How would you describe depression to someone who doesn't get it?

[Zegers]

I would define it as being trapped in Silent Hill, i would define it as Voldemort.

 

[sserafim]

A dark cloud hanging over you. Feeling blue

 

[Malaria]

I would describe it as an inability to feel pleasure or joy

 

[INTJme]

Having 50kgs (~110 pounds) attached to your feet at all times, except when lying down. That's when it's on your chest.

 

[Darkover]

a deep rooted pain that's always on the mind like a dark cloud hanging over you knowing your nothing forever

 

[BlendedHeart]

A pressure in your chest that paralyzes you

 

[MatrixPrisoner]

Happy...never feel.
Die...always want to.

 

[sserafim]

A pressure in your chest that paralyzes you

That's anxiety for me

 

[Ironborn]

Like I'm carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders.

 

[Throwawayacc3]

I'm not good with expressing my deepest emotions. I let songs do it for me:



The words describe it just fine.

 

[Yarani]

Excrutiating, unbearable, unescapable mental pain

I would think about asking them to imagine an unbearable bodily pain, and then say it's like that, but mental, so there is nothing equal to a painkiller. Maybe benzos or anything that makes you sleep could be similar, you wouldn't feel it for a while due to being asleep, but you can't continue your life without it mostly being there since you can't sleep all the time. And due to the pain you're losing your energy because everything hurts. It's essentially a vicious circle.

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

Sisyphus.

 

[sserafim]

Sisyphus.

I wish that I didn't have to be stuck in the never-ending cycle. If I were Sisyphus, I'd just give up and refuse to push the boulder up the hill again

 

[MyChoiceAlone]

based on this thread, i guess i was never depressed. sorrow to all of you who have shared. i was never diagnosed or anything. just wondered if i was.

 

[SVEN]

Indescribably alone and miserable.

 

[Yarani]

based on this thread, i guess i was never depressed. sorrow to all of you who have shared. i was never diagnosed or anything. just wondered if i was.

It feels different for everyone I think. If you have a suspicion, see a clinical psychologist for testing, or a psychiatrist, or check the ICD/DSM criteria. I hope they won't apply to you

 

[willitpass]

A lack of desire to do anything, because nothing ever seems to fill the gaping void in your mind. An insatiable yearning to feel okay, while having the feeling that you know nothing ever will be.

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

I wish that I didn't have to be stuck in the never-ending cycle. If I were Sisyphus, I'd just give up and refuse to push the boulder up the hill again

I've often wondered why he doesn't just do that but I guess the gods who punished him must have made it so that even if he stops he'll still have to keep doing it. Honestly the only thing I hate more is the interpretation that given enough time, Sisyphus eventually learns to love having to push the Boulder up because it's all he can do but I can't accept that.

 

[untothedepths]

A heavy, chest soreness that follows you everywhere, no matter where you go, what you do, what you say. Some words or things witnessed can make the pain hurt worse and cause anxiety. At times, you can dull this pain with things you enjoy, eventually either something happens to ruin those activities for you or its just the depression slowly corroding them. Those coping tools lose their effectiveness to the point you can't even be bothered anymore. The heavy soreness in the chest never is as sharp as physical pain most times, but it hurts just as bad potentially in its own way. Nothing feels right anymore. You can't be completely comfortable anywhere. Sleep could be one of the only solaces left, but what if it is the outcome of sleep you want to end this?

That is how I would describe depression from my point of view.

 

[TheGoodGuy]

A dark cloud hanging over you. Feeling blue

I use to describe it like this 12 years ago, it doesn't matterhow sunny and perfect a day is it still feels like having a dark cloud over your head

 

[denpa girl]

feeling sad all the time

 

[LOVELYDARKDEEP]

A gaping wound that can't be healed and won't stop bleeding. An agony of the soul itself that waxes and wanes but never fully receeds. An onslaught of rot that leaves you a bit more brittle, a bit weaker, with every wave.

