Personify Your Depression: If my depression were a person... [fill in the blank]
Personify Your Depression: I learned about this coping technique today. Imagine that your depression is a person separate from you. The idea is that personifying our depression helps remind us that depression doesn't define who we are ourselves, and that invasive self-critical thoughts we experience often come from our depression and not our healthy minds. Some things to think about are: what kind of person would it be, what kind of hobbies would it have, what would it look like, what would its name be?
So, if your depression were a person, what kind of person would it be?
My depression is like this kid that has all this energy and is running around and bouncing off the walls and screaming and crying and everywhere and scattered. And then he gets tired and takes a nap and doesnt wake up for a while.
Currently hes sleeping. And Im feeling empty and hollow. Im not necessarily sad but im definitely not happy.
When he was awake I was crying everyday and taking care of him made me exhausted and I was sleeping all the time. There were so many thoughts and feelings and I felt overwhelmed.
And Im not sure which side of the kid I like more. Im scared for him to wake up again but it feels like nothingness while hes asleep and Im not sure I can stand that either.
my depression is someone who follows me around and berates all of my decisions and choices. always tells me im wrong or lazy or no one likes me. hold me back when i try to get out and overcome it. sort of like im on a leash and i get pulled back to it.
It would be very sad, confused, lost, and lonely. It's hobbies would include making all my thoughts seem bigger than they are and twisting the positive things into negative things. It would look fragile and its name would be Sadness.
I dont think that my depression would nescesarily be a person, but I can sorta put into words how it makes me feel.
So theres someone that Im trying to find or someone that I miss, and I know they are near me but not where they are. As Im looking for them, tension and hopelessness sorta builds up in my chest and it makes me just want to sit on the floor and cry. I cant find what Im looking for and Im not able to keep looking.
Thats what depression feels like to me.
My depression is more like a black hole, that was installed inside my chest and it steals/sucks all my energy, my hope, my will to live. And I am trying to find a way to turn it off
@wontsleepwontwake
Depression would be like one of those old friends you don t realize are toxic in your life until they are gone for a brief moments. It would always pretend everything s fine when in reality things are spiraling out of control. It wouldn t be a person, but rather some kind of soul-sucking being, that wears me out slowly, painfully and mercilessly. It would live in my mind, invading my personal space, laying on places where it shouldn t, always yelling at me without telling me why; always wanting to be right, always saying she has more sense than me. She would look at harm and show me reasons why I deserve it. She would take over the reigns whenever I got tired and lure me to sleep while she says it will be better not to do anything about it. She would be hella persuasive, rather tall, always smiling patiently at me because she knows I will eventually fail and she will have what she wants in the end.
@carolinahwriter - Yes to all of this :( Depression is such a soul-sucking kind of thing, a really manipulative presence that is super convincing sometimes, exclusively out for its own interests... I liked how descriptive you were of your depression and can almost picture her. Thank you for sharing. <3
i think my depression would be like one of the Evelyn Evelyn sisters (if you havent heard of them, theyre two sisters fused at the side) stuck to me, and currently unable to find a way to get rid of them. i cant get rid of them, and they keep whispering things in my ear and feeding me ideas about my surroundings, the people around me, and what i should be doing. sometimes it feels like they can control what i physically do, even my heart rate and breathing. it doesnt feel fair that im stuck to them. my thoughts dont feel like my own.
@inordinateenigma - I have heard of them. This is a really great visual. I definitely relate to feeling like my depression is fused to me, manipulating or even stealing my thoughts. It feels like it will be there forever. :( It's not fair, not fair at all. Maybe one day we will find a way. Thank you so much for sharing. :( <3
My depression is a figure made of smoke. It wraps itself around me and suffocates me. But I can't grasp it. I only claw at my skin as I try to make it release its grip. It dogs my mind until there is nothing left. It filters through my being until I'm left feeling empty. It covers me like a blanket at night, but this blanket doesn't comfort me. It restricts me and replays everything I've done wrong to me.
*dogs my mind
