Ok guys, I've posted this before, but it bears repeating. So I've copied it into a page of it's own for easy reference and access. (People who don't read my journal, or whatnot will still be able to find it.) Hopefully it might help point them in the right direction for help and a foundation of understanding. Also, it highlights things that people should not say to someone who suffers from depression. Things such as:
"There are a lot of people worse off than you."
This makes the person feel like they don't rank; that they're not worthy of their feelings. It enforces the low self-esteem that comes with long-term, clinical depression and it trivializes the seriousness of the problem.
"What do you have to be depressed about?" or "Oh come on now, things aren't that bad"
People who say this don't realize that depression doesn't need a "good reason" and that it's an illness - it can strike even when things, on the surface, can appear perfectly normal.
"Have you got PMS?"
This, to me, is one of the most insultive things to say. Making a mockery of someone's mental well-being with trite and sexist commentary about their period is about as low as it gets. Out-dated thinking like this is one of the major causes of bigotry and sexism still rampent in our society and one of the large factors in a woman being unable to seek help within her friends, family and even work units.
Anyway, people need to take depression for what it is - a serious illness. There's a big difference between actually being there for someone, offering your support and listening to them if they need to talk and giving them hollow platitudes or attempting to forceably "cheer them up" by bullying them into feeling bad that they suffer from depression. Think carefully which approach you've done in the past and make sure you chose the right way of helping in the future.
~ flowers bloom near Memory and Dream
at 6/19/2004 12:05:17 AM ~
~
