Postscript: How to Care for the Broken and the Depressed
It would be easier for me to discuss my mental health issues if it was not such a charged topic … if my friends did not try to address my depression themselves.
– Founder, United States
Researchers believe that the inability of the depressed to respond to offers of help is one of the most aversive qualities of depression. Just as workers will not end a strike until their employer offers a significant increase in salary, most initial offers of help do not lead to recovery from depression. The depressed have serious problems and the initial offers of help are “too small” to solve them. The depressed need to compel substantially better offers from reluctant social partners.
– Edward Hagen and Kristen Syme, University of Washington1
In the past we locked the depressed up in distant places like hospitals and sanitariums. We even used electric shocks. We hide them, ignore them, or make them go away. Maybe because we are not equipped to talk about these topics.
At home, we try to fix the problem ourselves. We rush in to help friends and family members but have no tools. Our fear, helplessness, and panic set in. Our own discomfort creates a bigger problem. We try to avoid both – our discomfort as well as the depressed person. As we are unable to handle our own inner states, we run away from the ones who are depressed. We have neither the right language nor the tools, but this is a start.
TOP REASONS FOUNDERS DO NOT ASK
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