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 a geouchy git
It had saggy boobs and hairy pits....
@wontsleepwontwake
She would look just like me. She sits with me but never speaks. She just gives me a look and suddenly the world is grey again. And then we sit there, mute, like twins.
My depression feels like I can't be me . I'm lost and can't hide . Everywhere I go it's there it troubles my thoughts and emotions. I can't take it anymore .I wish I wasn't this person.
@TreaureSeekers3 - Yes :( Our depression ribs us of our personal identity. We lose interest in everything that we used to associate with who we are. Sometimes we may forget who we were before the depression, or if we were anyone else to begin with. With enough time, it starts to feel like all we are is this dark depression, that it defines us. :( the depression wants us to think that who we are is gone forever, but believe me, we are so much more than this depression, even though it definitely doesn't feel that way. Maybe one day we can still find ourselves again. This was a really honest answer that I think a lot of us can relate with so thanks a lot for sharing this valuable perspective <3
If my depression were a person... It would be typical kindergarten bully.
Laughting at your body and making fun of you, thinking it is the best and can beat you up how he wants.
My depression is a bee hovering amound me sometimes wanting to sting and others it will just hover
My depression would be a living train wreck.
It's Marla Singer from Fight Club.
Doesn't care about appearance. Indulges in things because they feel good with no care about the consequences.
Looking for a place to belong but feeling like an entity just drifting nameless through a sea of faces.
Self destructive and pessimistic.
My depression is a sort of squishy monster. It's blue and a bit smaller than me. It wears a dark blue, over-sized hoodie. And it loves to hug me. Its hugs are so warm, they're hard to get out of. Every time I'm knocked down, it's there. It hugs me and holds me and I'm stuck. I stay with it until I'm strong enough to break away but it's always there for next time. Sometimes I miss the warmth of the hugs. They feel like a comfort. It's hard not to go back to them when I finally get away. But the hugs are as suffocating as they are warm and that hurts. Sometimes I let myself get suffocated anyway. It's hard to break out of the hugs. But I do and I say goodbye and wave and step away from my cute little monster and I know it'll still be there, waiting for another hug but, for a while, I'm free.
Of course, I'm also alone.
And a hug is so close by.
@stuckintime92 i love the way you worded that! :)
@Magicalbored1237 Thank you. I know I shouldn't but sometimes I take comfort in my sadness. And sometimes it's even a welcome emotion compared to the apathy. In that way, the hugs are warm. But the hugs are suffocating too and that's why they're not good for me.
@stuckintime92 yeah I feel like that too. I hate my depression but I dont want it to leave either
@Magicalbored1237 I'm not glad that you feel this way because it's not fun but I am glad you relate. Sometimes I think if I just tried a little harder I could banish my depression for good but of course, it's not really that easy.
@stuckintime92 yes I know its hard. But Im learning to get rid of this feeling.
@stuckintime92 - Incredible description :( I totally understand where you're coming from with this. Depression figuratively and literally holds us back... it's a complicated situation, with lots of internal conflicts. I really appreciate you writing it here, thank you. Maybe it will be easier for us to escape its death grip and give ourselves kinder hugs as time goes on - ok what I just wrote sounds so lame, haha, but I really hope it turns out to be true. Thanks again <3
@wontwakewontsleep Thank you. And as cringy as it may sound, I hope so too. Depression is difficult but it doesn't have to win. We've got to be kind to ourselves.
If my depression were a person he would be shorter than me. He wears a hoodie to cover his eyes and only looks down at his feet. He is mean because he is hurting and doesn't know how to express it in any way other than to attack me. I am not bitter towards him, he has suffered too. I feel only pity for him.