How Depression Affects Your Daily Life: Insights and Experiences

Have you ever wondered what depression feels like? Or if you have depression, do you struggle with describing how it feels to others? What most people don't understand is that depression is much more than having a bad day or an off week. It's a mood disorder that causes constant feelings of sadness, disinterest, and emptiness. Because it affects someone mentally, physically and socially, most people don't have a good understanding of what it feels like. So to try to describe what it's like to give you a better understanding of depression, here is how some may experience depression on a daily basis.

• waking up exhausted and drained. Have you ever stayed up really late and woke up feeling awful? Imagine that. But every day, oftentimes, regardless of how much sleep someone with depression gets, they'll wake up without any energy. This lack of energy makes it hard for them to get out of bed and do daily tasks that seem automatic to people. Without depression, you can think of depression as an invisible weight that brings you down everywhere you go. You may not be able to see it, but it's always there, making life harder.
• feeling as if there's no joy in life. Have you ever tried to pay attention to a class you didn't enjoy at all? Time seems to go slower and all you can do is count the minutes until it's over. People suffering from depression might feel as if there's no joy or pleasure in their life at all, making them uninterested in everything. In everyday life, everyone has a hard time concentrating on things they don't enjoy, such as homework or chores. But what happens when someone doesn't enjoy life in general? Likely they'll become unresponsive and unfocused on the world around them. So far, do you relate to these two points? factstrap is about encouraging people to open up about their struggles. Comment below your story if you relate to this and we'll highlight the most impactful one in a future article. Your story helps others.
• low self esteem. Do you compare yourself to all the models and influencers on social media? People with depression often do the same, but on a much larger scale. It goes much deeper than thinking that their body isnt picture perfect. Instead, theyll relate it to thinking that theyre a failure as a person, family member, friend and everything else. They may see everyone around them living happily and think its their fault that theyre struggling. Of course that isnt the case since depression is no ones fault. But just like trying to stop comparing yourself to social media, trying to stop thinking youre a failure is extremely difficult.
• complicated relationship with food. do you ever eat because you feel sad, bored or lonely even though you're not hungry? Much like eating to pass time, people suffering from depression may use food as a coping mechanism. They could overeat to distract themselves from how they feel or to avoid feeling numb. Or on the other hand, some with depression may also undereat. They may feel too numb or uninterested to the point where they see all food to be unappetizing. In cases like this, its important you avoid phrases like, you should be grateful you have the option to eat or youre taking what you have for granted. Instead, you might want to listen to why theyre not eating healthily and try to keep in mind that its not something that can be fixed overnight.
• everything feels hopeless. Do you ever feel like things will never get better? Whether pandemic related or not, everyone can think of a time where they felt helpless and hopeless. But people with depression feel hopeless not just about the state of the world, but about themselves as well. They may think theyll never amount to everything or that theyll never learn how to cope with depression. This constant state of hopelessness can lead to them feeling exhausted and unmotivated all the time.
• unhealthy sleeping patterns. ever had trouble sleeping? Maybe you were tossing and turning because you were nervous about a job interview in the morning. Many people with depression struggle with this every night. Depression is sometimes linked to other struggles, such as insomnia and anxiety, both of which make sleeping even harder. On the other hand, someone with depression could also sleep too much as well, since they may see it as an escape from their daily struggles. Either way, having a healthy sleeping pattern is important for your mind and body, and without one, you're more likely to feel exhausted, irritable, and stressed.
• physical pain. Imagine the worst headache you've ever had. Now imagine getting that around once every two weeks. While many people think mental and physical health are completely separate, they actually overlap in many ways. For example, people with depression are more prone to body aches, headaches, nausea, and muscle tension. So while you may have trouble understanding the complex thoughts and feelings people with depression have, you may be more able to empathize with them, knowing what physical pain is like. So did our article help you better understand what depression feels like? If you haven't yet commented your story, we encourage you to either one try now to help someone else who's in your shoes, or to share this article with someone who might need it.