ONE'S BLACK DOG

One’s black dog simply means depression. DEPRESSION the silent killer, it is eating away most people today both young and old. Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person’s thoughts, behavior, feelings and sense of well-being. People with depressed mood can feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, angry, irritable, ashamed, or restless. They may lose interest in activities that were once pleasurable, experience loss of appetite or over- eating, have problems concentrating, remembering details or making decisions, and may contemplate, attempt or commit suicide. Insomnia, excessive sleeping, fatigue, aches, pains, digestive problems or reduced energy may also be present.

     Depression is not a sign of weakness, it just means you have been strong for far too long. A lot of things can cause depression either a very bad childhood, sexual abuse, physical abuse and verbal abuse too, a relationship gone wrong, jealousy( maybe you are not as rich as some of your friends, you want all what they have and you are wondering why your parents are not rich as theirs), low self-esteem, loneliness, stress. Sometimes the use of substance can cause depression, both legal and illegal drugs.

    Depression is a great battle, people get depressed loose the battle and either become useless or die but you can choose to win the battle and become motivated. The hardest part about depression is finding a way to tell people. It is like you are hiding a terrible secret. You will feel ashamed for getting depressed like you failed somehow, that’s what depression makes you feel like…a terrible failure. A lot of people have overcome depression, I have a friend Bimpe who was depressed, I didn’t like being around cause she made everyone around her too sad, she never smiled after secondary school we parted ways then I saw her again three months ago, Bimpe looked younger, fatter, she was glowing, she even wore a smile! I had to ask her how she overcame her depression. She explained why she was like that in secondary school, she said ‘’ depression is hard to explain, I actually didn’t know what’s really wrong with me, its like a disease that tears you apart. The activities I loved doing like hanging out with my friends, playing video games, designing things, did not matter to me anymore, I didn’t find joy in it again.

       I didn’t smile much because I felt there was no reason to, Depression makes worthless and hopeless. Some people can be destroyed by the disease while on the other hand some people can be cured from the disease, I was part of the people that were cured from the disease because I FOUGHT! I fought hard against this silent killer, I didn’t like the way I was looking, because of the fact that I didn’t smile I looked a lot older, my parents were so worried about me so they to me to see a counselor at Oshodi after a few sessions I began to feel better because I had so one to talk to, someone to won’t tell other people what I had discussed with her, she encouraged me to keep her journal so I would write all I was thinking in my head down so I won’t explode.

     After a few months, I became bold enough to interact with people, I realized it wasn’t so bad there are still a lot of good people out there, I started exercising to keep fit and I began to eat healthy food. I asked my mum to take me the saloon because I wanted to start make my hair, I was on low cut because I didn’t even care about my hair too. My ‘new friends’ invited me to the mall at lekki called ‘the palms’ I had so fun much, A guy even came to talk to me, he said I was pretty, ME BIMPE!.I love the way my life is right now “.

    

  HOW TO OVERCOME DEPRESSION

First, you have to seek help- You have to talk to someone if you depressed its really important to, if you don’t trust someone enough with your problems go and see a counselor, they have a patient-doctor confidentiality, they wont tell anyone you are depressed.

2. Divert your mind away from what is making you depressed- when you think about things and other people, you will think less about your depression. Doing this will take away some of the power it has in your life.

3.  Keep a journal- This could be an escape but it doesn’t have to be. You can write about fiction, and transport yourself to another world, or you can write about what’s going and let your thoughts carry you through to a solution. Many great books were written by people who were at least at the time going through a period of pain and suffering.

4. be healthy- if you are physically capable, exercise daily, eat right, sleep well for at least 8 hours per day, getting the right amount of sleep is healthy for our body and mind.

5. Forgiveness- Many times we are making ourselves sad for no good reason at all. People have been known to keep grudges for a lifetime. When you forgive, you remove this weight off your shoulders and put yourself in a position to be happier.

 You can overcome depression like my friend Bimpe, just keep holding on , be strong and most importantly FIGHT against it!