This blog post is a little more personal than I am used to being... but I wanted to talk a little bit about depression. As I am writing my book on being an entrepreneur with depression and anxiety I realized that this is a topic I rarely talk about on my blog, but it's important people know that they aren't alone.
People talk often about the sides to depression that are obvious. We all know about the crying, the staying in bed, the deep and obvious sadness, but there are some things about depression that aren't talked about as much.
My Depression
Often times, when I am depressed I feel the need to be extra goofy and obnoxious. Why? Because I am trying to run away and hide from the immense pain inside. Depression can be making inappropriate jokes at inappropriate times. Depression can be smiling like normal but completely avoiding doing the things you normally love to do. Depression can be lashing out at people and hurting them because the darkness inside you feels as if it's attacking and so you try and redirect it. Depression can be going ghost on everyone you care about and not feeling anything at all about it.
Depression isn't always loud and obvious. It isn't always easy to see and read. Sometimes it's shocking and manifests itself as a clown-ish personality. Depression can be an entrepreneur not caring about their business anymore.
I am saying this because there are people out there who feel as if their sadness and immense pain is going unnoticed and it's because it doesn't matter or isn't depression. The people who love you may not see your pain, but that doesn't make it any less real. You are not alone. Talk to someone. Reach out to someone. Express your pain. It's important. Your life and happiness is worth it.
If you aren't depressed, be sure to reach out and show love to those you care about. You never know what they have hidden inside of them. There were times I would have benefited from hearing "I love you" from anyone, but because I didn't hear it, I assumed it wasn't true.
I don't know who needs to hear this, but you're not alone. And if nobody else cares, I do.