Depression is a very common mental health disorder, with more than 300 million people worldwide suffering from it. There are several types of depression and many different symptoms, and no two people's experiences are the same. Still, it is sometimes helpful to air out your thoughts and feelings, even to strangers.
Redditor u/Energylegs23 created a safe place for people to discuss their depression, when they asked, "How does your depression manifest in ways that non-depressed people wouldn't expect or understand?"
10. Not being able to start something new
"I really want to work on a hobby project. I have everything I need to work on the project. I know working on the hobby project makes me happy and makes others happy too. Yet I cant start it. I cant get the motivation to do it despite it being all I want to do. So maybe I'll just play some video games instead... except for some reason I cant bring myself to launch a game, even if it will also make me happy. So i just sit and scroll through reddit. close it. re open it. scroll. close it. repeat. All the while i'm internally yelling at myself to do something. anything really. But some days I just cant."
9. Feeling intense anger
"A lot of folks expect depression to be sadness, a feeling of being numb etc but often, anger isn't considered part of the deal.
My friends pointed out that they were shocked that I was being treated for depression, until they realized I was never sad, I was smiling, joking, fun-seeking, but the smallest irritation had me so so angry. Not like, make-a-scene angry. Deep disgust."
8. Nothing that you enjoy is enjoyable
"Nothing is interesting. TV shows you used to like are just okay now, and you only watch them to pass the time instead of for enjoyment. Food doesn't taste like anything anymore. Work, if you enjoyed it, is now boring. Hobbies disappear. You're just there, surrounded by a massive expanse of indifference with no discernible boundaries."
7. It feels like a river
Giphy
"I feel an almost physical pull at the center of my chest/body. It feels like a river pulling at me, tugging at that center and trying to drag me down the river. I feel a perceptible tugging sensation and the feeling of dark water rushing past. Usually only when it's really bad. If you've read the Abhorsen trilogy by Garth Nix, it reminds me of how the river of death is described."
6. Becoming forgetful
"I forget appointments, household chores, whether I've already told someone something a minute ago, class homework, where I just put my keys... I can muster up enough energy to focus on a few important tasks, but it's like my brain can't hold on to most things and they just get kind of dropped somewhere. The worst thing is that people see me as being flakey and lazy, and I hate it..."
5. Intrusive thoughts
"I am able to act and be completely Fine around people but It hits me when random thoughts get into my head when I'm alone. So if they ever found out that this has been happening to me, I don't think they can believe it very easily since infront of them, I'm this whole other person."
4. Developing a fear of leaving your house
"Moderate to severe agoraphobia."
"It's the worst feeling ever when you really want to go out to get some fresh air or just to take a walk or to go from one place to another on your own and you're just too scared to even leave the house alone or without someone who can protect you or make you comfortable"
3. Taking a lot of naps
Giphy
"Depression naps are addictive. I go to sleep the second I come home because I don't wanna deal with the emotions of being awake. I'm asleep from 3pm-10:30pm almost every day. When I wake up, I eat a bunch of food, take a shower, and be back asleep by 12am. My family asks why I sleep so much. I just make a joke about being a "typical lazy teen" most of the time and hope they change the subject."
2. Emotional Eating
"Eating. I eat my feelings away. And sometimes it's the first sign that I'm about to go through a bout of depression, I get strong cravings before it hits."
1. Sometimes you just have to ride the wave
"Sometimes theres just no reason. The emptiness shows up unannounced and doesnt go away. Theres no specific reason and nothing will cheer me up. I just gotta ride the wave until it's over."
"There is this "work" culture these days of success being directly proportional to the effort you put in, so if you're not doing well it's because you're lazy. If you're not visibly flogging yourself to death you're freewheeling.
But with depression sometimes you're flogging yourself to death just to manage to keep yourself alive. Sometimes the most you can do is wait for it to pass, like waiting for a cold to clear."
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/
I once had a customer complain I didn't read the menu to her.
Not make suggestions, but literally read the menu to her.
"you guys have a great day"
Giphy"Working in retail I once said 'you guys have a great day' I was reported by an elderly women who objected to not being addressed as 'ma'am'."
"She also objected to 'have a great day' because she had come into the aquarium store because her fish was dead and she was upset that someone would tell her to 'have a great day' when her fish had died."
A measly grand?
"I got sued in small claims court by a mentally ill man who said I stole $1000 worth of roast beef and 2 sun tanning lights from him."
"It got continued twice and by the time we had our day in court, he forgot what he sued me for and just went off on a tirade about me being an a**hole."
On Camera
"I once had a complaint filed against me for calling someone a slur in the elevator. My boss called me in, and we watched the camera footage from the elevator."
"Me and the other person were talking and having a good conversation and laughing with each other. My boss just said 'yeah I watched it earlier and I have no idea what they are talking about'."
"So someone tried to get me fired for no reason."
(manager and up)
"I once was told there was a high-level (manager and up) meeting being held about me… on account of my emails being written too well. :/ "
"I can write quick, well-worded emails, and someone in upper management thought that I must have been spending too much time writing my emails, possibly as a means of appearing to be superior to others."