 

[druggedonsurvival]

It's like a cloud of black smoke that poisons you from the inside - that whispers insults to you and invades your limbs, rendering you immobile. Everyone around you can see you but is unaware of this smoke, and all you can focus on is trying to keep yourself shut so that it doesn't escape and infect everybody else in all its dread, its hatred, its endless torment. Soon enough the smoke invades your vision and this darkness becomes all you can see. It invades your ears and becomes all you can hear. It's not a material sound and yet its the most agonizing drone that you've ever heard, each wave a subtle rumble more devastating than the last. Eventually you become a walking, living, breathing phantom, only pretending to be alive, pretending to be a human - hoping against all hope that at least no one will see the ugliness inside you. Regardless, it continues to poison you every day, and with every day it becomes harder to maintain the facade, and it's only more terrifying: the thought of being exposed for being the disgusting creature you've allowed yourself to become.

You're choking on this smoke all the time, always looking around for help as people keep walking by and doing nothing, because you won't make a sound. Eventually, you realize that no one can clear it from your corrupted soul. Your reality is the endless abyss that consumed you, and it seems all you will ever experience.

 

[DizzyFolfy]

It's like being in the ocean on a raft, not being able to swim, and unable to ask for help. Even if somebody comes, they won't understand your language, and sometimes you don't even know how to ask for help. To everyone, you're just a regular person on a raft, all fine. On some occasions, you may start to believe that you're just fine, contrary to reality.

I would say it's like feeling being alone when not alone. Those times where your friends didn't get your joke that you were so proud of. When you forget an important thing at home. When you walk into a room and started feeling tired even though the day had just started. All of those, but constantly, non-stop.

It slowly creeps on you, without you even realising it. It starts weighing you down mentally, then eventually physically.

Maybe the worst part is while some are able to fight it, and they may succeed, good for them, others may not be as lucky, and either forced to or by choice succumb to it. Like an airliner that's lost all engines. It's just a glider, with no guarantee of a safe place to land.

 

[astonishedturnip]

You know those video game debuffs where you get poisoned and you move at half speed no matter how hard you press on the controls, every action uses up extra stamina, and your health drains with every step? It's like that, except you can't get rid of it.

Having no energy throughout the day, no motivation, no work ethic. Even opening up a package you've been expecting and excited for now feels like an insurmountable effort; what's the point, when we're all doomed to die someday? Imagine your brain whispering to you 24/7 that you will feel like this forever, and it's doomed to get worse. Imagine looking at every loved one and all you can think about is how you'll be separated from them forever one day. Hobbies, interests, sex drive all go out the window, and you just sink further into the pit. They tell you that working out, showering, eating well, creating something, talking to a friend, will make it go away -- but these all feel like impossible, meaningless tasks. And every limb is so weighted down, and your brain is so heavy, that you couldn't even if you wanted to. All the while crying until your eyes are raw, your head and neck hurt, your heart is palpitating and you feel ready to throw up. You can try to go on an SSRI to fix it, but some smug loon on the internet snidely suggests that you're a weak sheep for choosing an antidepressant, and you'll just become a boring zombie like the rest. So you just hope to die quickly.

Fuck depression.

 

[AloneTogether]

all the colors in the world are somehow grey. all the thoughts are somehow empty. all the people are somehow out of reach, as is joy or even the idea of getting better

 

[BlazingBob]

Like

It's fucking horrible. Dr. Robert Sapolsky said it's the worst disease a person can have. I agree. The reality is that for some of us it's insurmountable. It's hell on earth.

 

[Ash]

I do a lot of hiking so bear with me.

The way I think of it is that we're all making our way through life on different paths. Sometimes the way is smooth and gentle, other times it's steep or rocky or muddy - tough to navigate and not necessarily pleasant but doable and forgettable. But depression is treacherous conditions. Think bogs or scree slopes in thick fog or a storm with no landmarks to guide you to safety. Your clothes are soaked, even under your waterproofs as you fell in a massive puddle and even if you were prepared with a rucksack full of safety equipment, that's all ruined or you've used it all up. Your torch battery is dead, you've eaten all your food and drunk all your water, you're lost and scared and miserable and exhausted, probably injured, and even if you had a planned route and told people where you were going and when to expect you back, you took the wrong route so even if people are looking for you, they might not find you in time, if at all. Meanwhile you're still slipping and stumbling and falling to the ground, often sliding back the way you came, and having to force yourself to pick yourself up and keep going in the hopes of finding shelter.

 

[Praestat_Mori]

"It's like being switched off and disconnected from everything around you"

 

[Zegers]

Sisyphus.

Accurate. Sisyphus was never happy because he was doomed and what is depression but a curse.