Depressed/Crazy - Happy/Sane

According to TV, newspapers, the internet and just about anyone you ask, depression is a serious mental issue that should be treated with therapy, drugs or a combination of the two. Depression is a normal reaction to life's problems (losing a job and having no money, being dumped by the person you shared your life with and are still madly in love with, finding out a relative has a terminal illness).

The drug companies are trying to turn us all into robots - its working. I knew a girl in high school whose sweetheart passed away from cancer. In a month, she was dating someone else. Because thats what normal is supposed to be- you give yourself a time frame to grieve (2 weeks, going by most employers) and then you move on. Personally, I thought she must have had some sort of mental disease.

"Normal" people say you can't prevent sad things from happening but you can control how you react to them. . Sure if you wake up late for work, have a shitty day and catch a cold, you didn't have the best day but its also not cause to go home and eat a whole pint of Ben and Jerry's. But, if your fiance left you at the altar, thats an excuse to stay in bed for 2 weeks and cry.

Depressed people are not crazy, as the media portrays. They are simply more realistic. People that are happy ALL the time are lying to themselves, at least a little bit. Depressed people see life for what it is: you are born, you go through heartaches, death of friends and loved ones, financial woes, illness, aging, discrimination, abuse, suffering and ultimately, death. Death of which we know nothing of, there could just be nothingness. Happy people see life as wonderful, it is filled with loving relatives, relationships, great friendships, vacations, children, success, money, support and many happy moments up until you can die. And then you go to Heaven where you will of course reunite with all the loved ones you lost.

In conclusion, life has some great, wonderful moments. We all can bring up a time in our lives that makes us smile and feel elated. But life isn't wonderful. Some people have shitty luck and can never catch a break. Wouldn't they be sadder than someone who always gets what they want? If someone gets depressed after they get a huge promotion, salary increase, wonderful sex, great times with friends....then YES they need help. There are a lot of things in life you can't change, no matter how many different approaches you take. I am currently struggling with something thats making me very sad - and I don't know what- if anything I can do about it. I am just trying to focus on the good things in my life to keep me afloat. So far, I haven't drowned.