Depression Is Not Your Friend

We all get sad and lonely. We all feel like the world is closing in on us. I understand. I've been struggling with depression for years, and it's something that's very hard to get through. Sometimes when you're depressed, you feel like you're the only one in the world and you're fighting all of this alone. You can feel like no one loves you or cares for you, so you pull yourself away from the people in your life.

Isolation usually results in the situation getting worse. When we close ourselves off from our friends and family, we put up a wall that keeps out all of the love and care that those people want to give to us. But I understand that sometimes you just can't help it. It's how we protect ourselves from the bad. People can be nice, but they can also be horrible. Depression causes us to not trust anyone, not even trust ourselves.

It's very important that we remember one thing. Depression is not your friend. Depression doesn't love you, depression doesn't care about you. I've let myself fall into several traps, believing that no one loves me or needs me. That's not your brain, that's depression and anxiety telling you lies that you don't need to hear. The best way to block it out? Put in some headphones and listen to some music or something that requires your concentration. Distract yourself and don't listen to those awful words.

I want all of us to love ourselves a little more. I know what you're thinking though. It's harder than it seems. Trust me, I've been dealing with this. I know how hard it is to love yourself and believe in yourself. I keep reminding myself that my depression is not my friend. I shouldn't go to my depression for advice on how to handle a situation. I believe the horrible things my depression says to me. Your depression is like another little person in your head, and when you find enough love and happiness one day, they'll stop talking.

Let's relate this to drugs for a second. If you've ever been addicted to something, you've probably heard people say things like "drugs don't love you." The people who tell you those things want you to turn to other places to find love and fulfillment. When you search for happiness in substances, you just end up with more emptiness.

With depression, it works the same way. You can allow yourself to believe the things depression tells you, but then you're further down the rabbit hole. You believe one thing, that turns into another thing, and soon you're caught in this depressed web of lies and everything seems horrible and bad. But you can see that things aren't that bad once you're finally free from the web. It doesn't take magic to help yourself out of the darkness.

Reach out to the people you pushed away. Tell them you're sorry and you need help finding some light in your life. The people who love you and care for you will never turn you away, no matter how deep in the hole you are. I was having a hard time recently and when I was on the phone with my mom, I told her that everything felt like a big huge mess. It was overwhelming.

And then she said some words to me that really opened up my eyes. She agreed that it was a big mess, but we've survived bigger. We've had to deal with worse things and I've still come out on the other end, stronger than ever. If you take away anything from this post, let it be that you don't have to find all the answers in yourself if it's too hard. Turn to your friends, and don't let depression be one of them.