At 10 when I told them I was depressed;

They thought I just looked that word up in a dictionary and only trying to use it in a sentence.

At 13 when I told them I was depressed;

All I received were strange and weird looks and awkward stares.

At 16 when I told them I was depressed;

They told me I was just a kid and I shouldn’t worry about things a lot.

Now at 18 when I tell them I’m depressed;

All they tell me is, “Giving up already? You have a very long way to go. Look at me, in spite of all my problems, I ain’t wailing around like you do.”

A close friend of mine once said, “No two people can have the same set of problems. Hence, problems cannot be compared.” When he told me this, it seemed to be an utterly meaningless sentence. Later when I gave it a thought, the mist began to fade away. It’s meaning clearly showed up. True. We cannot compare each other’s problems. Because, each person has a different/ unique way of looking at things. An entirely different perspective. What is simply a problem for me, might be an opportunity dressed as a problem for someone else. It all depends upon us. Our perspective. There is no such thing as universal problem.

Knowing this, people think they have more greater problems than their fellow counterparts. Nothing wrong with it. Even I do so. I’m a human being right? And this is a human nature. Though, try having a bit control over it.

Just because we don’t act like a maniac, just because we don’t need a psychiatrist, and just because we have a huge smile plastered over our face, all the time; doesn’t mean we ain’t suffering from depression! Or does it? Only when the symptoms are extremely severe, do people consider the case as acutely vulnerable. But even if we don’t need a psychiatrist, it doesn’t mean that our feelings need to be completely ignored and neglected.

Next comes one of the worst nightmares for a depressed soul – Sympathy. It’s a common misconception that people suffering from depression crave for sympathy. In fact, it’s the last thing on Earth that they would ever ask for. We all like to be called strong, don’t we? The only thing that they desperately crave for is a normal and peaceful life. Now, the concept of a normal life just as a ‘problem’ varies from person to person. Normal is a relative term. Some may consider a life with riches as a normal life, while others may categorize the life of a recluse to be a normal life. Again, it depends upon perception.

Though we are surrounded by many a great problems, the smallest gestures – a smile without a reason, the view of a butterfly dancing around us, the sweet bird chips heard from our balcony, reading a wonderful article, and many other things such as these – can bring an instant smile to our face and cleanse us from all our negative old crappy thoughts! Isn’t that feeling heavenly? But maybe these are just ‘Depression Perks‘.

I read an article the other day which said that, ‘Artistic creativity may share genetic roots with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.’ They had conducted a survey wherein most of those who suffered from schizophrenia and bipolar disorders, came from creative backgrounds such as, visual arts, theatre, dance, writing and music.They further even said that, “The results of this study should not have come as a surprise, because to be creative, you have to think differently from the crowd.” Woohoo! So here’s another benefit.

It’s true that when we are depressed/ sad, we think about things deeper than ever. We think about things in a varied way of their consequences. This includes, both negative thoughts as well as positive. But there are times when the negative wave rises to such a height that there is no way back. The wave is bound to engulf upon you. It is committed to take you away with it. And at such times, we feel completely helpless. We just keep staring at the wave, from a distance, waiting for it to take you on it’s perpetual journey!

So dear readers, what do you folks do to avoid this negative wave that approaches you every once in a while?

– Suri