicycle almost every morning.
2. Yyyyyyyouch.
400 plus degree hot cooking oil accidentally dumped on my feet.
Skies & stars. Please tell me you were wearing shoes.
Or a hazmat suit. I got a tiny second degree burnt one time and the pain was crazy. 0/10
1. That's it, I'm abstinent now.
Have posted this story before under a most embarassing thread :/
A while back, I was having sex with my FWB, and I started to get annoyed that he would just lightly flick the nipple with his tongue and move on. This time I told him, "MORE PRESSURE" and he bites on it nice and firmly but with not too much of a strong sensation.
Cue that weekend and I show up to the Emergency Room of the hospital all clammy and feverish. I noticed the bite on my nipple widen like a fissure and ooze a gross pus. The first triage nurse looks a bit concerned, and I explain that my nipple was bitten and I got a fever from it. "How long have you been breastfeeding?" "I don't breastfeed". Nurse raises eyebrows and moves me on the the ambulatory waiting room.
The next nurse there calls me up, and I say, I've got a bite on my nipple and she's like, "Is it from from a baby" And I'm like, nope, it's from an adult. She looks up from her note pad and her eyes widened up, "OH! Oohhhhh. Ahh. wow." and she tries not to crack up as she finishes her assessment.
Now I have to wait for a physician to see me, and all of them seem to be older women, so I feel a bit relaxed. NOPE. This young male doctor calls my name up and takes me into the room. I tell him that I got bit on the nipple and he asks, "what kind of insect do you think it was?" and I say, it was from an adult, human male. He covers his mouth with his hand and says, "ah, well it's good you told me that, because human bites can be quite infectious" and proceeds to get the rest of my symptoms quite calmly.
So he has to inspect and feel my breast area, but he says he will ask a female nurse to be in the room at the same time as a chaperone (for legal reasons I guess). It turns out it was nurse who saw me previously and I avoid eye contact. The doc starts examining and pressing around the wound, and asks how it feels, and I say painful, and then he moved his hand to the other side of the nipple (which had no wound), and he's like, is it painful now? and I say "Nope, it feels pretty nice". Silence. Fair to say I'm writing this from the grave.
TLDR: After becoming the talk of the hospital cafeteria, I proceed to creep on medical professionals with my nearly-headless-nip.
- Emergency Care | TRICARE ›
- 80 people went to Dallas emergency rooms 5,139 times in a year ... ›
- Urgent Care vs. Emergency Room: What's the Difference? | GoHealth ›
- When to Go to the Emergency Room | Trios Health | Kennewick, WA ›
- Why do people go to the emergency room for things that aren't ... ›
- Should you go to the ER? Don't downplay potentially serious ... ›
- The Emergency Room: When to go and when not to go ›
- WE HAD TO GO TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM!! - YouTube ›
- The Top Reasons People Are Rushed To The Emergency Room ... ›
- Should You Go to the Emergency Room or Urgent Care ›
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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