According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one out of every 20 adults in America struggle with depression, starting as young as 12 years old. The official and standard definition of depression, from the Mayo Clinic, is “a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest.” These days, it’s hard to find anyone our age who hasn’t had their bouts with depression or depressed times. Depression is very often generalized and thrown out like the legitimate struggle with the disorder is easy to label.
So, what’s a not-so-standard and generic definition of depression? I'm not so sure there’s one clear label for everyone. For me, based on my own personal history, depression is a real crappy place where the only thing you look forward to in the slightest bit is crawling into a bed in a dark room that serves as a vortex for the monster in our heads. Binge eating? Sometimes. My personal favorite was eating an entire bag (or two) of mini Reese’s while wrapped in a fuzzy blanket with an oversized hoodie on.
Depression is raw. It's your brain providing you with thoughts and ideas you once thought were crazy but are slowing taking over your whole life. Metaphorically drowning, not being able to get out of your head and being so insecure and low on self-worth that “going away” seems like the easiest option. It is important to remember depression can worsen by a look, stare, comment, memory or even nothing at all but feeling uncomfortable in your own existence.
The National Institute of Mental Health reports that anxiety lasting for the greater part of a lifetime is present within 28.8 percent of American adults. The Mayo Clinic says “people with anxiety disorders frequently have intense, excessive and persistent worry and fear about everyday situations” and “these feelings of anxiety and panic interfere with daily activities, are difficult to control, are out of proportion to the actual danger and can last a long time.”
The Clinic also states how anxiety can lead to times of intense anxiety and fear, resulting in panic attacks. Anxiety, on a relatable level, would sound more like this: head exploding, not breathing, worrying, brain-hurting, stressful and life-altering fact of life. Panic attacks are many people’s worst enemy. When you think about it, hyperventilating, crying to the point where tears don’t feel wet anymore and gasping for the air around you isn’t the best of times.
Mascara stained cheeks and bright, puffy eyes swollen with the fear and pain of anxiety is a familiar feeling for many people today. The hardest part is finding someone around who truly knows how to sit with you and comfort you while going through an episode of panic and someone you trust to see you at your worst. The tricky part with that? Most people don’t plan their anxiety and panic attacks and don’t get to choose which humans are around for that.
I struggle with anxiety. I struggle with depression. I am challenged by both. Some are faced with just anxiety, some just with depression or the classic double-whammy. What I don’t understand is why everywhere you go, anxiety and depression are looked at as an easy label and bunch people into one overwhelming group. Anxiety is 100 percent different from depression, and pushing them together almost makes it feel as if it’s all the same thing. Oh, well, if he or she has anxiety, she has to be depressed.
Sure, a lot of the time, people who tackle each day of depression also face anxiety issues and vice verse, and maybe I don’t really have a strong enough point to be arguing. I encourage all of you reading this article to take it as a small and tiny piece of mental health information and to go out there and provide the world with information to help the thousands of people struggling with anxiety, depression or both. Is it easier to say anxiety and depression? There is a difference between the two and what it means to certain people.
Neither is worse or better than the other, and neither proves to be an easy feat. Would it be easier to always say “broken arm and broken leg?” Both areas are hurting and in pain and affecting the human, but both have different functions and ways of providing the human body with support. Food for thought. Stay positive, beautiful people.
National Suicide Prevention: 1-800-273-8255
National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: 800-273-8255
Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance: 800-826-3632
Hopeline: 800-442-4673
