Sometimes, people on the outside have no idea how to help those with depression.

This is her story:

How do I make you see that being depressed is not something I have control over?  How do I make you see that when the darkness is creeping in, I feel alone and I need an anchor?

I can’t just “be happy”.  I can’t just change my negative thinking.  I can’t just change the fact that I feel like a failure.  I need a lifeline.

You are that person for me.  You are my rock, my oasis.  But that doesn’t mean that the darkness does not creep in.  It doesn’t mean the thoughts cease.

It does mean that I will cling harder to you while pushing you away.  And I hate that about me.  Because I love you.  Because I know you deserve better.  Because I know in the one year we’ve been together, I have come to trust you more than I have anyone in 16 years.  Because we’ve walked through fire together.

But my mind won’t let me see that enough.  My mind tells me, “He doesn’t love you.” “He will leave you.”  “You will be alone.” And instead of looking into your eyes and hearing you tell me you love me and planning our future together, I listen to the voices.  My mind isn’t trying to protect me.  My mind has gotten used to the negative thoughts and now thrives on them.

Unfortunately, the voices haven’t always came from my own head.  They’ve come from bad relationships.  Some that lasted only 10 months, one that lasted almost 6 years.  Six years of hell.  Six years that left me scarred.  Time may heal wounds, but the scars are still visible.  As the years have passed by, I have tackled one issue after another that I carry as baggage.  But I still have the depression.  I still have the anxiety.  I still have the fear.  And that’s when the darkness begins to creep in.  And the cycle begins anew….

I want to be a better person.  Not just for you.  Not just for my kids.  But for me.

But I need your help and your understanding that these walls are not about you, they’re about me.