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?
if my depression were a person it would be someone who's constantly following me around who is screaming terrible things about myself.
@dangadanga - Sounds like you are really having trouble with negative self-talk, that voice in your head that is tearing you down. I'm sorry to hear that you are so hurt by this voice.
My reflection bringing me down about every single thing.
‘Telling me how much of a disappointment I am not even to other people but to myself.
@Fierceinthestreetmessinthesheets me along with everyone else that no matter how hard I try it will never be good enough
If my depression was a person,it'd be that one friend that gives you the illusion of safety and comfort to pull you in and by the time you see their true colours it's too late because while you were distracted by their charm they were slowly digging and sinking their claws into you without your knowledge and then slowly they'd break you until you were nothing but putty in their hands.
@imaFuckup - Sounds like you've not only had bad experiences with depression, but also with friends. Or maybe I misunderstood. Either way, a fitting dark description.
It's a gorilla on my back. Big and heavy, forcing me to carry it around, but no one can see it.
@middleofthemountains - Would it be easier if people could see the gorilla?
A collective of all earthen ego consistently pummeling my consciousness into an ectoplasmic splatter that drips into the void at near heat death.
@CosmicMike - Very descriptive and original. Sounds awful.
Depression would be that one toxic friend. The one that you try to get out of yout life but they keep on coming around.
The kind that's so mean to you and always bullys you. The one that calls you trash and agrees when you call yourself ugly or fat the one that laughs when you get hurt and then say you deserve it
@Brokenlonelyose - Good description!
My depression is manipulative, it's standing beside me, softly telling me it's trying to help. It gives me a kiss on the forehead, takes my hand, tells me it's okay to sleep, okay to cancel plans, okay to spend the day alone in bed... it makes sense, this is self care, right? But over the course of weeks the messages start to change, so slowly I don't even notice.
"Don't text your friends right now, darling, they won't understand. No one will ever understand. That's okay though, I'm here. I'm always here. I understand." It whispers in my ear. I relax against it. Maybe it's right, my friends have enough to deal with anyway, I don't want to bother them.
A few more weeks go by, then, late at night when I feel numb and alone, it tells me to hurt myself.
That is when I realize I need help.
@SparklyRen - I think this is an excellent description, very well written. I like the way you portrayed how depression's lines can creep in. I'm so glad for your last sentence when you realise you need help.
@OceanRest
Thank you! I could've written it better but for something I wrote quickly in less than 10 minutes it's not bad. Yeah, I've started to make a habit of looking at my life from a different perspective and thinking "hey, that's not a thing people's minds are supposed to go to, something's not right"
@SparklyRen
Very well written! 👍
I had to end a toxic friendship last year because although he was charming and positive at first, as soon as I asserted my strong moral values, he treated me differently. He did not respect me. I made it clear that I wasnt into some crazy-arse Fifty Shades Of 🤬 relationship and rather than accept that double life of his to keep the friendship, I decided that its best to leave it behind. He was not my friend - he was pleasures friend.
One striking note of that bent wreck of a friendship was that he never told me or acknowledged anything positive that I did, though he was quick to criticize. Hed never disagree or stop me, either, if I ever talked bad about myself. That, I believe, says it all.
@SparklyRen Thank for your post. The last sentense is amazing, becouse i realized the same but when isit alone i my apartment and feel very lonely in one side, and happy because im afraid of change, loosing my family. And I stuck in between. I want change and dont want to change at the same time
This is so beautifully expressed. Stay strong and keep rising. @SparklyRen
@SparklyRen
if my depression is a person , i would tell him / her to get lost of my sight as he / she makes me ups & downs sometimes . it's like an roller coaster ride , it's an exciting moment in the beginning slowly it's happy then the end is like i'm wondering when i'll see him again though it's a wrong ride to sit in the beginning but i'm learning from experience decide to treat him as a friend not more than that .
sorry for that , hope you forgive me
@SparklyRen Exactly! Very good description. In fact my depression is a lot like Gríma Wormtongue or maybe Gollum.. or maybe both combined, except it seems to be immortal, it will never give up and die.
If my depression were a person...I would talk to it. Talk to it and understand why she/he decided to bother me. I would tell my depression to die and leave me alone just like how my parents tell me that. I would tell my depression to stop messing with my head and when it finally leaves. I can finally be at rest. Finally tell my parents that I got rid of the voices in my head and that Im cured.
Only I know itll never be gone. Its just waiting and lurking at the back of my brain, waiting for the right moment to strike and set me free.
If my depression was a person they would bring me down. They would like to make jokes at my expense, and they would have fun doing so. If my depression was a person I would try my hardest to steer clear of them.
my depression is a very charming person.
they're beautiful; the kind of sweet talker that draws you away from everyone else and isolates you in a world of their making, a world where they can control the weather and tides. when good things happen, they remind me they're with me. they remind me that i've always been in their world, and that the skies will turn grey any minute. they wash away my sense of comfort with myself, they make me feel like a stranger in my own mind. they are decay and apathy and when they aren't kneeling on my stomach they're pushing me towards an edge of a cliff. they show me how to put all my emotions in a little box to keep nice and neat and sealed away, but soon they grab the feelings from me hungrily and stuff them away haphazardly until everything spills out. when that happens they dont show me how to clean it all up, they tell me to run, to abandon my regard for safety, because it doesn't matter if i'm hurt or healthy.
they like to disappear, to let me have fun for awhile. but then they come back. finally, ive learned how to tell them no. how to make them be quieter. and hopefully, they'll stay away for good.
