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How Depression Impacts Family

March 9, 2014 Liana M. Scott

"You're so sad all the time! I can't stand it! Why can't you just pull through it?"

I stared at my 20 year old, 6 foot, 2 inches tall son, crying and yelling at me because I'm sad all the time. And here I thought I was a pro at hiding my depression.

We had been having a heated argument about mutual respect, of all things. But for me, when my son brought up my depression, the other stuff we were screaming about fell away. All I was left with was shame and guilt over how my depression had/has impacted my loved ones. My son suffers from anxiety disorder and knows that you can't just "pull through" mental illness. Still, it was like the yelling released a valve in my son and all this crap poured out, setting loose an underlying, and what I'm sure is a perpetual, feeling of helplessness and anger about my depression.

Does hiding depression make it worse?

[caption id="attachment_2105" align="alignleft" width="284" caption="by FrameAngel, courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net"]Sometimes, the impact of depression on our families can come as a complete surprise. My son reminded me of how my depression affects my family.[/caption]

I didn't think I was all that sad. Yes, it has been a gruelling 4-5 weeks. Yes, I had admittedly suffered a depression dip that lasted about a week. Yes, my dog got very ill and I had to make some very difficult decisions and yes, those few days were very emotional. Yes, I did catch a very bad cold and was laid up in bed for a few days. And yes, last weekend, as I wrote in last week's blog on motivation and depression, I was a slug, laying around in my trackies with very little motivation.

To my son, this is being "sad all the time".

To me, this is coping with depression.

We can't help it - we, the many who suffer from depression. We try very hard to keep our misery to ourselves. Honestly, we do. We may even think we're doing it well. I sure did - until yesterday. Regardless of the impact depression has on our families, it's impossible to hide it. We shouldn't even bother trying because hiding depression just makes the depression worse.

APA Reference
Scott, L. (2014, March 9). How Depression Impacts Family, HealthyPlace. Retrieved on 2024, November 9 from https://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/copingwithdepression/2014/03/how-depression-impacts-family



Author: Liana M. Scott

Connect with Liana on Twitter, Instagram, and her site.

senior
March, 10 2014 at 9:58 pm

Nice Post...

CarolMoore
March, 11 2014 at 2:40 am

I liked the article. Many people are suffering from such problem, but they try to hide it or neglect it till the problem becomes serious. But it is always better to get the proper treatment on time to reduce the stress. Even getting a massage on a regular basis can help a lot.

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Liana Scott
March, 11 2014 at 3:38 am

Hi Carol. I sure do like the advice about massage! I looooooooooooooove them! Thanks for commenting.

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