depression is as real as a broken leg

thecapitolgypsy:

“it’s an excuse to lay in bed all day." 

"just get over it.”

“think about something else.”

you wouldn’t say any of these things to someone with cancer, cystic fibrosis, or a broken limb. so why do you think it’s okay to say it to someone who’s depressed?

let me tell you something: depression is the result of a chemical imbalance in the brain. just as cancer is a result of cell mutation, cystic fibrosis is the result of a gene mutation, and a broken limb is the result of trauma. ailments, diseases, pains—they have causes. mental illness is not an “excuse” to get out of going to the gym or finishing your homework. 

just as a broken leg will incapacitate your leg, depression will incapacitate your mind. a broken leg and depression alike can prevent you from completing normal, daily activities. 

with all of this in mind, i will argue depression is worse than a broken leg. a broken leg will heal in the span of a few weeks or months. depression can take years. a broken leg may have you on pain medication for a few hours; depression may have you on medication for the rest of your life. 

will a broken leg prevent you from being happy? maybe at first. depression, on the other hand, makes it nearly chemically impossible for you to achieve true happiness. 

i’m sick and tired of the bullshit stigmas surrounding mental illness. just because it’s not something you can always see with your eyes does not make it less real than a broken leg. just because it’s something you don’t understand does not give you the right to hurt other people with your ignorance and accuse someone of laziness and incompetence, when in reality, you are lazy and incompetent for not taking the time to think through what you’re saying or to research a disease you claim to not understand. 

i don’t want to hear it anymore. there is not a single fucking excuse for treating someone like shit because you don’t understand what they’re going through. life is hard enough without people being assholes to each other all the time. 

anyway. do not tell me depression is not as real as a broken leg when there have been days when no amount of pleading or crying could get the boy i love most out of bed. do not tell me depression is not as real as a broken leg when the boy i love most spends more time thinking about killing himself than he does enjoying his young, beautiful life. and don’t you dare tell me depression is not as real as a broken leg when people, every single day, choose to end their lives because they can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.

i am so fucking sick of people treating each other like shit because of ignorance. we’re in this life together and we have an obligation to be kind to one another. you have the power to make someone smile; don’t you dare use that power to hurt people.