Weekly Prompt #26: Think about a metaphor that represents your experience with depression in 2023.
Welcome back, group! I hope you are all being easy on yourself this week.
Last week we discussed: How do the expectations and social pressure surrounding the holidays affect your mood and energy levels? Thank you to all who participated and shared their thoughts and questions for discussion. They were thought-provoking questions and thoughts. I hope you all did too. If you didn't share yours, please share them here and I look forward to reading and discussing them with you
This week's prompt: Think about a metaphor that represents your experience with depression in 2023. What image or symbol comes to mind?
Please know all thoughts and experiences are valid so no matter how small or big it seems, do share with us and we will discuss our thoughts on it together.
@ASilentObserver a bit late, but wanted to give it a go. my deprezzion in 2023 waz like being ztranded in the ocean during a really bad ztorm. trying my bezt to ztay above the water, but the wavez crazhing on me and dragging me, even on the verge of drowning, but then were waz a float. itz zmall and not much but it helped juzt the tiniezt bit, zo while im ztruggling really badly to find land to rezt, the zmall float givez me the zmallezt hope that ill live
@Twigo7 I am glad you shared, Twigo. That sounds like a really difficult metaphor for what you have experienced with depression this past year. Being tossed around by the waves and feeling like you're struggling just to stay afloat takes a huge emotional toll. Staying open to even the little things that can lift our spirits is so important. I'm glad you found that float. What helped give you that smallest bit of hope when things felt darkest?
@ASilentObserver it waz, and ztill iz, my bf
@ASilentObserver
2023: Drago
Me: Apollo
I said bring it. 2023 did. I was on the floor. 2023 followed up with "if he dies, he die". Now, 2024 is laughing their *** off, cracking their knuckles, saying "too easy". And my dumb *** is saying, "Bring it on!" as if I am not still bleeding from the last fight.
@TooMuchOrNotAtAll Thank you for sharing your experience. It sounds like 2023 brought many challenges that have been difficult to face. A new year also brings new opportunities, and I have faith in your resilience. What strengths have you relied on to get through past tough times in your life?
@ASilentObserver
For me, I keep moving. I don't like to sit and process. I jump from one to the next and don't slow down. I have other people to think about. If I have a bit of free time, I'll use it to do something productive.
When my friend died, I spent five hours in the gym, pulled a double at work, slept two hours, and then took my kid brother to the zoo. I carried him on my shoulder because he enjoys that and I needed the weight there. The imaginary weight on my shoulders feels like it can crush me. The real weight of heavy bags on my arms or back or my little brother on my shoulders makes me feel like I can run for miles through anything.
That's how I get through tough times. I push on.
"When you are going through ***, keep going." -Churchill
@ASilentObserver A discouraging infinite unrelenting negative pressure.
@michaelR860 Thank you for sharing that metaphor with me. It sounds like a depiction of relentless negativity that has been discouraging. What has it been like for you to experience this pressure? You're not alone in struggling with depression, we are all here with you to support.
@ASilentObserver For me, it has been hard. It seems like no matter how much my family wants to support me, I still feel alone. Like even though they care, they don't understand. I don't know if I am being selfish for wanting friends and a normal life, but not having them for so long really did a number on my emotional well being. I tend to focus on the fact that I am alone, and when I do, I get overwhelmingly sad. I don't know what it is about me as a person, but in my experience people can't stand to be around me for long. So when I did things like go to school, I was always the person from the outside watching everyone else in groups socialize. After a while, you just give up, and realize these are the cards you have been dealt, and honestly, it's been so long since I was welcomed in a social situation, I wouldn't know how to act if it ever did happen. I guess the best way to describe the negativity is sadness.
@michaelR860 It sounds like the pressure of feeling alone for so long has really weighed on you. Feeling unsupported over time can definitely take an emotional toll. Your feelings are valid - wanting friendship and community is so human. I wonder, what small acts of self-care or connection help give you strength on hard days? You don't deserve to feel alone. What helps you cope with the sadness in moments when it feels overwhelming?
❤
Hi @ASilentObserver,
I can't think very well at the moment, but depression in 2023 felt like walking around in the mist with a ball and chain attached to my ankle. Occasionally I could see the fog lift, but the ball and chain never came off.
@WriteToHeal42 Thank you for sharing that description of how depression felt for you in 2023. It sounds like a heavy burden to carry that fog and weight with you constantly. If I can ask you, what kinds of things, if anything, helped lift your spirits even just for a moment? We are all here with you Write. you are not alone in this.
@ASilentObserver I think music would usually help, and talking to friends and family definitely helped
Depression is the weighted blanket I’m under to help me contain the rage I’m wrapped around to keep it from getting out. It keeps all of me pinned down though.
@pluckySummer2923 It sounds like you're experiencing a lot under that heavy blanket of depression. Feeling rage and needing to contain it at the same time must make the weight even harder to bear. What's it like for you under that blanket each day? You deserve to feel heard. We are all here with you to listen to and to support.
As your days - so shall your strength be.
a handwritten note from a nurse in the psych hospital given to me. It’s only now with my finding a a sketchbook I documented such words given, does it begin to make sense especially if only applied to 2023. Application beyond 2023 or pre 2023 creates many questions. Questions I don’t want to analyse yet. Overall it’s a metaphor I feel is 2023 easily applicable to in my existence
It's like trying to climb up through muddy pit. Everytime I think I've got a good grip and start to pull myself out - my grip slips and and I slide farther down. I'm scrabbling for something - anything to keep from hitting rock bottom but nothing is strong enough to hold
@mytwistedsoul That is a vivid metaphor! What makes you feel like you're sliding back down?
@ASilentObserver Not to sound melodramatic but life. I was struggling with depression before. Then my father got sick. The seasonal depression kicked in along with upcoming holidays. Then I had to say goodbye to my dog and then my father passed and I'm struggling to get my feet underneath me
@mytwistedsoul I am so sorry to hear about all the difficulties you have faced recently. It sounds like dealing with your father's illness and passing, along with the loss of your dog, have taken quite a toll. Managing depression on top of that makes the challenges even greater. We are all here with you to support