Who among us has never said “I’m a little depressed”? We all, some of us even frequently, describe unhappy moments with the term “depression”.
It really doesn’t take much to make us say “I’m a little depressed today”! But are we really? We usually overuse a word that describes a psychiatric pathology.
By introducing this term into our common language, we tend to normalize what is a serious and complex condition and not a simple bad mood. In fact, it is the most widespread mental illness in the Western world, but also one of the most neglected and underestimated disorders. It is no coincidence that the World Health Organization (WHO), through the Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2020, recently launched a clear message: “Depression takes away an average of 20 years of life.”
And so the joke: living badly, emptying our days of deep and positive emotions and living less, reducing our life expectancy with behaviors that put our health at risk.
I think, therefore, that I will no longer accept comments from friends or relatives who define themselves as “depressed” just because their days are not full of positive emotions or something has not gone right. The reason is simple: psychological suffering is a fundamental characteristic of human life. And as such it can only be accepted. Depression is something else! It is a great black cloud that obscures all hope, erasing motivation, the ability to feel joy, to experiment and fueling feelings of guilt and pity. Thedepressionit is made of darkness, tears, silences, fears, anxieties, guilt.
It is full of deep pain. It feeds on time and space. It is a weapon aimed at oneself and one’s world , no one is immune (companions, parents, children). It cancels every thought and immobilizes the body (other times it agitates body and mind). And then it is like a silent virus, hidden behind dangerous behaviors such as the use of drugs, alcohol, unbalanced diet, general neglect. This is the meaning of the cry of alarm launched by the WHO. The invitation to promote a culture of well-being that takes into account the dynamics underlying all those harmful behaviors.
Let us therefore learn to observe what is hidden behind everything that endangers our health, let us not ignore signs of discomfort that often come from those around us. Let us not underestimate everything that is “abuse”. No clumsy attempt to eliminate pain (through food, drugs, alcohol), through something that is outside of us, can free us from suffering and give us happiness.
It must be remembered, however: that suffering, pain, the immense sense of emptiness and uselessness left by a loss, the constant dissatisfaction with things, can and must be faced; that one can heal.
The road to well-being requires giving voice to what afflicts us and accepting what we cannot control. Not forgetting to take care of all fragilities and to take full responsibility for taking care of our children.
