I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know how I’d gotten to this place. I was the doctor. I was supposed to have the answers. I was supposed to be immune.

That’s just it, no one is immune from the possibility of depression. It attacks regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, religion, or socioeconomic status.

I avoided his eyes, as I stared out the car window, my body frozen in place by fear. Not sure I wanted to go on living, but not really wanting to die either. I just wanted the pain to end.

“Honey, I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what to do to help…” my husband declared upon hearing my desperate condition.

If my life was going to be this painful and bleak, I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue enduring more of the same, and I told him so.

He was scared, and I was scared. I just wanted someone to tell me everything was going to be all right, and for that to be the truth. He just wanted me to promise him that I was going to be all right, and yet I could make no promises at that point.

~~~

Depression. It cuts to the core and shatters lives. Yet it can’t be seen from the outside and it’s often misunderstood.

By the year 2020, depression will be our greatest epidemic worldwide. It already is our greatest cause of disability worldwide. In the United States alone, nearly 20 million Americans are diagnosed with depression every year…that amounts to one in ten adults being diagnosed every year. And in their lifetime, one in four people will be diagnosed. So if you have not suffered from this painful, debilitating condition, chances are, you know or love one who has or does.

But what about when you’re the one who is suffering?

Trying to adequately describe depression to someone else who has never had the misfortune to suffer its torment, is like trying to describe a circus to a blind person. And yet, when we suffer in depression’s darkness, we rely on the love and compassion of friends and family to help traverse to the other side—the very ones who, although they try, may not understand.

One of the best descriptions of depression to which I ever related was, “Depression is like drowning—except you can see everyone else around you breathing.”

When you’re depressed you just want others to understand.

Here are a few things you can explain to aid in their understanding…. read the remainder of the article here: I Am Believing God.

~~~

Depression Resources

Hope Prevails and Hope Prevails Bible Study make great Christmas gifts!

Hope Prevails offers tangible help, hope, and healing from depression. Get your copy now!

Hope Prevails: Insights From a Doctor’s Personal Journey Through Depression: amzn.to/2zB0e7J

Hope Prevails Bible Study: amzn.to/2yMdN46

For a Free eBook on How to Help a Depressed Loved One, click here: https://drmichellebengtson.com/how-to-help-a-depressed-loved-one-ebook/

For more helpful information about what you need to know when you have a depressed loved one, read here: https://drmichellebengtson.com/10-things-to-know-if-you-have-a-depressed-loved-one/

For more about what not to say to a depressed loved one, read here: https://drmichellebengtson.com/what-not-to-say-when-a-loved-one-is-depressed/ while here are suggestions about supportive things you can say to a depressed loved one: https://drmichellebengtson.com/what-to-say-when-a-loved-one-is-depressed/