If you run a quick Google search, you will find pages and pages of quotes on depression, songs and even poems on how it feels and how numerous people worldwide deal with it. The disorder has even been romanticised through many novels and songs, but no one has probably described depression as well as this woman.
Katelyn Marie Todd, a Facebook user, posted a heartbreaking account of how she is suffering from depression and how she deals with it on a daily basis. The post, in which she talks about how the disorder is one of the worst things ever, has now gone viral.
She starts the post talking about how she brushed her hair for the first time in four weeks and cried while she was washing and conditioning it. She also explains how small daily chores made her well up and how horrible it felt.
"I brushed my teeth, too, for the first time in a week. My gums bled. My water ran red. I cried over that, as well. When I got out of the shower, I couldn't stop sniffing my hair and arms," she wrote. She also said that she had avoided hugging people as she thought she smelled bad.
"I always smell like I've been on bedrest for a week. I have no clean clothes, because I'm too tired and sad to wash them."
Hinting at how depression has often been romanticised, she explained that the disorder is anything but beautiful. "Depression is bad hygiene, dirty dishes, and a sore body from sleeping too much. Depression is crying until there's no more tears, just dry heaving and sobbing until you're gasping for your next breath. Depression is staring at the ceiling until your eyes burn because you forget to blink," she adds.
Her post also proves how thankful she is to her friends for being with her throughout and says that these few number of friends stick around "because they have the patience and love of a saint."
Todd also explained that a depressed person often cannot express love and is distant and distracted, which makes it look like they do not love their families anymore. "Depression is somatic as well as emotional, an emptiness you can physically feel," she added.
Touching upon the subject of how depression is often not taken seriously and a lot of people don't even realise that they are dealing with depression, she also asked people to try and understand those who are going through it.
"Please be easy on your friends and family that have trouble getting up the energy to clean, hang out, or take care of themselves. And please, please take them seriously if they talk to you about it. We're trying. I swear we're trying. See? I brushed my hair today," she concludes.
Todd's honest and sincere post has now gone viral and has been shared over 280,000 times on the social networking site. It has also received numerous comments with a lot of them telling her how someone is always listening and it will get better.
"Keep talking. To us on here hun. It will help. It's a horrible thing to have. It will pass. Don't feel embarrassed talking about it. Take care," a comment reads, while another one adds: "Keep going ! one day at a time ! You will get there!"
Here's her full post.
