every once in a while, i will encounter a neurotypical person who has the audacity to second-guess and invalidate my depression.
you have never had to deal with the effects of depression, and you should never assume anything about something you've never experienced. depression is far larger than spiteful voices in my head insulting the very breath i inhale. depression is far more complicated than a global issue delivering the kiss of death to a million people every year.
it is agonizing, it is terrifying, and it is real.
you believe logic and reason stand loyally by your side, reinforcing every inconsiderate word you hurl at my chest, where it embeds itself in the soft flesh. you speak with a honey-coated voice that makes me sick to the stomach, false empathy coating your speech and disguising the real meaning behind every vowel and consonant.
you preach about the millions of people starving in third-world countries but fail to understand that depression is a serious illness derived from the leisures that first-world countries offer, and that doesn't make it any lesser of a problem. you simply cannot invalidate what people struggle with on a daily basis with the justification that some people suffer far worse halfway across the world.
one out of nine people suffer from some form of undernourishment, you say. well, i will retort with a cold statistic of my own: one person dies every forty seconds from suicide.
you do not know the pain depression brings, you do not know what goes through our minds and the physical repercussions that follow, and you do not understand why people would be driven to the edge of a cliff where they believe the only answer is death. no one should speak such a strong opinion about something that they do not fully understand.
depression is a toxic friend that you love too much to let go; it is a voice in your head screaming, you are not good enough for them, you are not good enough, you are not enough.
do not paint us as overly emotional teenagers who feel sorry for themselves without taking any form of action to heal. do not imply that we can get better if we just try hard enough—as if we do not try at all. do not tell us that we are a diseased and incapable people; do not treat us like we will be submerged in our ocean of self-doubt and misery for the rest of our lives, no matter how short or long they may be.
i am not just another statistic. i refuse to be just another statistic.
