Depression is a Perception

As a kid, I had my share of mental and emotional trauma alongside I was scarred by a handful of bonus incidents. After my Dad's death when I was fourteen, I found the world bullied me. I was depressed and even attempted to take my own life multipe times.

Reality found me one day while I was taking a back alley beside the train lines. I came across hundreds of people with minimal clothes, make shift homes, no proper health care, little food and sanitation. Yet they were carrying out their life with what seemed like no complaint.

They were surviving.

Their kids were playing with pebbles and naked, yet they seemed happy. It got me thinking, when most of the population is living in such dire conditions and they are able to survive and have a good night sleep, who was I to have issues with my life when I had proper meals on the table? He has blessed me with a lot and still I seem unthankful.

I realized I don't have the right to take my own life because my life is God's gift to me. I shouldn't trash it.

This day also helped me realize how my sadness and depression was just my perception. In fact, it's as big as I want it to be. We all feel sadness and depression, but we all have to realize how many other lives we can touch and shed light upon if we keep hope in ourselves.

My advice: when you feel sad, look at others who are in a situation far worse than you. When you are frustrated of losing over and over, realize you're not losing. Think of it as an opportunity to do better.

When you feel like giving up, talk to the element that put life in you.

by Hasan Faruk
Bangladesh