Closed
Giphy"I worked at McDonalds. A man put a complaint in because I wouldn't let him in after we'd already shut."
Yeah, closed means closed.
You had time to get there during open hours. See you tomorrow.
We have lives too.
No thank you...
Giphy"Got a complaint filed against me by a customer for unnecessary rudeness because I turned down a guy's offer to take me out on a date."
"He asked me (repeatedly) while I was working. Dude was at least in his mid 40s; I was 16."
a scarlet letter...
"When I was a teenager working at an ice cream store, a secret shopper wrote that I was 'friendly but did not smile'."
"This write up was posted on the bulletin board like it was a scarlet letter of shame and the manager talked to me about smiling more."
"30 years later, I am still friendly but unsmiling."
A Little Off
"I had a coworker from a different department call me this morning and threatened me for something his boss had done regarding something I have no control over."
"I eventually got him to sheepishly admit that there was nothing I had control over in the situation and he was mad his boss had made the decision without consulting him first."
"Government work attracts some odd balls."
I hate retail!
"I was working in a lighting store (ceiling lights, chandeliers, etc). Secret shoppers would get sent over to us every so often and they were usually pretty obvious."
"This guy claimed he needed ceiling fans for his home so I go through the whole thing finding fans that work in his rooms, suit the design of his home, airflow needs, etc. But obviously without a specific need to buy something requiring electrical wiring this guy left without purchasing."
"He wrote that I was excellent in every way but didn't try to upsell him anything."
"At the next staff meeting the manager read this out, tried shame me in front of everyone and stressed that we need to try and sell people crap they don't even need."
"How the heck do I upsell a damn ceiling fan? 'Hey would you like a $2000 crystal chandelier with your fans? How about a set of garden lights?' I hate retail."
Stay Literate...
Read Friends Tv GIFGiphy"I once had a coworker file an HR complaint against me for reading books at lunch."
"I told HR that he's probably just offended I'm not reading hardcore pornography magazines on the clock like he does."
I'm so glad I work at home with only dogs and a cat.
And when I go outside I avoid eye contact for all of these reasons.
Find some inner peace folks.
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Farewell
Giphy"Say goodbye to all my friends, go outside and take my dog on a long walk and then back home to have pizza and await my fate."
Eat Wherever
"Eat McDonald's at a Burger King. What they gonna do, send me to jail for life."
"I'd buy two large fries and two large cokes at Mcdonald's and take them over to Burger King and order two whoppers for lunch."
"I know this is satire, but a buddy of mine once got kicked out of a McDonald's lobby for bringing in KFC. We were all in high school and meeting to do homework but instead we all ended up leaving."
You've Got Mail
"Send out a chain message to everyone I know saying that if you don't share this with 10 people, the person you received this message from will die tomorrow."
"Plus add on that if the people they share it to don't share it to 10 other people, they will die themselves."
- Jhawk163
Go Big!
"If I'm guaranteed 24 hours alive I will do a ton of extremely dangerous crap because I can't die until the 24 hours are up."
"You could get badly injured and live your last hours suffering in a hospital sooo..."
"Morphine drip is how a lot of us go anyhow. Doesn't seem so bad."
Bank robber?
Well that should keep the time lively, but I don't understand doing things that could cut short what little time there already is.
To each their own, I guess.
Out & About
Giphy"If I'm gonna die, then they might as well know. I'm coming out, doing what I want for once and having the most comforting day in my life."
Expose it All
"Tell everyone I love how I feel and then get all my passwords and crap in order so people can close out all my online activities. Then go hold my wife until I die... well, probably I'll go sit in the emergency room to die so my wife doesn't have to remember me dying in her arms the rest of her life."
Free $$$
"Rack up as much debt as I can buying expensive things and hiding them for my family to find later (after the estate has been sorted out)."
"Makes me wonder if I have 50k in CC debt and 75k in the bank, does my family get all 75 or will the bank be legally entitled to get 50k back?"
"The banks get 50k and your family gets the leftovers. If you don't have enough money then your estate is dissolved and your family gets nothing, the debt goes away (unless someone tricks your fam into paying the debt with their money)."
- OHYAMTB
Send the Message
"Spend the 24 hours with my kids and family cultivating a few last precious memories for them. Also a few hours staving off sleep recording messages for them to be able to listen to when they are older - things they aren't old enough to hear, but I would like them to hear from me when they are ready for the message."
I don't know anymore...
"Well, I wouldn't live long enough to face the consequences for whatever I do, so I'd do some things I see as bad ideas at the moment:"
"I'd cuss out my most hated person in the world. Forget that guy."
"I'd tell my best friend (former best friend? I don't know anymore...) how I feel about them, and apologize for hiding it."
"Other than that, I dunno what I'd do, maybe spend time with friends or family or panic. Make sure to let everyone know that I wouldn't be around much longer."
Where to Begin?
Giphy"Fix my will, delete all electronics, call a firm to take my stuff to goodwill, call a real estate agent and put apartment for sale, give my organs to hospital. And if time, I reckon a good nap and massage would be nice too."
Is there really a best way to spend your last 24 hours?
You can't travel, that's time consuming. There will always be so much more to do.
Que será, será, I suppose.
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