While I will not post this entry for awhile, I am writing it on Labor Day weekend. And, although the weather hasn’t been too great in my neck of the woods, it has been a weekend for seeing some friends and family. And, luckily, we were invited to these events. I am not sure who used to tell me this, but I have always remembered that you should “go where you are invited”. Of course, there are exceptions to this – going somewhere with illegal activity comes to mind – but for the most part, the idea is you stay connected to the people that care enough to invite you to something. There are also finer points to this advice, but I am not going to sift through them here. The overall point is that staying connected to people is important.
When it comes to depression, following this general advice can be hard to do. You may not want to get out, and that is ok. But, you may have people who want to visit you or ask you to help them with a task. In these instances, I would encourage you to at least consider taking people up on these offers. Of the many theories out there about what causes depression, some people think that it can be a lack of connections to values, jobs, people, etc. This may not explain a person’s entire depression, but it is an idea worth considering. And, if that is worth considering, maybe having some social connections while you are depressed (or caring for someone who is) could be helpful. Of course, this may not help everyone, but my takeaway here is to work on accepting people who want to see you or connect with you. They may be providing more help than any of us realize.