"An eternal wretchedness of the mind, and peace that she never finds
The ceaseless emptiness of her aching heart,
What do I do, where do I start?
So quiet, and so still, is what they see
A bruised mind that cries to be set free!"
We spend our lives clinging on the opinion that we are in control of our emotions, our mind and brain on the same page, in harmony, beat to beat; strengthening the notion that you drive the chariot of your body and mind. You carve the outlook you have in life, be it chirpy and buoyant or gloomy and depressed. Your experiences play a major role, but even then you know, if things aren’t too great on that end, ‘you can always snap out of it’, and see ‘the brighter side’ and take on everything with an iron will. However, if that’s the case, then why do we, every now and again, read about young teenagers giving up on life, or those seemingly happy ambitious, young men and women resorting to narcotic drugs for the stress is a little too much or about disconcerting statistics, that get quoted on depression, suicides and awareness about psychological disorders. Well let’s just say there is more to cognize than what meets the eye, and what we comprehend of depression, emotional and psychological well being.
Human mind is ridiculously complex, and so is the mental illness of depression. Depression damns your mind in a million different ways completely sabotaging your belief system of life. It is crippling. You are not the person you had envisioned. It’s living your darkest and ugliest fears, over and over again. A stark black cloud filled with utter hopelessness, inadequacy, and unworthiness keeps brewing away in the skies of your mind. You want to do so much, achieve so much, but with depression hammering away at the doors of their sane self, even getting up may seem like an uphill task. At one end, your mind is brooding over so many emotions and on the other end it is quiet, numb, surrendering down. It is like your optimistic side abandoning you. Though contrary to what popular media paints them, not everyone who battles depression is constantly sad, crying and miserable. However, even though they may feel that way, it may come out as conflicting and contradictory, like being too angry, frustrated, or even overly happy, in an attempt to camouflage their true emotions to the world and even themselves. It is akin to your mind’s emergency alarms going off signaling a quiet catastrophe. A series of several factors that involve genetics, lifestyle, stress levels, experiences play a substantial role in shaping a person’s mental well being.
Now before you distance yourself, while painting a sorry picture of them, or labeling them as ‘maudlin personalities’ just bear the fact in mind, that depressed people are seemingly normal people that stay amongst us. They could be your co-worker, a class mate, your parents, your teacher, your significant other, or any other being you meet in your everyday life. Depression or any other debilitating mental ailment can strike anyone. However, the exasperating part is when the person or others around him are not able to ascertain it as something too significant, or misdiagnose it; or find it out, when it is rather too late. Further, what adds to the misery of the situation, is a sense of indifference that people around display towards someone battling a psychological affliction; sending out the message, that they induce it upon themselves, or worse, that they are doing it to grab attention, and they like to wallow in their self fabricated doom.
We live in competitive, stressful times. Chasing and achieving the never ending trail of aspirations and expectations can many a times leave one overwhelmed, and may even evoke feelings of ennui, effeteness and anxiety, while questioning, ‘ But all this, for what?’ It is moments like these that one needs to, ‘stop and take notice’, of what our mind wants. Only when we are aware of the importance of taking care of the mind, will we be able to heal ourselves. Reach out for help, if things seem beyond immediate control. Know when one needs professional help. Sometimes venting out emotions to a well wisher or even writing them down can go a long way in making one feel better. Mental ailments like any other disorder of the body can be effectively treated with patience. It is crucial that we as a society break free from the ludicrous notions that that we hold towards mental disorders like depression anxiety and other psychological ailments. We need to widen the realms of what constitutes as ‘being healthy’, for there is more to it than just an updated gym membership. Stop the suffering.
"She will rise, like the wise
From the grim realities of her life
And the battles that she fights
A twinkle, a ray to give her hope through the day
For she is stronger, than yesterday."
KEEP GOING!
