Depression doesn’t look the same for everyone

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In myย socialย circles I often find others whoย viewย depression with theseย threeย main pointsย in mind: first,ย theirย uncleanliness;ย second,ย theyโ€™re alwaysย walking around moping;ย andย third,ย theyโ€™reย someone who is introverted.ย 

Of course, there are many more, but I find these to beย the most popularย assumptions, which is made even more clear when people actย so surprisedย when they find out about my mental health.ย 

My favourite comment is,ย โ€œbut you look so normal and youโ€™re so outgoingโ€ฆโ€ย Iย shouldnโ€™t get offended by this, but how could I not,ย ย because itโ€™s like theyโ€™re making judgementsย aboutย me withoutย tryingย to get toย knowย meย first.ย From another perspective, I should be happy Iโ€™m not disregarded for my invisible disability.

Recently, Iโ€™m happy to say Iโ€™ve noticed through social media many celebrities coming forward and stepping into the spotlight on their experiences with depression.ย 

One of the more recent posts that stands outย thatย I like to recall oftenย is how people with depression can have the biggest smiles. I think theย bestย example for that would be Robin Williams, one of the more famous comedians of the eighties and nineties.

After he diedย by suicide, those who didnโ€™t know him where shocked.ย  I donโ€™t like to speculate,ย butย I often wonder if his comedy routine was done as a coping mechanism.ย Dwayne Johnsonย AKA โ€˜The Rockโ€™ is more of a popular face on social media more recently, telling others about his struggles with depression.ย 

I am so thrilled with how celebrities are making an effort to take the stigma away from those who struggle with mental health. Even removing the word โ€œnormalโ€ from our vocabulary. I mean,ย if normal means Iโ€™m a clone of those around me, I like being an individual with a creative lens. What I donโ€™t like is being made to feel like an outsider by everyone around meย because of my struggles with depression. I thought we were in an age of diversity?

I recently attended aย Festival ofย Literaryย Diversityย called FOLD in Brampton, run byย theย author Jael Richardson most recently theย known for herย memoirย Theย Stone Thrower.ย I foundย outย aboutย FOLDย through the localย Wild Writers Festivalย I usually attend here in Waterloo.ย 

Jaelย was running a memoir workshop Iย attended.ย At the end of the workshop,ย she spoke of a writerโ€™s festival that she recently started in Brampton.ย 

The festival was created for those who deal with diversity.ย Jaelย sparked my attention when the festival was geared towards nonwhiteย females,ย Indigenousย individualsย and those who struggle with mental and physical health issues. She made a validย point when she remarkedย onย howย you donโ€™t see manyย authors in the spotlightย that identify with this list.ย 

I congratulated her on finding a space and helping draw the spotlight to these issues in the literary world. It made me feel like it was one more stigma on mental health being challenged by someoneโ€™s opinionย that mattersย and who would be heard by many.ย 

The topic of depression is very near and dear to myself and I hope to become a big part of theย movementย to remove the stigma and redefineย โ€˜normalโ€™ย and what people view as depression,ย and the misconceptions that follow it.ย ย 

The more this becomesย theย forefrontย of newsย the more those who struggle with this illness will feel acceptedย and not alienated fromย otherย members of society and thusย aidingย usย downย a better path.ย 

No one is alone in this fightย and needs to go quietly into the night.ย Communityย and connectionย areย innate humanย traitsย and as suchย it would be great if we all tryย could mirror how we would like to be treated. Our struggles may be personal and affect our livesย but they do not define who we are.ย 


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