Angel For A Day (A Post About Depression)

Definition

Depression

Feeling sad is a healthy, normal part of life. For some people sadness comes out of nowhere, triggered by something as simple as a song that comes on the radio. It ebbs and flows. But for others, feelings of sadness won’t go away and the origin of the sadness is hard to discern. It is not something they can “snap out of” or control. It causes feelings and thoughts that won’t go away. Many lose interest in normal daily activities, lack energy, and have trouble concentrating. These are all signs of depression, a mood disorder also referred to as clinical depression or major depressive disorder. 

If you or someone you know suffers from depression you are not alone. Over sixteen million people in the United States experienced depression last year. While serious, depression is a treatable condition and help isn’t too far.  (Source: Depression – Mayo Clinic)

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There are times life doesn’t work the way we planned it… sometimes, we are sad beyond measure and we don’t know where it comes from. We forget times, and all of a sudden, the hours, the days have passed without us even noticing. We are ‘shoved’ through room and the endless light years of instability and insecurity of the future… which causes anxiety.

Other times we are expected to ‘perform’… no matter where we are at work… in retail, at the office, in meetings, on stage, in concerts, or even at court…? And we need to show what we’re capable of. We’re expected to give our best – and we know, there are people there, people who judge us, who are prepared and ready to tell us off, to give us a bad review, ruin our reputation and trample onto our emotions, feelings, and pride. It’s a huge, hungry monster of a crowd, waiting to swallow us whole and then spit us out, a crumbled mess of self-pity…

Sometimes you hear a song on the radio and sing along… and you feel sad, listening to the words and feeling that highly depressed lyrics is just describing you and your life; and you burst out into tears.

And then, at a stop light, you don’t realize the guy next to you at the traffic light sees you crying and comes over, knocking on your side window and asking, if you’re okay – and without even realizing, you yell at him to mind his own f$%&ing business… deeply ashamed someone saw you acting up like a baby… – But when you see the hurt expression on his face you feel bad, and you ask him to please wait, and you apologize… Finally, you end up in a café, talking to this stranger you have never seen before… only to find out, he’s got it far worse than you… having lost his wife to illness and his daughter to suicide…

On the way home, you know, maybe you weren’t the one who needed to talk that day, maybe you were the one who needed to listen, maybe this day, you were the one who helped, and didn’t need help…

Sometimes, you just need to become someone’s angel for one day…

Picture courtesy of https://afremov.com/angel-of-love-palette-knife-oil-painting-on-canvas-by-leonid-afremov-size-24-x30.html

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National Suicide Lifeline

STOP! THERE IS HOPE!

No matter what problems you are dealing with, we want to help you find a reason to keep living.

By calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255) you’ll be connected to a skilled, trained counselor at a crisis center in your area, anytime 24/7.

For more information or to chat live with a crisis counselor, please visit the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

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I recently lost one friend who thought there was no help for her. Other friends of mine lost their son. There is help! This blog post is dedicated to Sheridan and Tim. R.I.P.