The Courage of Depression

We think sometimes of how sad people are who have depression. Or sometimes they seem numb, distant, or stiff. Their brains don’t function properly, so they don’t get or don’t remember the good moments of life. They tend to dwell on the worst things that others have done or that they have done themselves. They are overly critical and have a skewed perspective on life.

But there is a daily courage in depression that I have observed recently. Those who are able to wake up every day and do something. Anything, really. Even if they don’t feel any hope that doing something will matter or will give them satisfaction. They do it anyway.

I suppose you could argue that they do this out of habit or simply because they don’t have anything else better to do. But I think there is a tremendous courage in getting up and trying. We think of courage as something that looks extraordinary. People running into burning buildings IS courageous. People facing their fears and jumping from an airplane to live out a life dream IS also courageous.

But don’t forget the courage that looks ordinary. Someone crippled with self-doubt, burdened with the heaviness that comes with depression, or sapped by a continual unhappiness, is deeply courageous. Getting out of bed is an incredibly brave thing to do. What hope does a depressed person have that today will be better than the gray curtain of nothingness that was yesterday? What thrill are they expecting when they face a list of tasks that seems to go on forever?

If you know someone who is depressed, spend a moment now thinking of their courage in trying to remember who they were, what life once was. When you or anyone else tells them that the future will look better, remember that they can not feel hope in the way that you can. For them to reach for something better is truly extraordinary. Applaud for them. Cheer for them. Because they cannot cheer for themselves.