Brace (Luci)
A little over two months ago, I broke my wrist in an accident. (Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.) While I was in a brace and healing, I felt completely and utterly useless. There were so many simple things that I could no longer do. I couldn’t wash my dishes after eating since I couldn’t get my brace wet. I couldn’t help my grandmother bring bowls of soup to the table since I needed both hands to avoid spilling. I couldn’t bring the recycling bins out to the curb since they were too heavy for me to do one-handed. Other people had to help me with these super basic tasks and I felt bad.
Since I was pretty limited in my abilities to do, quite frankly, anything, I was left with a lot of time to think. Having a broken wrist is kind of like depression in a way. I feel useless in both scenarios.
Eventually, I came to realize that, no, having a broken wrist isn’t kind of like having depression. My broken wrist was a lot like my depression.
At first, I found it really hard to believe that I had a broken wrist. Didn’t wrists usually get broken in major accidents like car crashes and skiing accidents? Yeah, well, I was picking up a 30 pound package when my wrist snapped. Was it really fair for me to say that I had a broken wrist when my accident was so pathetic? Likewise, is it fair for me to have depression when other people have it worse? It’s not like I ever went to war, saw someone die in front of me, was beaten to the point of having long lasting injuries, or anything along those lines. Unfortunately, I do indeed have a broken wrist and I do indeed have depression. Regardless of how it happened, something happened that injured a part of my body.
When my depression is especially bad, there are some times where I don’t do anything. When I don’t do anything, I feel bad for not getting even basic things done. I blame myself because I know I could have forced myself to get up off of my lazy butt and work. I could have forced myself to do things while my wrist was broken too. I could have forced myself to carry heavy things, despite the fact that it hurt. Worst case scenario, I could have taken off the brace entirely and acted like nothing was wrong with me. Yeah, it would have hurt, but at least I’d be able to get things done. Except, people generally understand that going about your day, performing your normal daily tasks while your wrist is broken is a bad idea. It’s generally understood that you should rest when you’re injured in order to allow yourself to heal. So then, why don’t we treat depression the same way?
When I’m depressed and having a bad day, yes, I could force myself to do things, but it’ll often cause me even more distress. I could get up and pretend that everything is alright in order to go about my day, but that wouldn’t help me in the long run. When you’re having a bad day, or even a bad week, month, year, whatever, it’s important to let yourself rest and heal. Your mental health is just as valid as your physical health. And, yes, sometimes there are important tasks that you need to complete despite how bad your depression is, but often, you’ll have people who care about you and are willing to lend you a hand.
Some of those kind and caring people volunteer for Letters Against Depression. You can sign up at lettersagainst.org to request a letter if you are struggling with depression or other mental illnesses. Let us be your brace when you need that extra support.