Are You Sad, or Depressed?

There's a giant difference between sadness and depression. Sadness is an emotional state, depression is a physiological condition.

When you're really sad, you feel sad. Everyone has felt sad. Even dogs feels sadness, especially when you eat in front of them.

Depression, however, is debilitating. It's something that makes you stay--stay in bed, stay at home, stay in a rut, etc. Without actual chemical intervention, there is no change. You can't laugh your way out of depression. Chances are you've been laughing all the way through depression, but it's a greater issue than tiny hits of endorphin (street name "smiles times"), the same biological drug that's released during extended periods of exercise. If that's all you're using to treat depression, you will remain rutted. So, here are three simple tips you've already been told about (tell your friends.)


Take things one little step at a time

Big Bird Knows

The best a depressed person can hope for is a sudden shift in their natural biochemical makeup, asap. Medication can help if this shift doesn't happen right away. The second best thing for a depressed person is what I call the "One-inch-at-a-time method" (OIAT method (1"/time. Method.)): you tell yourself you will be alive, doing one little thing at a time. You'll wake up from sleep. You'll pull the sheets off. You'll step down from bed. You'll stand up. You'll take purposeful steps to a specific place, like the bathroom. Etc. For those of you that have never been depressed, these steps seem excruciatingly slow. You might even be irritated that someone could be so lazy, so pathetic. If you feel a tinge of irritation at this pace, you are not currently depressed, you've forgotten what depression does to a person or you've never been depressed. For a depressed person, that pace was a little too quick, but I ensure you it will be helpful.


Move your limbs at least a little

People with depression can find great respite with doing simple tasks one at a time. And it's imperative that a person moves their limbs, because our body's defenses depend on movement. The last thing anyone needs, especially a person with depression, is to stay still. This isn't to suggest a depressed person go for a jog every morning--it doesn't have to be that drastic--but just move your limbs. If you've been sitting for a while, stand up and rotate your shoulders and hips. Your lymphatic system relies wholly on the movement of your limbs, otherwise your immune system will begin to stagnate. So, simple tasks that require nothing more than doing one thing at a time will literally save your life. And stay hydrated.

If you can't manage these things, it's okay. At least try. And become well acquainted with failure--failure is not as bad as you've been told! It's more of a friendly opponent than anything else, one that yearns to be defeated.

Here's a good mantra for the depressed person: I can manage my life for one second. Repeat this every second you need to until you get the hang of it. Speaking of hanging: managing your life doesn't include suicide. In fact, that's the exact opposite of managing your life, and life is so worth managing once you get a good grip on it.

Don't expect anyone to understand

This is less self-serving and emo than it first appears. 

A good support system for a depressed person is imperative; it could very well be the difference between life and death. 

However, social support for people with depression is in short supply. And it's not because people don't care, it's because people don't see how an apparently functional person can be depressed. Most of the time, someone viewing a depressed person wouldn't be able to tell there was anything remotely off-kilter in that person's life or mind.

It's because of this that a depressed person should get used to others not understanding the condition. They see you as a living, breathing human and assume that you're living just as well as them. Friends will ask you to do things with them. Family will want to visit, talk, etc. Associates at your job will request your assistance with tasks/project, either long or short term. All of these things begin to weigh down on you, don't they? These people won't see that. Be prepared for this.


So, to sad people: go for a jog, talk to a friend, eat a good meal, you'll be fine.

And to depressed people: live for just one second, and don't worry about the next one until it comes around.

I could have written more, probably. I just don't feel like it.