The point of depression is that you do not want to do things that you'd normally do.
You don't want to exercise, see people nor wake up in the morning, and you feel terrible.
You don't want to exercise, see people nor wake up in the morning, and you feel terrible.
Winston Churchill used to paint while he's depressed. Its not a case of "they are hopeless" - they need to move and do something. And in the process, recognising what the triggers are and how to overcome it.
This is destructive rhetoric.
but you are absolutely, emphatically wrong.
Depression in many ways is consistent with "sickness behaviour". It is often a signal to get away from a stressor, just like sickness behaviour you have during flu is a signal that it's time to lay down and rest.
P.S. inb4, yes, there are other kinds of depression, like endogenous depression and such that are different in that regard (and treated differently too). none of the exceptions invalidate the most common scenario.
Lifestyle changes will help some depression, it will not help others. Generalizing from your own experiences is useful, but be very careful with how you present this to others.
Telling a chronically depressed person they just need to take a walk and eat some fruit is not just insulting, it's fodder for self-invalidating thoughts which can increase self-destructiveness.
And it’s hard to accept that your life style is “bad”. You can’t be you, basically, as if you were born untreatably ill. For me personally, these abnormal states turn on the rage against the nature, which in turn motivates to do workout in intricate ways sometimes, but it may not be the case for other people or for other activites. E.g. no way I’m going to look for a social interaction when depressed and/or anxious, that will only strengthen the negative effects.
It all ends up with a constant questioning why the life (in a sense of nature etc) is so fucked up and cannot exist in different forms than “normal”. You become an almost broken engine which it feels like requires a maintenance 24/7 and now this is your life. Yes, you can do that, but it is itself demotivating.
I fully agree with the triggers part though, and that can only be done through doing something.
It is absolutely different from “feeling down”.
It is a way of perceiving your reality and the world which no one can understand. And a supreme lack of energy.
Please please please do not put more strain on depressed people’s minds.
They would die for a MINUTE of “just calm”.