Depression or just sadness?
Story 1:
“I am really depressed man, life sucks.” Afreen was telling Jaya as I entered into the classroom. I have always been a listener; I listen and I think. I went to her, confused and caring at the same time, I asked her, “Why would you say that? Has something happened? Are you okay?”
Afreen answered tensed, looking at her phone, “No dude, I am not fine, this world is a hell, I don’t want to be here. Why can’t parents just be parents? Why do they have to be people sometimes? They just don’t get me. Also, these brainless teachers, why do they have to be everywhere we go. I can’t be much attentive in class man. What’s wrong in that. I feel bored, and if I want to use my cell then I can, it’s my wish. We are in college now but still we have to listen to everybody. I am so depressed right now.”
“Let’s go somewhere Aditya.” She said to her classmate and the trio went to the nearest Chai Tapari to buzz about their depressed lives.
One day I asked Jaya, “Why do you guys always say that you’re depressed? Do you guys really have some problem?” Jaya answered,” No, we are just bored of our lives, and that’s why we are depressed. I like saying it this way.”
I stepped back, speechless. Nothing ever meant more illogical and irresponsible to me, until now. When I got back to the hostel, I sat quiet, and thought about these spoken words, that didn’t mean anything somber in their lives.
Story 2:
It was night, 2 a.m., I got a call. I woke up from the ring’s sound. I picked it up, it was my classmate’s, “I am not feeling very well Mithi”, with a trembling voice Nirav said. I got scared and I asked, “What happened? Its 2 a.m. What’s wrong?”
Last year, in August, Nirav and I, being new students, became good friends. But unfortunately, within just a year, we went from “good” friends to just “Hi” friends. But when that night he called I knew that he was in pain and he wanted someone or something to ease him.
He told me that he wanted help or he would do something if these thoughts didn’t go out of his mind. I was keeping my calm and trying to ease him, remembering the last morning when I saw him. Nirav was so bubbly. He was attentive, interactive and helpful during the whole day. What happened now? Why did he call this late?
I asked him, he didn’t say. He couldn’t say. So, slowly I started talking about something else. After some time, Nirav said, he is okay, he needed to take a shower and then he would go to sleep; if he could.
Next morning, Nirav came to college, he didn’t sleep the whole night (you could tell from the dreadfulness in his eyes), and yet he pulled every bit of energy in his body and came to college and he was trying to be the best version of himself. He was faking being motivated and attentive. But he came, maybe because he didn’t want to be alone with his thoughts.
From these two stories of my college life, I want you to decide if what I say today is accurate.
I don’t blame anyone for their behavior but each one of us must know what is the difference between being actually depressed and being blue.
Depression is a mental illness. It takes help from a professional to get out of it. If we keep on describing every unhappy moment as depressing then the people who are actually depressed might not get the help that they deserve. They themselves might never come out to ask for help because they might think that what they have is not important for other people.
And asking for help is the bravest thing anyone could ever do.
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