"Depression - When you have depression, it's more than feeling sad. Intense feelings of sadness and other symptoms, like losing interest in things you enjoy, may last for a while. Depression is a medical illness, not a sign of weakness. And it's treatable." (WebMD)
"Anxiety - Anxiety disorders involve more than temporary worry or fear. For a person with an anxiety disorder, the anxiety does not go away and can get worse over time. The feelings can interfere with daily activities such as job performance, school work, and relationships. There are several different types of anxiety disorders. Examples include generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and social anxiety disorder." (National Institutes of Health)
"Tumblr - As they say themselves, “Tumblr lets you effortlessly share anything. Post text, photos, quotes, links, music, and videos from your browser, phone, desktop, email or wherever you happen to be.” It is a cross between a social networking site (like Facebook and Twitter) and a blog. It is often described as ‘microblog’ as people usually post short snippets of text and quick snaps as opposed to longer diary style entries found in more traditional blogs." (Webwise)
"Romanticizing - to think about or describe something as being better or more attractive or interesting than it really is." (Merriam-Webster)
"Eating Disorder - Eating disorders are actually serious and often fatal illnesses that cause severe disturbances to a person’s eating behaviors. Obsessions with food, body weight, and shape may also signal an eating disorder." (National Institute of Mental Health)
Remember these vocabulary words, there will be a quiz later. Just kidding! But you really will need to know them to follow along.
When walking through this crazy journey called life, a lot of people in this world will experience this horrible thing we call depression or possible anxiety. Also a lot of people, though not as many as the previous, will also struggle with eating disorders. These diseases are nothing to joke about. They can be minor and cause some crying or a bit of a freak out, and nothing really else. Or, they can be major and lead some people to do some crazy things. Things like they stop eating or even... suicide. Depression, eating disorders and anxiety can affect people from all ages and walks of life - it doesn't discriminate.
There are many forms of depression, eating disorders and anxiety, and the three don't always mix together. You can be depressed, but not anxious; you can be anxious, but not depressed... you get the point.
There are, according to Healthline, eight different forms of depression: Perinatal Depression, Catatonic Depression, Psychotic Depression, Manic Depression, Holiday Depression, Elderly Depression, Endogenous Depression, and Dysthymia/Chronic Depression. Now when it comes to anxiety, there are, according to HelpGuide, 6 major types: Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Anxiety Attacks (Panic Disorder), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Phobia, Social Anxiety Disorder, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. And, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, the common forms of eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder. (If after reading the descriptions on the websites, if you think you have any of these disorders - please contact your doctor or an expert immediately).
Recently, through a half blog/half social media site titled Tumblr, a bunch of people who either had or have depression have gone onto the site and told people about their stories and their testimonies. This, of course, has been helpful to others going through similar situations to read them and not feel like they are alone. Though, there is a bad side to all of this.
Through the website, people have taken the testimonies and turned it into a dark, dark place where they are starting to romanticize the idea of being depressed or being anxious and having panic attacks. For example, here are a few things found from the website.
STOP IT.
Depression is not beautiful. Anxiety is not adorable. Anorexia is not #goals. Cutting yourself is not aesthetic. Throwing up your lunch is not cute. Suicide is not pretty. Post-partum depression is not pleasant. Drinking until you can't feel the pain anymore is not charming. Panic attacks are not fun. Starving yourself is not alluring. Post-traumatic stress is not gorgeous. Binge-eating is not classy. These are all serious problems that need serious help. Mental health problems are not something to make sound fun on the internet so that little girls and boys looking want to be like that when they get older.
Mental health issues are like waking up everyday, staring back at the unrecognizable person in the mirror and just 100 percent absolutely, with every fiber in your being despise them. It's having this feeling that someone is in your ear telling you "you're not good enough" all day long. It's medication, it's sleepless nights, it's therapists, it's losing appetite, it's throwing up meals, it's eating too much at meals, it's laying in bed not having motivation to do anything, it's losing friends cause you always cancel plans last minute, it's rehab, it's day in and day out fighting an enemy that is seemingly impossible to beat... yourself.
So please, stop romanticizing the idea that having depression, anxiety, an eating disorder, or any other kind of mental health issue is so much fun. Mental health issues are not an aesthetic, they are a serious problem that needs serious help.
If you or a loved one are suffering from any of these
horrible disorders, please seek help.
1-800-273-8255
