We all love to play armchair therapist. We all believe we have the answers. But we could do more harm than good.
So many of us have the best of intentions but we must begin to understand time and place and delivery.
Some people are in darker places and platitudes aren't the miracle cure some people think they are.
Redditor Kvetanistawanted to talk about when to speak or be silent, so they asked:
"What's the worst thing you can say to a depressed person?"
I hate... "just smile."
As if I don't know how to control the muscles in my face to make it all ok.
If that helped I'd have wrinkle lines decades before I should.
I DON'T!!
Nothing
"But you've got nothing to be depressed about." ~ RandomRamblings99
"It's like this with anxiety too. 'You have nothing to be anxious about.' Yeah, well that sure ain't stopping it from happening." ~ RobToastie
"Oh man I heard that a lot growing up, still gives me shivers. I caught myself saying it to my son one day and vowed to never say it again. My kids get to feel their feelings." ~ WolfPackMedic
Why?
"I heard this and all it did was made me hate myself more. 'Why can't you be like everyone else? Why can't you be happy considering all you have going for yourself? What is your problem?' is what i would think."
"It did teach me I can't unburden myself to anyone stupid enough to stand in front of me for five minutes though. Now I ask people 'Are you sure you really want to know how I'm feeling? If they say no I understand because most people are just being polite.'" ~ fazlez1
Top 2
"'Get over it' and 'It's all in your head' are my top two."' ~ Hollywood899
"Yeah right, even with trying to get the right chemicals through meds I still ain't right. Like my anxiety is too bad to take ADHD meds and my body also literally doesn't metabolize most anti depressants properly, so the amount I can even try is limited." ~ arcaneunicorn
Worse
"Saying 'Someone has it worse' completely ignores the pain the depressed person is suffering through." ~ Alluxing
GiphyWhat are the origins of this mess?
Like in what century did any of this work?
Bless You
"I also enjoy 'if you went back to church your depression would go away.'" ~ dixiequick
"I was going to church at the time I finally decided to open up and was told I'm in sin."
"I already felt like when i was born God said 'oops' and now I have this to deal with? Despite all I've gone though and felt I have no problem with God, the problem I have is with is people who exercise Church 101. There's no anger anymore as that's one of their imperfections. They have theirs and I have mine." ~ fazlez1
My Head
"My dad says this to me. 'Depression isn’t real, it’s all in your head.' He’s half right though, it is all in your head. I’ve always assured myself 'maybe they’ll believe me when they find me hanging from a ceiling fan.'" ~ TTungsteNN
"Heard that many times, including from my parents until I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. My father was diagnosed bipolar about 10 years before me. WTF?" ~ FriendRaven1
99 Problems
"Stop complaining, some people have real problems." ~ soupisatitagain
"My ex used to say that to me all the time. Like even if I wasn’t complaining about something and just mentioning something that happened on my day. Really he just didn’t care to listen."
"Also the problem with saying that is you close the door for open communication. That’s how people end up bottling things inside. And for teachers or parents, it’s a missed opportunity to educate a young person to overcome an obstacle and grow, so that they will eventually 'stop complaining.'” ~ chocotacogato
Better?
"I personally hate 'it gets better,' it does get better but I hate when people say that to me when I’m in a major depressive episode. Idk why, it just upsets me even more." ~ lonelylemons42069
GiphyJust do the best you can.
Life is hard.
That's all I've got.
And it's better than what we've heard.
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