> A broken ankle gets you a cast and crutches. It might even give you a temp tag in your car for closer parking. Hell, your boss might accommodate your workspace or schedule. But you can't usually see depression. It's kind of a weird dichotomy, being since that depression is considered a mental illness. If you're hurt or have the flu, people tell you to take time off and get better. They tell you to take your time and are really accepting. However, if you have depression, you just get a "We all feel bad, just suck it up." Hell, I don't even think therapists and stuff are covered under a lot of insurance plans (not exactly sure). The thing that sucks is that a lot of types of depression are more debilitating, over an extended period of time, than breaking an ankle or an arm. A broken wrist makes part of your body unusable for a couple months, but clinical depression can make a person miserable for years to decades. Some die depressed. Yet, most sufferers don't get treatment. In reality, a depressed person is treated as whiny or lazy, but if suicide is the 10^th leading cause of death in America, then there's got to be something more than sucking it up to it - right? It would be great if we could get treatment, without getting stigmatized.
I get to hear "quit feeling sorry for yourself" from my mother. And she's the resoundingly better parent. On the scale of my depression I'm just listless, which for some would be morbidly depressive, but I've put a moratorium on dealing with family. Or anyone who isn't paying me or selling me something. My boss is actually the most understanding person I know. I took 3 weeks off work to try to kill myself then go to the hospital and didn't get fired. I wrote this during that time I really can't believe I did that during that time period. I think part of the reason major creatives are prone to depression is knowing how to work hard. When you're depressed everything is hard work and art, writing, music are all really hard work. Calm seas don't make good sailors.