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0 pointsTaek10y ago0 comments

Depression is sometimes described a numbing experience. Everything loses color, loses that spark. Sometimes, everything hurts, nothing feels good. Making the same daily decisions is painful and slow, like walking through an ocean of glass.

Depression gives you the power to make really big decisions. Everything hurts about the same. Going to work is about as painful as staying home, meaning it's easier to quit a horrible job. It's easier to divorce an abusive partner. It's easier to pack up life and start over.

Having been through extreme depression multiple times, I can say with confidence that it makes those really big, really scary decisions a lot easier. You get thoughts like "it would all be over if I never saw that person again". "I would enjoy life if I got a divorce and moved back to my home town". "My job is abusive and it's slowly killing me, having no income is better than hating 70 hours of every waking week".

If you are depressed and having those types of thoughts, you might actually be right. Following through on those major, traumatic changes might actually be what you need to do. And depression makes it easy to do so. Normal life becomes so bad that change is welcome, because change feels like a way out.

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5 comments · 5 top-level

radlad10y ago

This is a really interesting perspective. Not sure if I agree with it 100%, but really something to consider. Thank you for sharing.

hollander10y ago

I've seen one person really depressed, what I would call a major depression, not what most of us mean when we say we feel depressed. She was totally numb, like her brain was removed, all will gone. There was no reasoning, nothing going on. It was horrible to see, and very educational for me. It's good to see something like this, to understand it. I don't think she was ready to make any decision, but I may be wrong.

serpix10y ago

This is exactly how I get out of depressive or anxious periods. Somehow the clarity of lying in bed being as painful as getting up hits home and whoop you're on your way out of the slump.

This does not work on all people though, I know of one person who's been resistant to medication, meditation, therapy.. none of it seems to truly change thought patterns. It just keeps coming back time after time.

zxcvvcxz10y ago

Absolutely. See also Winston Churchill, who cultivated his ailments into strengths: http://theconversation.com/winston-churchill-and-his-black-d...

pif10y ago

> Having been through extreme depression multiple times,

Have you been diagnosed with depression by a mental health professional?

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