Light at the End of the Tunnel

When someone asks, “How are you?” most of us just respond automatically: “Fine; how are you?” or something similar, even when we are not feeling fine at all. We may often hide our true feelings behind the social mask we wear around others. This is not healthy and is exhausting in and of itself.

“Depression is your body saying, ‘I don’t want to be this character anymore. It’s too much for me.’ You should think of the word ‘depressed’ as ‘deep rest.’ Your body needs to be depressed. It needs deep rest from the character that you’ve been trying to play.”

Jim Carrey

Depression is more than feeling sad. It can feel like emptiness, numbness, or a heavy weight on your mind, body, and soul. It can happen for a variety of reasons, such as a hormone or chemical imbalance, as a side effect of a medication, experiencing trauma, loss, or sudden change, just to name a few. And people with depression do not necessarily all experience the same symptoms, nor do they all respond the same way. For some people, it may be relatively mild, for others it can be completely debilitating. It is not something one can just ‘snap out of’. Depression is a vampire and will suck the life right out of us if left unchecked. However, there are ways to combat this monster and get help.

“Life is ten percent what you experience and ninety percent how you respond to it.”

Dorothy M. Neddermeyer

NOTE: I am not a doctor and I do not give any medical advice.

With that said, here are a few things that some people may find help to alleviate depression. These examples include talking with a trusted doctor, therapist, or other trained professionals, as well as talking to trusted friends and family; listening to uplifting music; taking natural herbs or supplements such as SAM-e or St. John’s wort, or medicine prescribed by a trusted doctor; exercising regularly; eating a variety of fruits and vegetables and drinking plenty of clean water; cutting out junk food, alcohol, and drugs; consciously reframe negative thoughts into more uplifting ones; and bravely examining fears, worries, and  disappointments that contribute to the negative feelings in order to work through them. Of course, these are just a few ideas, and what works for one person may not work for another, but that is not an excuse to stop looking for healthy ways to start feeling better.

“There is always plenty to be worried and sad about, but there is equally plenty to be happy and at peace with. The choice is yours.”

Steve Maraboli

The point is, it may seem like you are alone, that things are hopeless, or that you will feel this way forever, but that’s not true unless you stop making the effort to heal. Healing is a lifelong commitment for some, but just focusing on one day at a time, or even one hour at a time, can make the difference. There is help available and by taking steps to help yourself or someone you love who is experiencing depression, you may save a life. The key is to not give up, and to take action to head off depression as soon as possible before it becomes too deeply settled. There is a light at the end of the tunnel; it’s called hope.

“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.”

Albert Schweitzer