Julie, can’t my child see he is depressed?

 My coaching clients often ask me this kind of question:

Why can’t the person I care about see that he is depressed?

Why would my daughter stay so unhappy and not do anything about it?

The answer is that depression is tricky.  It’s sneaky. It tells you that what it says is real and it tells you that what you feel when you’re depressed is real. I don’t think that it’s possible for people without depression to understand what it’s like, but I do know that it helps to know that those with depression who can’t see what is going on simply have an illness and this is one of the symptoms.

I’ve spent the past 15 years learning to separate myself from my depression. It has been constant work on my self awareness.  The depression is still here, but not today- though it could be back tonight!  If it were here right now, I would use the ideas in my books and make sure it is gone as soon as possible.  I have all of this experience and it still tries to trick me – always – daily. But a person can learn to recognize depression and see what is really happening. It comes with a management plan. I love my book Get it Done When You’re Depressed because it can speak to me when the depression says untrue things about my life. When I open the book, I remember- oh, that is not me. It’s the depression. Maybe just giving the book to someone and saying, “I just met a woman who said she knew the author of this book. What do you think about it?” Sometimes that works.

Julie

You can read more about my coaching here. It helps.  http://www.juliefast.com/family-coaching/