With the recent death of Robin Williams, and knowing several people who do suffer from depression, I found this helpful and thought I would share.

Many people do not realize they have depression and if they have been diagnosed, they take their medications, get to feeling better and decide they don't need to take the medicine anymore because they are 'cured'.

Depression is just not that simple and medication for depression is a life long necessity. Once they stop taking the medicine, they start spiraling downward, still not recognizing they are in the throngs of depression.

All this can also be said for BiPolar, which as depression as a part of the illness. Please, please, please, don't dismiss someone who is depressed or who had BiPolar, or any mental illness. It's not like an upset stomach or a broken toe - mental illness does not fix itself.


I'm saying this as a nurse who has had patients with this and as a friend to people who have mental illnesses. Until you have seen it's effects, you will have difficulty understanding.


 

Excellent post TO. You never know what someone else is going through. And this is excellent advice.

Stephen Fry is correct, it is hard to be friends with someone going through this. You want them to just get better. And it doesn't always work that way. 

Depression knows no age. Children get depressed too . Never tell a depressed person to get over it. Sometimes we think people are doing good but we don' know how overwhelmed they are at home.They can seem to be coping well when in fact they aren't. My cousin committed suicide at 16 over a girl that broke up with him, something that happens everyday to teens. I think about how much life he missed out on .