In my last entry, I did a general review of the Mental Health First Aid class that I took that day. Today, I want to discuss the one item I learned that I think will profoundly stay with me as I continue to learn more about and discuss depression.
In the class, we talked about how mental illness can be disabling. Here, disabling was defined as something that impairs your ability to work, carry out activities of daily living, or have satisfying relationships. Working from that definition, you can start to see how mental illnesses can be just as disabling as physical ailments. In fact, the statement that got to me was that severe depression is just as disabling as quadriplegia (quadriplegia is when all of your limbs are paralyzed).
Wow.
Severe depression is just as disabling as quadriplegia?
But it didn’t take long to realize just how true that statement is, and it blew me away. It made me think back to my dad, who would literally lie in bed all day and hardly move at all – it was as if he were paralyzed from the neck down. Then, once I started thinking about it, I felt awful thinking that is what my dad went through. Of course, this has happened and is happening to others too. Regardless of whether someone has either quadriplegia or depression, they can both cause a paralysis that is incredibly devastating and disabling.
What do you think? Do you agree with the statement that severe depression is just as disabling as quadriplegia? If so, does that help you to better understand depression, whether it affects you personally or as someone who cares for someone with depression? Indeed, I think it will stick with me, and it is helpful for anyone to understand how tough depression can be.