This woman’s post about depression highlights how victorious something as simple as brushing your hair can be

As anybody who has suffered from depression knows, it’s not just hiding under a blanket and watching a lot of Netflix. One woman shared her experience with depression to Facebook, and her account of the small victories she accomplished trying to move forward is SO SO important. Depression is often portrayed poorly in the media, or made into a cute quirk, or belittled when people say things like “I’m so depressed today” when they have no real understanding of what it’s like to have clinical depression. So accounts like this one, that really, honestly show how difficult it can be to pull yourself out of that hole are incredibly important.

Katelyn shared this post to highlight the fact that depression can rob you of your ability to accomplish seemingly ordinary tasks like brushing your hair.

She writes:

"Depression isn't beautiful. Depression is bad hygiene, dirty dishes, and a sore body from sleeping too much. Depression is having 3 friends that are only still around because they have the patience and love of a saint. Depression is crying until there's no more tears, just dry heaving and sobbing until you're gasping for your next breath. Depression is staring at the ceiling until your eyes burn because you forget to blink. Depression is making your family cry because they think you don't love them anymore when you're distant and distracted. Depression is somatic as well as emotional, an emptiness you can physically feel."

It’s easy to get frustrated with friends or relatives who struggle with depression when they’re not there like you want or expect them to be. It’s also easy to think that depression is something simple, like sadness, that can be fixed by a little more fresh air and meditation, but it’s not that straightforward.

It’s also incredibly difficult for people with mental illness to open up about it, given the stigma against it, so we really applaud this woman’s bravery, and hope to learn from her openness.

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