It's difficult to hear people say, "Cheer up, you have so much to live for" when you're going through depression because it's not like suddenly I'll say, "You know what? You're totally right. I'm all cheered up now!", amirite?
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I was trying to talk to my mom about how I was feeling, and her ingenious words of advice were, "Lighten up". Oh gee, y'know, I've never thought about it like that before! What a help she was.
Mine told me that I was going to be taken away and locked up I do love her but she didn't know how to handle a teenager with severe depression/anxiety very well.
True, but it's better than hearing "You're right, your life is shit and you have nothing to live for." At least someone cares enough to try and cheer you up...
Sure, but rather than just saying 'cheer up' there are better ways to go about it, and 'cheer up' really trivializes the problem as opposed to taking it seriously.
I'vebeen diagnosed with clinical depression before so I would know. You can't just let people or anything else for that matter to have so much control to whether you're happy or not. You can't always depend on other people to make your day or make you happier. So find something that you enjoy doing and try not to pay so much attention to everything thats wrong but to everything that's going right. And if you don't think amything is going right, then you have to try and make it right. And if you have low self esteem, don't compare yourself to others and NEVER put yourself down. You might not be flawless, but who the hell is? And if you are harrassed or bullied at school, you can't let those people push you around and don't let those childish teens ruin your life. It make a while, but you can beat depression.
If you have never gone through depression, don't talk about depression. You can't just pull yourself out of it. You can't realize how good you have it.
For me, I just get into long pits of being miserable, for no reason. It sucks, and feels like death.
The best thing to do is just make sure the person knows you care about them and are willing to talk to them if they want to vent or get their mind off of things.
I've had depression for awhile and it's so debilitating. I have no hope for anything, I feel like I'm just going through the motions of living and I feel so lonely. Not to say that I don't have a laugh here and there but what's annoying is that no matter how illogical my feelings are, it's still how I feel. I have friends who care about me- I know that, but I still feel like I've got nothing.
I'm with you. It really gets on my nerves when people don't understand. I had it in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades, and when I talk about it with my big sister now, she's like, "Why didn't you just tell yourself, cheer up! That's what I'd do." Oh gee, thanks, why hadn't I thought of that?=P
How about if you're naturally a shy person or don't have a lot of self confidence? I hate when my friends say "ok you need to just not be shy!" .... its like ok, sure! HEY RANDOM HOT GUY HOW ARE YA?
People use the word "depression" far too liberally these days. Any teenager with normal every day problems that occasionally makes them sad are like "uh yeah I'm so depressed"
Depression stems from a sad experience but some people don't take it as well and become depressed. What happens is that the brain is now in a negative loop and it can't be happy. It's an actual disease
It doesn't have to start out as a bad event, it didn't for me. Unless you count school starting up again a bad event, which in my case you may be able to...
I'm glad she's getting better.
For me I put personal stuff here because 1.No one that I actually know uses this site
2.No one is going to patronize you. I hate that "You're so strong" stuff, even though there's not much else to say. I like being treated normally, and here people will tell you what they really think, even if they are trolls.
Yeah. I just don't like telling my friends or anything because it's not...their business. None of my closest friends even know just because I don't like being the girl everyone feels bad for and stuff.
I know exactly what you mean! I hate the pity. The first person I told I have depression was a friend that I've never even had a class with or spent time with outside of school, we just met at lunch through friends. But I found out she had depression, so I knew she wouldn't just pitty me.
The second friend I told said "I feel like I should throw you a party or something"
I understand that she was trying to help, but she was suggesting a literal pity party.
Haha. A "pity party." Imagine how much more depressing that would end up...
So, when you were going through depression, what exactly did you want your friends to do? I never knew what to do about my mom and now I'm afraid a friend I know has depression too. What would you have wanted your friend to have done?
It's sort of a tricky subject. I think the best thing you can do though is make sure they know you care about them. I haven't had this problem much, but a lot of people feel worthless and feel like no one would miss them if they were gone. Just be sure they know that isn't true. You can also tell them that they can talk to you if they need to vent, or simply get their mind off of things.
I read an article once about this... If I can find it again I'll post it here.
How can you expect someone who hasn't been through depression to know what the fuck they're supposed to say, though? You should be grateful they're there for you.
Perhaps you shouldn't take their words as literally as you are. No, you cannot just "cheer up" with the snap of your fingers, but be happy that you have someone who cares that you're upset, and is offering words of encouragement. Some people don't even have that much.
