Content warning: this post contains details of depression and suicide, and may be triggering for some readers.
“It’s an absence of self. Most people have a hard time understanding the concept of absence or emptiness. They understand a positive or a negative but to understand nothing is a different ball game in abstraction.
“It really is a hole, a dark room, but it’s the whole world day after day. It’s all the same.”
A Reddit thread asked the question “What does nobody tell you about depression?” attracted more than 1200 responses.
Most people understand depression to be synonymous with sadness. Yet depression is a characteristically private battle that, unless one has experienced or witnessed it personally, is unimaginable.
As someone who has suffered from depression, I can attest to the incredible insight the responses offer.
If you haven’t experienced depression, it’s impossible to know its effects.
1. It effects your memory
One user wrote, “It seriously effects your memory on top of your motivation. I’ll walk by the sink, see the dishes and think ‘I’ll do those in a minute’ and within five minutes I literally forget that the dishes need doing.”
"I'm average intelligence, but my depression makes it so hard to remember anything," another described.
Studies have found untreated depression shrinks the hippocampus, which is the brain region responsible for memory and emotion. The earlier the intervention, the less likely it is to have long-term, permanent effects on the brain.
Top Comments
Most of these are also symptoms of inattentive ADHD which is under diagnosed in adults, particularly women.
I was misdiagnosed with depression and was treated ineffectively for 12 years before I was correctly diagnosed with inattentive ADHD. I responded extremely well to the right treatment. Turns out I was never depressed, I was just very frustrated because my brain doesn't work like it should and I developed low self esteem because I didn't understand why normal things like holding down a job and keeping the house somewhat clean took so much out of me. I was never really able to have consistent friends, hobbies or much of a life because I was so overwhelmed from basic responsibilities that every second of free time was spent recovering and avoiding the world. But I'm doing well now.
Depression is talked about a lot, which is fantastic because it's important that people with depression get the help they need without stigma. I hope that other illnesses with similar symptoms also get increased recognition because there are a number of things that tend to get misdiagnosed as depression.
This article is helpful because it will hopefully prompt people with these symptoms to speak to a professional which is always a good thing. But for anyone diagnosed with depression who hasn't responded well to any of the treatment options, it might be worth considering other conditions with similar symptoms.
Very well said, tanical.
The worst thing (aside from all of the above) was I started to distrust my brain, distrust my instincts/intuition. Were my reactions/ thoughts/ideas/perspectives warped by the depression or was I thinking clearly? That was tough.