May 23, 2024 – Writer's Treasure Chest

You would think that getting the lyrics to this song, posting them here, and writing a whiny five-sentence post would be enough, but unfortunately, it’s not.

Being in love, unrequited love, breakups, and heartaches are the leading causes of depression.

Medicalnewstoday.com informs us that people who have suffered a breakup are more likely to develop depression than people in a relationship. Also, women are more likely to experience depression after a breakup than men.

As for teenager depression, that’s a little more severe. According to TheConversation.com, teenagers can react with severe depression after a breakup. According to a study, 40% of teenagers had developed depression after heartache, and some of them went to the extreme.

On the VeryWellMind website, we can read about the symptoms of post-breakup depression and how to best cope with it. I wrote in an earlier post about the ‘broken heart syndrome,’ a clinically proven syndrome that affects the heart’s health. However, in most cases, it’s temporary and can be cured. The Mayo Clinic describes the BHS on its website.

Teenagers are by far not the only ones who can develop clinical depression after a breakup.

If a person has gone through a breakup and has any of the following symptoms for 2 weeks or more, they may be experiencing depression.

Medicalnewstoday.com describes the possible symptoms.

feeling low, sad, or anxious the majority or all of the time
feeling irritable, short-tempered, or restless
having difficulty sleeping
feeling hungry all of the time or having a lack of appetite
feeling tired or lethargic even after plenty of sleep
experiencing digestive issues, aches and pains in the body, or headaches
experiencing feelings of guilt and worthlessness
having suicidal thoughts

Now, depression can also be experienced if someone is facing unrequited love. Once again, teenagers are more prone to this kind of experience, and women are more endangered than men.

Unrequited love might make a great story arc for a romance book, but it’s excruciating for the person experiencing it. Feelings of low self-worth, being overseen, and feeling that someone is not wanted or not worth being loved can cause the same kind of broken heart syndrome and depression as a breakup.

I wish I could say that adults generally find it more accessible than teenagers. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. All the wonderful self-worth and self-confidence advice can puff out, even among adults who should know better.

Not being a priority by someone whom you made your priority is painful and slowly but surely kills every cheerful flame in you; even hope dies… Seeing the signs of not being a priority to the other person is hurtful and can lead to lots of tears, crying, and, yes, clinical depression.

It’s impossible to force someone to love back, and it’s a horrible thought of just walking away, knowing that walking away doesn’t mean forgetting about the person. It just means carrying tears (depression), pain, and a broken heart as baggage.

Terrible is the certainty of knowing that the other person is ‘The One’ and even having confirmed that the other person feels the same. But walking away seems the only chance to keep one’s own sanity.