Every time I try to talk to someone what it is that's making me feel depressed, they always say something along these lines. I know they're trying to help, but telling me to cheer up makes it worse because I can't, so I feel like I've disappointed my friends/family by not being happy enough for them.
I don't really get depression, but whenever I feel like shit there's always this turning point, this urge to mentally and physically tear shit apart like Michael Douglas in Falling Down. Like, screw all you people. I don't even give a damn, my care cup is empty, I'm done with this.And then I just kind of stop feeling so bad.
And because this POTD reminded me of one of my favorite movies...
A lot of people just don't understand that depression is totally normal, and everyone will get depressed at some point in their lives, maybe some will get it worse than other. It can hit you when you least expect it. You just need to know how to cope with it in a positive way, not negatively because that will only make it worse.
Well, Jesus, what the fuck are we supposed to say? You tell us you're really depressed and shit and what do you want us to respond with? "That sucks." How about that? THEN will you stop bitching?
I've been depressed on many occasions but I treasure how people at least try to cheer me up. Nobody knows how to cheer people up but they at least try because they care. And you can't even take that. If you don't want advice, if you don't want people to say that, then don't bitch about it.
When people have told me to "cheer up' it was more along the lines of "just shut up and be happy", coming from people who told me to talk to them if I needed but decided that they couldn't actually be bothered to listen. That's not caring or trying. I don't expect people to try and cheer me up. It would just be nice if they understand I couldn't just magically be happier.
It's interesting that you interpret this as "bitching", though. It's not like we are going around and demanding that people make us feel better.
You're "demanding" that when you complain about your problems. When you bitch, they are socially obliged to comment on it. If they don't want to offend you, then they'll try to cheer you up. And if they do tell you shut up and be happy, chances are what you're bitching about is retarded. And most things people bitch about ARE retarded, but if it's not retarded then they're just assholes, and if they're assholes then you shouldn't be associating with them otherwise your feelings to their response is on your hands.
People understand you can't magically be happy. People aren't that stupid. They do realize, however, that you will become happy eventually and they want to remind you of that. And if you can't take that, then fuck all, be depressed then.
I hope this is a troll. It probably is. But just in case, I just want to tell you that you have no right to say that. Depression is chemistry. It isn't child's play.
But sure. People cut themselves and stop eating because they didn't get what they wanted. That's why people cry themselves to sleep. That's why people commit suicide.
This calls for a hotline!
Welcome to the Psychiatric Hotline.
If you are obsessive-compulsive, please press 1 repeatedly.
If you are co-dependent, please ask someone to press 2.
If you have multiple personalities, please press 3, 4, 5, and 6.
If you are paranoid-delusional, we know who you are and what you want. Just stay on the line so we can trace the call.
If you are schizophrenic, listen carefully and a little voice will tell you which number to press.
If you are depressed, it doesn’t matter which number you press. No one will answer.
If you are delusional and occasionally hallucinate, please be aware that the thing you are holding on the side of your head is alive and about to bite off your ear.
I just realized, "This calls for a hotline!" was an unintended pun.
http://ctrlv.in/60913
What if you are normal and interesting in collecting information from these services?
If you are in a normal and stable condition, please hold and wait for an operator to attend to you. In the meantime, enjoy this 45 minute concerto piece.
... I think I can choose one of those options now.
If you are a nymphomaniac, please stop doing that with the phone.
"The ground is so dry and my flowers aren't growing :("
"Cheer up! At least its not raining!"
"Because if it was raining, I would set fire to it.
...the rain, I mean."
I was trying to talk to my mom about how I was feeling, and her ingenious words of advice were, "Lighten up". Oh gee, y'know, I've never thought about it like that before! What a help she was.
Mine called me a baby and told me to stop complaining.
Mine told me that I was going to be taken away and locked up
I do love her but she didn't know how to handle a teenager with severe depression/anxiety very well.
Oh lovely -.-
My mom thinks I'm just making up excuses for everything and that I want people to feel bad for me...
True, but it's better than hearing "You're right, your life is shit and you have nothing to live for." At least someone cares enough to try and cheer you up...
Sure, but rather than just saying 'cheer up' there are better ways to go about it, and 'cheer up' really trivializes the problem as opposed to taking it seriously.
