A dental appointment I had last week made me think. Why can’t life look like this, the “this” being a world where is someone said they were experiencing depression, they would not be looked at like they’re weird. Mood disorders are just not well-accepted.

The “this” is a world where people understand illness, no matter if it’s an illness that garners a lot sympathy or one like mental illness that only makes people look at you like you’re weird.

Here’s I came to my conclusion.

I have IBS and wouldn’t you know it, just as I got to the dentist’s office, I started to have symptoms. Ordinarily, I would have only told the receptionist that I was feeling “ill” and didn’t know if I’d be able to stay.

Instead, I was more accurate and actually used the words “IBS”.

I then proceeded to tell the dentist that I might have to suddenly leave because I had IBS.

The reason this is important is that for some reason I was ashamed of my illness. How ridiculous.

It felt somehow very freeing. The staff, the dentist, the assistant, were all so understanding. One of them said, “That’s a horrible feeling, isn’t it?” I felt so “normal”.

So, I got to thinking.

Why can’t it be that way when the illness is depression. I never told anyone when I was depressed. I would just say “I wasn’t feeling well”.

Wouldn’t it be great if the next time you weren’t feeling well, you could say, “I’m having a depressive episode”.

And wouldn’t it even be greater if someone said to you, “That’s a horrible feeling, isn’t it?”

I’ll just bet if depression were given that kind of acceptance, many sufferers would get better much quicker.

Just wanted to send you a little Saturday encouragement. As I’ve posted before, weekends can be particularly difficult when you’re depressed. Maybe a quick post to let you know I’m thinking of you today will help.

I hope your weekend is wonderful. Do something meaningful. Do something you enjoy. Avoid negative people. Be kind to yourself. You are not crazy or weird. You simply have a mood disorder.

God bless and have a good day.

The post, “Why life should look like this.” appeared first on thegiftofdepression.com