If we overreact it becomes even more traumatizing to our children. They need to know that their relationship with their mother or father is something they can trust and rely on, no matter what is going on in their lives. Overreaction puts up a barrier, and we don’t want to do that. If we’re going to help our children deal with these feelings that are so negative and destructive, our responses need to be calm and patient and not filled with anxiety ourselves or cause us to get into a state of depression.
Depression can manifest as feeling sad, hopeless or empty. If you’re experiencing depression, you may find yourself tearful or feel on the edge of tears often. Depressed mood can also disrupt your appetite and sleep.
One explanation is that depression is most likely to happen when our pain is greater than our purpose.
Young people have been told God is nonsense, their country is essentially evil, their past is deplorable, their future is bleak, and marriage and children are not important. Why are some many young people depressed, unhappy, and angry? It's not capitalism or income inequality or patriarchy, or even global warming. It's having no religion, no God, and no country to believe in. And what does that leave them with? No meaning. But, there is always Instagram.
Share that light with your children so they can see the difference between a shrinking life and an expansive life.
Stay close to others who can help you stay in reality...living with someone with a serious mental illness can cause you to distort reality. This means you might allow unhealthy behaviors to happen, ignore your own mental and physical health, or miss important danger cues.
As mothers one of our big go-to’s when it comes to shame is “I’m not a good mom.” And we need to back off that a little bit. We all have emotions. We’re all going to feel things. We all have agency. But how do we respond? Understand that your children are going to learn from these experiences. We don’t have to “own it” ourselves or think, “I’m a bad parent because they’re depressed” or “I’m a bad parent because they’re anxious.” Back off of that and say, “Okay, so what are we going to do with that?”
Talk about possibilities versus probabilities. That can help them calm their worries.
Broken minds can be healed just the way broken bones and broken hearts are healed. While God is at work making those repairs, the rest of us can help by being merciful, nonjudgmental, and kind.
In preventing illness whenever possible, watch for the stress indicators in yourself and in others you may be able to help. As with your automobile, be alert to rising temperatures, excessive speed, or a tank low on fuel.
When you face “depletion depression,” make the requisite adjustments. Fatigue is the common enemy of us all—so slow down, rest up, replenish, and refill. Physicians promise us that if we do not take time to be well, we most assuredly will take time later on to be ill.
If you are the one afflicted or a caregiver to such, try not to be overwhelmed with the size of your task. Don’t assume you can fix everything, but fix what you can. If those are only small victories, be grateful for them and be patient.
Why don't people show empathy towards depressed people? Depressed people suck energy. In today's climate of "everyone should be self-sustaining," there is a big push for "pull yourself up by your own bootstraps." Anyone who has truly been there knows it's a myth and certainly doesn't work like that, for a number of reasons. But society's arrogance knows no bounds. Basically, it doesn't want to be hassled with people who are troubled, or if they do, want a quick and simple fix. A kind of coin thrown in the hat of a homeless person.
Lonely people must also run the gauntlet of an impaired ability to regulate their own thoughts, feelings and behaviour. This skill is critical to the ability to comply with social norms, and involves constantly analysing and modifying your behaviour in relation to other people’s expectations. Alarmingly, this process is usually automatic – and your capacity for self-regulation can be affected without you even noticing. In this way, isolation can become a self-fulfilling prophecy known as “the loneliness loop”. It can lead to a toxic combination of low self-esteem, hostility, stress, pessimism and social anxiety – ultimately culminating in the isolated person distancing themselves from others even further. In a worst case scenario, loneliness can make people depressed, and a common symptom of depression is social withdrawal – again, not helpful.