I strongly agree with this. When you have depression, you have no hope. It's like no matter what happens you will still not be happy.
thanks for posting this. its nice to see that there are some people who understand
http://ctrlv.in/60890
It's funny because he is the only face in the picture.
haha thanks for that :)
Exactly! It's much easier said than done /:
I'vebeen diagnosed with clinical depression before so I would know. You can't just let people or anything else for that matter to have so much control to whether you're happy or not. You can't always depend on other people to make your day or make you happier. So find something that you enjoy doing and try not to pay so much attention to everything thats wrong but to everything that's going right. And if you don't think amything is going right, then you have to try and make it right. And if you have low self esteem, don't compare yourself to others and NEVER put yourself down. You might not be flawless, but who the hell is? And if you are harrassed or bullied at school, you can't let those people push you around and don't let those childish teens ruin your life. It make a while, but you can beat depression.
Thanks [: I'll give it a shot
Yeah, if I'm not happy doing anything, then what am I living for?
So the POTD will make sense. Duh.
It may be hard to believe, but I have never in my life watched porn. Pretty crazy, isn't it?
If you have never gone through depression, don't talk about depression. You can't just pull yourself out of it. You can't realize how good you have it.
For me, I just get into long pits of being miserable, for no reason. It sucks, and feels like death.
The best thing to do is just make sure the person knows you care about them and are willing to talk to them if they want to vent or get their mind off of things.
I've had depression for awhile and it's so debilitating. I have no hope for anything, I feel like I'm just going through the motions of living and I feel so lonely. Not to say that I don't have a laugh here and there but what's annoying is that no matter how illogical my feelings are, it's still how I feel. I have friends who care about me- I know that, but I still feel like I've got nothing.
Do you happen to know the song "Going through the motions" From the musical episode of BTVS?
I'm with you. It really gets on my nerves when people don't understand. I had it in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades, and when I talk about it with my big sister now, she's like, "Why didn't you just tell yourself, cheer up! That's what I'd do." Oh gee, thanks, why hadn't I thought of that?=P
How about if you're naturally a shy person or don't have a lot of self confidence? I hate when my friends say "ok you need to just not be shy!" .... its like ok, sure! HEY RANDOM HOT GUY HOW ARE YA?
This POTD kinda brings me down :/
Yeah, hearing about depression is really rough...
It's just like the depression commercials, they make you wanna hang yourself right then and there.
http://amirite.net/593226
I think yours was worded better. I'd be a little resentful if I was you.
Sorry OP.
Thanks. I called it out as a repost, but it didn't go through. Oh well...
It's too different to be a re-post, though.
That's what I had thought, but it's no big deal.
You're too different to be a re-post.
People use the word "depression" far too liberally these days. Any teenager with normal every day problems that occasionally makes them sad are like "uh yeah I'm so depressed"
I find John Cheese helps a lot more: http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-r...es-get-better/
I always thought Cheese was the best writer on Cracked simply because he's been to hell and back.
When people say that it makes you feel even worse, because then you feel guilty and wrong, like you're disappointing someone by being depressed.
http://ctrlv.in/60900
Depression stems from a sad experience but some people don't take it as well and become depressed. What happens is that the brain is now in a negative loop and it can't be happy. It's an actual disease
It doesn't have to start out as a bad event, it didn't for me. Unless you count school starting up again a bad event, which in my case you may be able to...
In the sense that someone gets upset from something. But some people are prone to being depressed so they can't like unfunk.
My mother used to be depressed... But, she's gotten much better now. The only thing she's got left is her Anxiety Disorder.
...it's sad how I only feel safe talking about this to the Amirite World.
Come back to me. I would love to hear the whole story.
I'm glad she's getting better.
For me I put personal stuff here because 1.No one that I actually know uses this site
2.No one is going to patronize you. I hate that "You're so strong" stuff, even though there's not much else to say. I like being treated normally, and here people will tell you what they really think, even if they are trolls.
Yeah. I just don't like telling my friends or anything because it's not...their business. None of my closest friends even know just because I don't like being the girl everyone feels bad for and stuff.
I know exactly what you mean! I hate the pity. The first person I told I have depression was a friend that I've never even had a class with or spent time with outside of school, we just met at lunch through friends. But I found out she had depression, so I knew she wouldn't just pitty me.
The second friend I told said "I feel like I should throw you a party or something"
I understand that she was trying to help, but she was suggesting a literal pity party.
Haha. A "pity party." Imagine how much more depressing that would end up...
So, when you were going through depression, what exactly did you want your friends to do? I never knew what to do about my mom and now I'm afraid a friend I know has depression too. What would you have wanted your friend to have done?
