Depression in Haywards Heath

Did you feel a bit depressed yesterday – if so it was probably only to be expected as yesterday was the gloomiest day of the year according to Those That Know! I am not sure if feeling this way is just down to knowing in advance that yesterday was going to be the gloomiest day of the year or because it is January and things always feel a little flat in January.  It could also have been because the credit card bill (together with every other sort of bill) has arrived on our mats recently or simply that it was snowing in Haywards Heath, Richmond, Washington DC or wherever you were.

It could also have been because you had been feeling this way for a while and had just cause for doing so.  Bereavement, the end of a relationship (which is also a bereavement), loss of job (also a bereavement) etc can all make us feel sad.   However the trick in life is that whilst these are all bonefide causes for us to feel down we can, in most cases, decide for ourselves if we feel SAD or DEPRESSED.  Sad is an emotion that we feel and justifiably so.  Depression is a mindset – a grey fog that covers everything and sucks the joy out of life and replaces it with gloom.  It is long lasting because it is a mindset and not an emotion.

Being sad is ok and perfectly ‘normal’. It would not be ‘normal’ in certain circumstances not to be sad.  We need this time to process news and life changes and it is ok if we withdraw to do so.   Being down or being sad is a natural and healthy part of living.  However it needs to be time limited.  That does not mean that we can be sad for, say two weeks, and then have to put it aside.  ‘Having a sadness’ can be with us for a long period of time but the difference is that it does not become a mindset, or a way of being. We can enjoy and be part of life, whilst still working through our sadness in our own time and in our own way.   However if we give sadness the opportunity to overwhelm us, it most certainly will.

So feel the sadness, allow the tears, allow the anger, allow the frustration and know that if you feel it, it is probably justifiable – just don’t make it your daily ‘friend’.