Depression is not a State of sadness, it is a numbness.
It is not anger, despair, fear or even loneliness
It’s not a feeling, it’s a void. A void where nothing evolves or changes, where time does not exist, where darkness is the only color, where no one lives.
Depression is not a State of mind, it is a place. It is a place in which we sometimes fall blind, a black hole yawing. Once there, as in a maze of corn in a dark night, we can wander endlessly, without finding the exit.
“Shake you!”, we say to the depressed people, as if their wish to feel good, normal, could solve the problem. “Why are you depressed? You have everything for yourself! You’re young, you’re handsome, you’re healthy, you have people who love you. ยป
“That’s true,” answers the person, and for a moment, guilt tries to accumulate in nothingness to do something about it, but then he recoils again , sucked into the hole.
“How can I help you? What do you need? On the other side of depression, action is always the cure. “Walk around, call a friend, get up and move! “
But depression doesn’t release victims so easily. It slows the heartbeat, becoming deaf deafness, transforming thoughts into shadows without resting forms, like a stone at the bottom of a muddy and stagnant River.
Even if we understand depression, when we do not live it, the people who suffer are like astronauts freed from their ship, floating and paralyzed in space, inaccessible, lost. How can we overcome this gaping void that stretches in all directions without losing us?
Here’s what you can do if you end up with someone who suffers from depression:
Lie down next to her. You can even read a book silently for you. Don’t focus on the person, be right there. Let her absorb your energy. Sometimes that’s enough.
Don’t tell a person who suffers from depression what to do. Just tell him that you love her, even when she is in the dark. Tell him gently and courageously, and keep calm.
If the person lets you do it, gently brush the hair. If it rejects your contact, don’t take it personally, it’s too overwhelming right now. You’ll have another chance.
Depression is a disease that isolates and paralyze: it is strong, it is shy. Like a wild cat, she doesn’t react well to awkward intervention. But you can end up Taming it with a patient heart and a firm hand
Read alsi: Signs and symptoms of depression