Here it is! http://miriammogilevsky.wordpre...ressed-person/
I find this to be very well written and accurate.
Wow, thank you so much! I really appreciate it(:
It's sort of a tricky subject. I think the best thing you can do though is make sure they know you care about them. I haven't had this problem much, but a lot of people feel worthless and feel like no one would miss them if they were gone. Just be sure they know that isn't true. You can also tell them that they can talk to you if they need to vent, or simply get their mind off of things.
I read an article once about this... If I can find it again I'll post it here.
How can you expect someone who hasn't been through depression to know what the fuck they're supposed to say, though? You should be grateful they're there for you.
Perhaps you shouldn't take their words as literally as you are. No, you cannot just "cheer up" with the snap of your fingers, but be happy that you have someone who cares that you're upset, and is offering words of encouragement. Some people don't even have that much.
Depression.
No, no, no. It goes more like this:
Depression. (cry2)
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=facetious
I apologize. I did not look at the anon name. Will you except my apology cookie?
http://ctrlv.in/60888
I'll settle for a turnip.
But a turnip is a reward. Nothing expresses sorrow like a good ol' apology cookie!
True.
I still want a turnip.
Every time I try to talk to someone what it is that's making me feel depressed, they always say something along these lines. I know they're trying to help, but telling me to cheer up makes it worse because I can't, so I feel like I've disappointed my friends/family by not being happy enough for them.
Yeah, but sometimes there really isn't much else a person can say, even if they understand it may not be all that helpful.
I feel more dysthymic than depressed.
I don't really get depression, but whenever I feel like shit there's always this turning point, this urge to mentally and physically tear shit apart like Michael Douglas in Falling Down. Like, screw all you people. I don't even give a damn, my care cup is empty, I'm done with this.And then I just kind of stop feeling so bad.
And because this POTD reminded me of one of my favorite movies...

this movie....going in the netflix queue
A lot of people just don't understand that depression is totally normal, and everyone will get depressed at some point in their lives, maybe some will get it worse than other. It can hit you when you least expect it. You just need to know how to cope with it in a positive way, not negatively because that will only make it worse.
That's not true. There are plenty of people who will not go through depression in their life.
I belive the statistics are 1/4 girls, 1/8 boys. It's common, but not THAT common.
haha yes I do and now everyone knows it so much for the inside joke boohoo sadface
It's alright, man. Things will get better.

Good work, sergeant. At ease.
WELL THEN
This pretty much sums up my life :(
Yes. The ads are related to the content of the post.
Regions Banking is very much true to depression.
Well, Jesus, what the fuck are we supposed to say? You tell us you're really depressed and shit and what do you want us to respond with? "That sucks." How about that? THEN will you stop bitching?
I've been depressed on many occasions but I treasure how people at least try to cheer me up. Nobody knows how to cheer people up but they at least try because they care. And you can't even take that. If you don't want advice, if you don't want people to say that, then don't bitch about it.
Piss off.
When people have told me to "cheer up' it was more along the lines of "just shut up and be happy", coming from people who told me to talk to them if I needed but decided that they couldn't actually be bothered to listen. That's not caring or trying. I don't expect people to try and cheer me up. It would just be nice if they understand I couldn't just magically be happier.
It's interesting that you interpret this as "bitching", though. It's not like we are going around and demanding that people make us feel better.
You're "demanding" that when you complain about your problems. When you bitch, they are socially obliged to comment on it. If they don't want to offend you, then they'll try to cheer you up. And if they do tell you shut up and be happy, chances are what you're bitching about is retarded. And most things people bitch about ARE retarded, but if it's not retarded then they're just assholes, and if they're assholes then you shouldn't be associating with them otherwise your feelings to their response is on your hands.
People understand you can't magically be happy. People aren't that stupid. They do realize, however, that you will become happy eventually and they want to remind you of that. And if you can't take that, then fuck all, be depressed then.
I know right!
Sap story.
Oh Einstein. Your theory of relativity doesn't work quite so well with letters. Rotating the "d" 180 degrees will only make people think it's a "p"
No, like sappy. Sap.
That sap. A kind of sappy sap. The sappy sap that saps..... Sappy.
I hope this is a troll. It probably is. But just in case, I just want to tell you that you have no right to say that. Depression is chemistry. It isn't child's play.
But sure. People cut themselves and stop eating because they didn't get what they wanted. That's why people cry themselves to sleep. That's why people commit suicide.
Literature is subjective, ASSHOLE!!!
You are truly an idiot.