I had to Google the average size of a lake to make a point.

You know, I think a lot of people have a hard time distinguishing feeling depressed and actually suffering from depression. Granted, it actually took some experience with depression and with fellow depressives to make me realize it and hence, analogize it to something as simple as "lakes and oceans."

Feeling depressed is like a lake. It's deep but could be shallow, terrifying and everywhere you turn there's water washing over you BUT, there's somehow comfort in seeing even the semblance of a coastline you can swim to. A line of hope where inching closer** shortens the distance between you and that overwhelming feeling of negativity that's been plaguing you so far. It gets better.

** Or in my case, flail around around until you move about because I'm 21 and don't know how to swim. Damn.

On the other hand, depression itself is a lot like being on an unsinkable(!) unbreakable(!!!) raft floating on an ocean. Water hits you, the current's too strong, abominably huge terrifying waves and despite all of that, you're still stuck on goddamn raft that refuses to sink or move. You take whatever the waters give you. You're being threatened by the thought of too much water in your lungs and rip currents killing you but:
You.
Don't.
Sink.

You're still alive but being beaten up by a force you can't control.

It's probably a shitty analogy to make a point anyway and for that, I apologize.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying feeling depressed is actually better than depression, I'm just outlining the difference as clearly as I can for people who don't seem to understand that saying variations of:

Don't let it get you down!

Don't be so negative.

Get over it.

You've nothing to be sad about. There are people in worse conditions.

to people who are genuinely suffering from depression is about as helpful to them as a bicycle is to a fish.

The thing is people suffering from depression can't just "snap out of it". There's no kill switch for when things get too hard to handle, you can't just turn a mental button off and go from "I'm sinking." to "Oh I'm on a sunny island yay coconut juice!".

They don't choose to throw out the slightest hope they feel. They don't choose that terrible, overwhelming feeling of hopelessness that makes even the simplest thing as getting up from bed such a laborious chore. It's not a choice to grapple with the idea of dying and living on a daily basis. It's not a choice to want to not-exist anymore because dying would be heartbreaking for the people who love you. There's no clickable option in losing grip of your entire life ending up with you looking in the mirror and seeing a haunting remnant of what you used to be. It's not a choice that their version of happiness is normalcy and familiarity, not happiness itself.

I never had a choice in this. Hell, I didn't have a say in my own life. It attacked me and now, I'm losing a battle I know I probably can't win anyway.

Stay positive, eh?

Credits to: Allie Brosh, Hyperbole and a Half.

Meh.