UNDERSTANDING DEPRESSION (FROM MY POINT OF VIEW) AND HOW I BOUNCED BACK

I remember when I suffered loss of a loved one, a few years ago; I became extremely sad, not only was I sad but I got so irritable and hopeless in life.

I had explainable anxiety attacks and fear of the unknown all the time. I used to think that death happens to a ‘specific type of people’ apart from me! That’s was so selfish of me! Yeah, but now I know.

I was in denial and worried too much about lots of different things, I had panic attacks and phobias like for example at night I feared turning off the lights while sleeping.

Crying myself to sleep was my new normal and asking myself too many questions. I used to stay awake throughout the night and sleep in the wee hours of the morning.

Little did I know I was slowly sinking into serious mental disorder, Depression!

What is depression? Depression is where there is a surge of emotions based on mood swings; People who have this condition experience very dramatic mood swings. They have times when they feel overly energetic and other times they feel overly sad and hopeless. I was a mixture of both, you could not exactly tell what to expect of me.

Study says that one in three people must experience depression at some point in their lives. Again while most of the cases come out as mild, one person in ten will experience severe depression.

Signs to look out for if you suspect you have depression

• Extreme sadness and always feeling low
• Changes in mood swings from extremely high to very low
• Withdrawing from people and activities you loved doing
• Changes in behavior for example having anger issues, becoming irritable, hostile and violent towards people you used to care about.
• Problems in sleeping patterns and tiredness.
• Panic attacks, excess fear and worry
• Inability to handle daily stresses of life
• Indulging in excessive drinking and drug abuse
• All of a sudden having suicidal thoughts
• Becoming so negative in all aspects of life.

You see I had almost all the above symptoms but the difference is that I discovered way early of what was troubling me. I am one person that believe where I am today is not necessarily where I will be tomorrow. If you are sulking today, sulk but don not stay there.

This is how I found a new interest in writing; I got myself a diary and a pen and wrote down everything from the happy days to the not so happy ones.

I created a routine for myself and purposed to do the chores that I hated doing. In the process I also ended up rewarding myself for the small wins I made in life and slowly that is how I bounced back.

Conclusion

Many people have once in their lives experienced depression at some points in their lives. You should get so concerned when your ability to function normally is threatened. Thank God I did not get to this point because obviously we are not the same, but I would highly advice you to seek to help when you feel defeated.

I might not have had that opportunity to visit the doctor, but look for therapy services or medication (antidepressants) especially when you are feeling suicidal and self isolating yourself from the world. It is always good to be checked by a specialist / mental health professional.

There is much to life that throwing in the towel!!