Welcome back to the Liv Ahwatukee Apartments Blog. Today we’re reaching out to residents living in our Phoenix, AZ apartment community with a post about depression. While some people are enjoying the onset of spring, some people are struggling with depression. If you know — or think you might know — someone who deals with depression, it can be beneficial to try to understand what it’s like for them.
We decided to turn to Reddit, an online community where people can post content such as links, text posts, and images. The more popular the comments in the post, the more points they receive. We found a Reddit thread where people have written about how to help someone understand what depression is like. If you have advice you’d like to share, please leave a comment below for our residents.
Here are two of the most popular comments from the thread about understanding depression:
“I always described it like cancer. You might get diagnosed when you're younger, but you can probably catch it early enough and fight it off. And you're safe for a while, but you know the possibility is there that it will return. Also, now that you know it's in your genes, you worry for your family. Your children. Maybe you decide not to have kids if you're young enough. This could be an easy decision or an excruciating one. But you have to make it.”
“Imagine living in a cardboard box on the street, in the rain, starving to death...and being okay with that. That's how it often makes me feel. Like I have no motivation, total apathy and I just want to melt into the floor.”
Taking the time to learn about depression and trying to understand what people are feeling is a great way to show mindfulness to people who face depression on a daily basis. You may even begin to understand why winter is not fulfilling for every person that you care about. Then let that understanding translate into empathy, kindness, and allyship throughout the entire year. Do you have any advice to offer? Share in the comments below.
