I would really, really appreciate if you could take a little bit of your time to read this. This will probably be one of the hardest posts that I’ve ever had to publish, but this is so important to talk about. Well first of all: this week (18th-24th of April) is Depression Awareness Week and since this is something that hits very close to home, I want to spread awareness about it and also since my birthday is within this timespan - I simply couldn’t avoid it anymore. Of course, if reading about depression is something that triggers you, you are allowed to stop reading right now. The last thing I want is for you to feel triggered by this. But I will try my best to write about this in the most non-triggering way that I can, but not everyone is comfortable reading about the topic.

So let’s start off by getting the elephant out of the room - yes, I suffer from depression. I was diagnosed and became aware of my depression somewhere towards the end of 2013 (so when I was 14 years old) and thankfully was already in therapy for other reasons, so I got help quite early. Since then it’s gone in waves, sometimes it’s been very severe and other times a lot less severe, but it’s always been there. It affects my every waking moment, sometimes less and sometimes more. And I’m not gonna try and sugarcoat it and make it into something it’s not - because it’s horrible to deal and live with. It destroys so much in my life and I hate it from the bottom of my heart. But at least I can try and use my own experience to spread awareness and hopefully get something good out of something bad. Because depression is so much bigger than just me and I’m far from the only one affected by it.

We can all feel down from time to time and circumstances can make us feel sad every now and again. But depression is not just sadness. It’s so much more than that. Depression is a mental illness. It’s an ILLNESS and a chemical imbalance in your brain that affects you in so many ways. The symptoms of depression will of course vary from person to person but I’ll just mention some of the symptoms that I experience. Such as: feeling low or sad a lot, apathy, feeling worthless and hopeless, a loss of interest in things that I usually like, constant low energy and feeling of a constant exhaustion that no sleep in the world can cure and poor concentration.

Depression can be (and is often) life-threatening, so we cannot afford to sweep it under the rug anymore - we need to be able to talk about it. I can’t believe that we live in society were so many people don’t feel that they can talk to anyone about their mental illness and that so many of the people that do talk to someone or seek help don’t feel they receive any help or support. Depression should be taken just as seriously as any other illness - but it’s not. This needs to stop right now.

Here’s what you can do: Stop saying things like “that makes me depressed”, “it’s so depressing” etc. when you’re not actually talking about the illness depression. This diminishes depression into something so less severe and serious than it is. Please don’t ever tell anyone that they shouldn’t be depressed because “other people have it worse than them”. Don’t tell people to just “get over it”, “focus on the positives” or “just choose to be happy” because it doesn’t work that way. I’m not depressed because I chose to, I’m not depressed because I’m ungrateful or spoiled and my depression is not just a phase that “everyone goes through so I should just get over it” and these things do hurt.

If you know someone who suffers from depression or you suspect might be suffering, show them that you’re there, perhaps ask if there’s anything you can do for them to make things a little easier and make sure they are getting the help that they need. But remember that you can’t fight their battles for them, unfortunately. You can’t make someone else's depression disappear but you can do something. To all of the people that suffer from depression I just want you to know that you are not alone and there is someone out there who cares. You’re feelings are valid and you do matter. You deserve the absolute best and you are so much more than the chemical imbalance in your brain! All the love to you. <3