The Lovely Little Introvert

10. It isn't a choice      I think I've said it before, but depression is not a choice. most often it is the result of a chemical imbalance (which is naturally not a conscious decision) and it comes and goes whenever it feels like it. Some people experience it for a short time, others for a lifetime. Please don't keep believing that depressed people are the way they are because they want to be. Most people I know would do anything to make it go away for good. 9. Don't assume anything because you "know" about depression      A lot of people assume they understand what a depressed person is going through because they think they know about depression. That's like saying you know what it's like to be a bear because you've read about them. Even if you have suffered with depression, you probably still won't know exactly what they are going through completely. While many of the symptoms or side effects of depression are the same, they effect everyo

     I discovered something really interesting the other day...anti-depressants don't actually eliminate depression. I thought when I first went on my medication that that's what would happen. Pop a pill every day and POOF! I would be back to my normal self. Instead, anti-depressants help ground me and level out things like my serotonin and dopamine levels. It has certainly helped my depression be much less. But I was shocked one day about a month ago to discover that it wasn't just gone.      I had what I refer to as "an episode"- for me that involves not getting out of bed, having no appetite, having a physical pain in my chest that basically feels like an endless chasm of darkness, crying util I can't see and my anxiety being almost uncontrollable. These episodes don't happen that often, but when they do, they are bad. When it happened this most recent time, I remember being absolutely terrified, thinking that I was going back to the bad place like befo