Depression is like quick sand - JEDIRICH.COM STUDIOS NEW YORK CITY
Depression is like quick sand
Depression is like quicksand. When you first step in it, you notice right away that you feel sluggish and “slowed down.” So you go shopping or you go to the gym or you meet friends for coffee and talk about your depression to “get over it”. So you think you feel better. After a while, you forget that you were ever depressed at all. What a relief; not. What that is called is “masking the symptoms of depression”. You feel like your depression went away, but it did not. In other words; you acclimated to feeling, tired, sluggish, fat, bored, anxious, irritable - you acclimated to feeling depressed.
Later on you notice that you are depressed again. Well, your depression did not leave and come back so there is no need to figure out what you or anyone did to bring back your depression. Your brain simply figured out your coping mechanism realized your depressed. You can’t fool your brain for too long. It’s kind of smart. Pretty much a genius,. Thats why we call it a brain.
What happened was, you masked your depression as long as you could until your brain figured it out. Then you became even more depressed. Basically, to use the quicksand analogy; you’ve actually just sunken deeper into the quicksand. Your depression has gotten worse but you didn’t notice.
You didn’t notice most likely because you were told to ignore your feelings. If you feel tired, you are told to drink coffee. If you cannot sleep you are told to drink chamomile tea. It’s always resisting the feeling that you are feeling. Why not try resting when you are tired and staying up when you are wake. If work wont permit it, then quit. Live off of your savings until you deal with your depression. Its the old saying, you can run, but you cannot hide from yourself.
A couple things to feel better immediately to stop masking your depression; stop drinking coffee. Coffee is a stimulant, just like meth-amphetamine, but not as strong. If you drink coffee every day, you will become addicted just like a person who does meth everyday.
Start with a correct diet; eliminate caffeine, alcohol, GMOs, sugar, grains, gluten and dairy. We were depressed. We are not anymore. Thing is, if you drink coffee with sugar and real or fake cream, then you won't know you're depressed because caffeine and sugar and dairy will mask the depression symptoms temporarily.
When you start feeling better, its like climbing out of the quicksand. However, if youve spent years masking your symptoms, you may be so deep in the quicksand you are over your head. Your depression is so great that you cannot notice feeling better or getting worse. You’ve completely shut off.
So, thats why its a good idea to have someone who can identify when you are getting better (or worse).