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Unhelpful Advice for the Seriously Depressed
Some thoughts for Mental Health Awareness Month
Content note: Discussion of suicidal ideation.
As a lifelong sufferer of clinical depression and anxiety, I’ve received a fair amount of unsolicited and unhelpful remarks and advice on how to deal with my condition. Since May is Mental Health Awareness Month, I’m sharing some thoughts on this in case they are helpful to anyone.
- You should see a therapist.
Related: Have you considered therapy?
Every educated adult who lives in a civilization that offers mental health therapy is aware that this option exists. Every depressed person who has access to therapy has considered this option, and either rejected it or made use of it, sometimes by forces out of their control.
As for myself, I have been in and out of therapy since I was twelve years old. Some of it has been helpful, much of it has not. The worst experience was being forced into group therapy with a group of teenage girls I couldn’t relate to at all. (This was decades before my gender transition.)
- Go out and get some fresh air and exercise. It will make you feel better!
Every educated person on Earth is aware that being overly sedentary is unhealthy. Every educated person, regardless…
