“There’s the pretty popular misconception that depression is just being sad when something in your life goes wrong.” – Kevin Breel
We know depression needs to be talked about, but we don’t. We don’t because it’s not happy, fun or light. For Kevin Breel, his confession was hard to talk about. It’s hard for everyone to talk about.
It’s hard because of the stigma which surrounds mental health. This ignorant stigma prevents us from updating our Facebook status or tweeting something which says we’re not okay or might make us look weak. We don’t see depression on social media and so people don’t understand it. But the fact is we all have moments when we’re not okay and times when we are weak. Everyone has their own stories, and everyone should share them.
This is largely why Cars For Hope exists – to bring awareness to and create conversation about depression, anxiety and mental health issues.
“Depression is one of the best-documented problems we have in the world, yet it’s one of the least discussed.”
Depression needs as much awareness as it can get. Awareness here doesn’t necessarily mean a spread of information; it means understanding. Depression is a massive problem, but equally massive is the fact it remains misunderstood. For someone who has never experienced depression or doesn’t really know what it means, the four words “I suffer from depression” might surprise them because there’s the pretty popular misconception that depression is just being sad when something in your life goes wrong.
“When your break up with your girlfriend, when you lose a loved one, when you don’t get the job you wanted, but that’s sadness – that’s a natural thing, that’s a natural human emotion. Real depression isn’t being sad when something in your life goes wrong. Real depression is being sad when everything in your life goes right – that’s real depression.”
Kevin Breel, a 19 year old comedian, is one amongst many others.
So start a conversation. Share your story.
