The LaBrant family has become a major name in the YouTube community, and once upon a time, in the Vine community. Cole LaBrant is probably the most popular of the LaBrant family, and in the past 24 hours, he has become extra popular. And NOT in a good way.
Being someone who has been diagnosed with both anxiety and depression, my heart sank when I read these tweets from Cole. It is hard to hear people try to minimize something that has affected your life so greatly. Mental illness in any form can be seriously detrimental to the person that has to deal with it. One of the worst but most common misconceptions that people have about mental illnesses is that it's just all in your head. "Just be happy," they say.
But it's not as simple as "just being happy."
Did he mean harm and malice by it? Probably not. I think he was just trying to give all of his love and thanks to God, which he commonly does. BUT that's not at all how his tweets came across for me, someone who suffers from anxiety and depression.
By saying this, I hope to educate anyone who might not understand how these mental illnesses work.
Clinical depression and or anxiety is a chemical imbalance in the brain. Actually, it can be and come from a lot of different things. It can be a side effect of medications or improper hormone regulation, faulty mood regulation, health issues and more. It is different for everyone and affects each person differently.
There are symptoms and tests to verify its existence, just like any other kind of illness. Also, just like other illness, there are dozens of legitimate treatments and medications to help make you feel better or even just normal.
Doing things like breathing and showering more isn't going to help me function through my problems. Depression and anxiety aren't the dirt on your skin that you can wash away with soap.
It is SO much more than just feeling sad, alone or nervous.
I really don't believe Cole was trying to tear down those who suffer from anxiety and depression, but it is not, in any way, OK for him to say these things and make us feel like our mental illness can be dealt with by breathing exercises and religion.
At the end of the day, we all have the things that we have to work through and deal with on our own. As someone who still struggles daily with the side effects/consequences of having both depression and anxiety, I am talking directly to Cole and anyone who feels as though what I go through is as simple as just breathing.
Depression and anxiety are real, here, and scary.
Many people, even those diagnosed with it, have trouble truly understanding what it is. But until you yourself have experienced what it is like to live every day fighting a demon that never goes away, you can't tell me how I should defeat them. You don't know what it's like and what I deal with. Overcoming my depression and anxiety is one of the hardest and most painful things that I have ever had to do.
However, this is one of those times where I like to use the saying "don't speak on something that you don't know." I hope anyone who saw this tweet wasn't discouraged. I also hope that anyone that reads this knows that you aren't alone, and I am fighting every day with you, for you and right beside you. Together we will make it through, I promise.
