To The Person Who Has Never Lived With Depression: a PSA

There are just a few things that us, the collective "us," want you to know about our depression:

We would like you to stop telling us to be thankful for what we have. Being depressed doesn't mean we aren't thankful for our lives, our families, our friends, our homes, our belongings, etc. In fact, we feel things in such a way that we are so thankful for these blessings that sometimes we feel a heavy sense of guilt and undeserving. Our appreciation for the more meaningful things in life is sometimes the source of, and not the remedy for our depression.

We are going to push you away. We are going to test the limits of your love. We want to know how much we mean to our loved ones, we think it defines our worth. We wish we didn't have to be this way.

We have good days, too. We laugh, we smile, we joke. It doesn't mean the depression is "cured" or gone. It just means that maybe that day had clouds, but no rain.

I'm going to say it bluntly--sometimes being alive is exhausting. When your mind is endlessly running a million miles per hour, it is mentally draining. Every movement can be a stressor. Conversations can be overwhelming.

We're sick of being embarrassed and ashamed of something that we have little to no control over.

We're so glad that you're happy. Though we might be jealous of your happiness, we want you, more than anything, to be happy. Never in a million years would we wish you to feel the same as we do. We wouldn't wish it on our worst enemies. Though, all we want is someone to care enough to try to understand, try to understand that this is real.

And try to understand that we are trying. Every day, we are trying.