No matter how much support you have or how together you think you are not immune to bouts of depression. No matter how much money you make or if you have the “perfect job” you can still fall victim. It doesn’t matter if you are white, black, green or purple, depression doesn’t discriminate. None of the things mentioned matter. You may feel that you have given yourself all the tools one will need and that you know what to watch for and what to do when it happens. But chances are that’s not the truth. Because depression is sneaky, it sneaks in when you least expect it and stays longer than any unwanted house guest ever would. You can have all the tools available and ready to combat the arrival, but when it sneaks in sometimes it’s hard to realize how bad things are until you’re in to deep to fix things on your own.
Look fine on the outside
What We Wish You Understood | Working With Chronic Illness
Living with a chronic illness is hard and comes with many challenges. Including challenges most never thought they’d face, especially at such a young age. For instance, when I graduated from nursing school I never dreamed that I would only be able to work for ten years before I had to leave my job to care for myself. That being said when you think of chronic illness you wouldn’t automatically think of the fact that many who suffer from a chronic illness will have to leave the workforce long before they wanted or planned to. But it’s true, sadly, many end up having to leave their dream job or the career they loved to stay home and take care of themselves. Which in and of itself brings up challenges. The biggest being that most around us don’t understand us or our decisions to leave the workforce. Or what that looks like as far as what we can and cannot do now that we are no longer working.
Validation. Your Problem or Mine
How many times have you felt the need to validate yourself and/or your condition this week? Or even this month? How many times have you found yourself explaining your health to someone who probably has no reason to know what’s really going on? Or found yourself explaining why you can or can’t do something or go somewhere? Now let me ask another question….. Why do you feel like you have to validate yourself and your condition?