Let’s at least openly talk about depression

Walking to and from the vastness of our emotions may sound appealing at first, given the governing side of the ‘happy things’ that so pleasingly pulls, but the other side of our minds that has us at its mercy. Depression is as real as you and me and there is no denying or ‘getting over it’.

So many souls are suffering in silence, under the gaze of the same skies which everyone so splendidly adores or at the same dinner table, surrounded by loved ones who have no idea what is going on inside one's mind. It’s a tragedy really, when no one would even believe you because you were always ‘smiling’ out in the open.

So the person slowly masters the art of keeping it to him or herself. A major reason for this is the societal perspective that has been fluently interwoven over the years. People tend to view depression as something ‘not so important’ and that it would just go away in a day or even a week, and that there necessarily needs to be a reason for one to be depressed.

No, one is not always depressed just because something triggered it. There may be times when a person is severely depressed without any major reason as it would just surface up unannounced. It’s an illness and just like cancer or diabetes, it tends to cause agonizing pain. But the pain inside the mind, after all, is something that snatches the beauty in all living.

How can a person even continue to enjoy the same things as the other when his or her mind would not even permit?

It’s like being locked in a dark room with the only keys to the door tossed into the endless ocean.

The scent of flowers would seem to have faded even if everyone around you is enjoying the same fragrance. And no matter how much a person tries to harness the beauty in everything attractive around us, nothing of life would even make them enjoy it. That’s depression, and yes, it's very real.

So what can we actually do as people in helping those around us?

Well, for one, we can start to have an open mind towards the illness itself. So the next time when you hear of someone being depressed, you realize that it is something real and genuine which unquestionably requires you to intervene.

Openly talking to people who may be depressed would give in some sense of hope to them. Most importantly, listening without any judgment should be at the center. At times, a depressed soul just needs someone to talk to, someone he or she could unconditionally rely upon while pouring out their heart to you.

Also checking up on your friends who may have become ‘absent’ lately from everything that they once enjoyed. It is vital for each one of us to continually talk about this illness without assigning any stigmata to the topic.

It may just take a moment of your day to listen but add a lifetime to someone else's.

-Yogesh Chandra