If You Feel Depressed Just Compare Your Life To Mine

[Aristotle]

I've lived in a hospital 16 years, now that only leaves me only 84 years to go
I can never be more than five feet away from a nurse
In all my time my parents have only visited me four times
My nurse Cynthia is the only person that has ever truly been nice to me
My own sister has never even visited me
When she broke her ankle she specifically asked the nurse (who just so happened to be cynthia)
To Change rooms so her friends "didn't have to see that train wreck of a person"

And I'm perfectly fine with that
I have a lot of spare time living at a hospital which means I have plenty of spare time to practice drawing
I get to know a lot a about the nurses
I'm glad my parents don't visit me much because they always cried when they did come
My nurse Cynthia is nice she is the one who gave me the nick name neko
My sister has never talked to me enough to get to know me so of course she would make her opinion from the way "I make my parents cry"
Still it does hurt all little the way she says my parents instead of our parents

But I still push through

And if I can you can to

 

[LogicfromLogic]

I'm sorry that you are going through such a hard time. All of that sounds pretty hard to cope with, and I am glad that you are strong to pull through all of that. It really is amazing. And the fact that you are trying to encourage others is a wonderful thing.

When your sister says these things, if I can poke my head in the advice box for a brief moment, tell her how it makes you feel. That isn't fair on you, and you deserve better than that.

And having one good friend (Cynthia) is better than having a thousand fake ones. Cherish her friendship with you, because it means something. I am very, very happy to hear that you draw and I actually would love to see a piece from you. Perhaps do an art exchange even.

But depression hits people differently, and people's own lives affect them differently. Their troubles may not seem as big of a thing to others around them, but to them, they are fighting a struggle within themselves. Say for someone struggling with a personality disorder; they are fighting a battle nobody can see. Every day, they have to face that inner being causing havoc within the confines of their mind. Depression is one of those things that people really, really struggle with. I've lost two good people to it because they didn't have the strength to keep fighting that endless feeling of hopelessness.

There are many kinds of struggles in the world, comparing isn't going to solve someone's problem, it'll just make them feel bad for what they are going through because they are not in your situation yet don't want to say anything because they fear it might look unsupportive. While using your own struggles to lift someone else up after they've fallen (say for example, I use my own loss to help sympathize with the person who is suffering because sometimes it helps to know that someone has been where they are), saying that if you personally can get through this they'll have the strength to get through what they are. And that is not true, because in many cases, their struggles are pretty bad themselves. While they are not better or worse than your struggles, nobody is always as strong as that person, like you, that won't give up. They might not give up, but there is that chance that it damages them.

The best way to help someone who is really struggling is support them and give advice to them if they need it. You'd be surprised what a couple nice words does to someone having a bad day, and what a good listener does for a struggling person, or just being there does to let someone know that they aren't alone does.

Not trying to sound like an ass here, just pointing something out.

 

[Mari]

Good luck to you, and keep on living! Find joy wherever you can.

 

[Aristotle]

Thank you both