Dear, Dear, Depression: The price and treatment of depressants

Depression is the most common form of mental illness. It is most difficult to treat in those who have bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. There are treatments resistant to forms of depression. In other words, it can't be cured by medication.

It is my experience depression can be physical. I'm thinking happy thoughts, but my body is depressed. I have almost no energy, or I am depressed and manic. It can cause aches, or real pain. These too are biological. Depression triggers the same chemicals the body uses to use pain as a warning sign of injury. It keeps people safe from not noticing they have cut themselves or been burned, etc.

Too, emotional pain can signal the fact you have been hurt emotionally. That too is a signal to remove yourself from people and things that hurt. Sometimes it can't be avoided. When that happens, do what you can to console yourself.

Take a long relaxing bath, light candles, treat yourself to something you have denied yourself before. If you feel like it, seek the company of people you truly enjoy. Personally, in times of deep depression, I would rather be alone. No one can understand it anyway, and I'd rather deal with it myself.

For me, writing is good therapy. Write about your pain. It's not a good idea to share everything you write with others. Most of the time they won't understand what you're writing about, or they will think something is really, really wrong or that you're "overly sensitive." It is true you can be empathetic to other people's pain. You won't just be "sympathetic". You will understand it. Sometimes, I actually feel someone else's pain. If you are willing to be with someone who is in pain, you may be able help them. Sometimes my children have been reluctant to tell me about their own pain for fear I will really be hurt by it. They have learned I actually truly want to know. It is very important to me they will never be alone when they are hurt of in sorrow. Pain can be a gift.

Some people are masochist. They are addicted to pain and believe it is "good for them." I call it having a Christ Complex. There is no reason to needlessly suffer. Most of the time, there is no way to avoid it. Some things hurt. The truth hurts. Don't go around telling some people the truth about some things. They can't handle it. You can.

I am grateful for my pain. It has informed me. Pain is a lesson, is a teacher. You have the strength to endure it since you have had to so many times. Be strong in your pain. Don't complain about it. There is such a thing as sacred sorrow. The Greeks believed melancholy was the most reasonable response to the way things really are. There are plenty of things wrong in the world. Have sense enough to know what they are. Think about it. There are few things worse than an ill considered life.