Please Stop Telling Me To ‘Get Over It’—Depression Doesn’t Work Like That

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Depression is a crippler; it latches onto me and sucks all of the life out of me.

However, while I’m understandably drained, my bills, my son and life in general need to be attended to. But what am I supposed to do when I can’t go on because of depression?

A lot of times, I am told to push past my feelings and ignore the depression as if it’s not there. But for people like me who are affected severely by depression, I often can’t just go on or ignore the depression.

It’s almost like my body has been cemented to the bed or to the couch. I can’t move, I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, I can’t even shower. Everything is hard to do when I’m depressed.

I have to mentally map out the steps I plan to take to execute a task. When I finally plan it out, it can take me hours to prepare myself to get up and do it. It could be something as simple as getting up and picking my clothes up off the floor. It’s just too much at that moment.

Sadly, there are more times than none when I can’t actually do what I’ve prepared myself to do. And the guilt that comes along with that is unimaginable.

I’m not the only one who is impacted in this way by depression. There are millions of disabled adults all over the world who can’t work jobs due to this debilitating disease. Being transparent, I am a part of that category of disabled millions. I tried as long as I could to fight it, to overcome it. But it never leaves me. So I have to accept this is where I am in life right now.

So the next time you hear a depressed person say they can’t come, that they are tired, that they are too depressed, please show some compassion. It’s OK to motivate a person who is depressed if that’s what they need. But understand this: We know our limitations.

And sometimes, that means we can’t just “get up and get moving.”

This story was published on The Mighty, a platform for people facing health challenges to share their stories and connect.