The Iceberg that is Depression

"Oh look their leg is in plaster, they must have broken it.  Ouch. I bet that is really painful." 

A broken leg is seemingly easy to fix, to understand and to support. Naturally, physical illness' and injuries are evident and obvious... even to the everyday untrained eye. It's easy to be sympathetic towards somebody with a huge cut or covered in bandages. Symptoms of physical illness are often apparent on the outside of the body, easily spotted right?

Mental illness is completely different ballgame. It's a silent assassin, a dark cloud over an otherwise sunny day, an evil hiding underneath an invisibility cloak. What is so difficult to understand about that? ...Well, actually a lot. A lack of understanding is often what prevents people from asking for and accessing the help that they need. Unfortunately, it doesn't stop there and sadly leaves sufferers in isolation due to the loss of friends and even family members' support. This is what is most detrimental to sufferers and what makes it so difficult to understand as a supposed highly emotionally intelligent species. The facts and figures surrounding Mental Health in the UK are constantly varying, however alarmingly it is estimated that 1 in 4 people will experience some kind of mental health problem in the course of a year. You don't have to be a medical professional to understand mental health. There are some really easy steps to take and things to remember if and when somebody you know is affected. Here is a simple overview of the common mistakes people make about depression and what you can do to change your own understanding and actions. 

"What's wrong now? Oh you'll get over that, cheer up!"

Telling somebody with depression to "cheer up" is about as helpful and worthwhile as watching paint dry. It is often amongst the most difficult of mental illnesses as often, to an outsider it can seem that the sufferer has no reason to be depressed, that they have everything. This is the first mistake as people fail to recognise that it is a biological disorder, thus we have little control over who suffers and who doesn't. The second mistake is that depression is a case of "the blues". This could not be further from the truth. Like most mental health problems, depression is a spectrum disorder and every individual will experience varying degrees of symptoms and disability. In its mildest form, depression can mean just being in low spirits and finding everyday tasks difficult and less worthwhile. 

It it is far from a bad mood, or an expected and perhaps universal reaction to a sad situation. In it's more severe (and clinical) form, it can be physically painful with many sufferers reporting symptoms such as aching muscles and joints, chest pain, and headaches to name a few. It can completely emotionally disable and control you, you find no joy in activities that you used to enjoy, you have no interest in seeing friends or social interaction. Depression takes away your control, a third mistake that people make about the disorder. Think of it like this, some people are so overcome and swallowed up by depression that they would find themselves incapable of getting out of bed even if there were a million pounds on offer across the room. Imagine the severity of that sadness which renders them so uninterested in something that others are prepared to kill for. 

This is an excellent visual display of how depression can present itself. The top of the iceberg is often what most outsiders observe and understand about the sufferer's battle. Under the surface lies the complexity and enormously difficult block of emotions and control that depression creates. By giving your support to somebody who you know is suffering, or somebody you suspect to be struggling with depression, can help break down this barrier and give that individual the best chance of recovery. 

Supporting somebody with depression or any mental illness in fact, isn't easy by any means. But it may well be one of the most worthwhile and rewarding things you can do. In its most severe form, depression can make you simply lose the will to live and can lead to suicide. This is why we should all educate ourselves a little better with regards to mental health, instead of instantly judging people we often have never met and dismissing any form of sympathy or support for those that we do. This way we can help to prevent premature and tragic deaths and ease the suffering of those fighting a difficult battle. Please don't neglect others simply because their stormy weather forecast doesn't always predict quite such sunny days as your own. 

In memory of Robin Williams, a man who bought so much joy to others' lives yet was so unfairly robbed of his own. 

C x