Tips for a Depressionista: 'Tis the season

I first heard the term in a grocery store;

Two middle-aged women scouring the aisles for good Panini bread were having a conversation when suddenly, one said to the other:

She's going through a rough time with Mike, but she's a depressionista. She'll be just fine.

Wipe that confused look off of your face and stop laughing at the absurdity of those words (you are obviously doing one of these, for I did both at the same time...people at the supermarket are afraid of me...).

The term depressionista (I am assuming, because urban dictionary is not an unbiased reliable source in my opinion) is tightly linked to another new vocab word: recessionista.

Now a recessionista is a mash-up of recession and fashionista- meaning a person who is able to stay stylish in a time of economic uncertainty.

And hooooowwwww, you may ask, does that relate to depressionista?

A depressionista is someone who is prone to mini or hard-hitting depressions, who is going through a rough patch or just plain simply someone who wants to be happier B.U.T. who can perk up their mood for the sake of their sanity.

Depressionista&Recessionista: please who can make it work during hard times.

You may now ooh and ahh..

AHHHHHH....

<3

So how do depressionistas beat their blues?

Well here's a little trick I have found to be mighty helpful.

Go. Season. Crazy.

What exactly does that mean?

Back story: When I came out of the hospital, I wanted to keep the good mood I was in, so I decided to get really into the holiday spirit. I soon came to the conclusion that by putting a little effort into the season, you get a little (or even a lot) of joy back.

So here are a few ways to do so:

1. Holiday Happy (all holidays, not just Christmas)

You do not have to be religious to enjoy the bright, Christmas lights, or the memorable Christmas morning cartoons.

You certainly do not need to spend a dime more than you usually would.

Examples: buy some candy canes instead of your regular desert

Find the radio station in your area that plays that wonderfully cheesy xmas music

Get inspired by the festivities to get creative (make your own Halloween decorations or costume)

Enjoy your fave classic holiday movies or TV specials

2. Season Serenity

No need to get into the commercial holidays if you don't want to!

Seasons are just as fun!

Examples:

Buy some fall-scented tea or coffee instead of your regular (DavidsTea anyone?)

Add little touches to your house decor (leaves in bowls for fall, fresh flowers for spring)

Enjoy the loveliness of the weather (nice new warmth in spring, pretty leaves in fall, beautiful white snow in winter)

And my ultimate season obsession: candles. Plug-ins.  air freshener.

I'm obsessed. Don't judge me.

And though this may seem incredibly cheesy (most likely because it is...) it could be all you need to snap you out of your regular daily routine!

SIDE NOTE: ALEX, PREPARE-TOI, JE VAIS PETITIONER POUR QUE LE THÈME DE L'ALBUM DES FINISSANTS SOIT.........NOOOOEEELLLLL :) 

Lovez yall,

have a lovely day

xoxoxoxox

Gabby

Depression and Suicide: A Tale of Condescension

Good Morning to all of you <3

I am fully aware of how ironic it is that I haven't posted in the last few days but SOMEHOW I am WORKING on LABOR DAY :P
Y'all are lucky I love my job <3

Today's post in going to be a very serious one- but the subject of suicide and depression is a very important one.

I'm going to take you back to Early 2012; my 10th Grade English class:
Our teacher is discussing Romeo and Juliet.
In the middle of her never-ending monologue, she trails off into one of her infamous tirades about, you probably guessed it, suicide.

How selfish an act it is.
How despicable those who commit such an act are.
What were they thinking to leave all those people behind hurt and alone?

This teacher, a woman, is a mother.
And just the thought of her daughter growing up in a home where such ignorant comments are thrown around carelessly makes me downright furious.

Better yet- this woman is a teacher for TEENAGERS.
She has punctured the ears of hundreds of young adults with such hateful spurs.

And she is not alone.
I have heard countless teachers, family members and media personalities voice those same opinions whenever the subject of depression and suicide is brought up.

I am going to bring you even further back in time: the 1980s.
When there was one illness on everybody's mind: AIDS.
People at your local market and people on national TV were saying the exact same thing:
«AIDS is for fags»
«AIDS is disgusting, repugnant, filthy, dirty»
«People with AIDS should be banned, shunned, shot» 

Now do you really think someone who has just discovered they have contracted AIDS is going to happily skip all the way to their doctors' office to tell them?
There should be NO QUESTION whose fault it is that AIDS spread like wildfire as an epidemic.
Us (well, probably not the ones reading this you were probably born in the 1990s like all the cool kids were :P)
More like Us, as a society.

Same thing applies to depression, and therefor suicide.
Depression was officialized as a mental illness in the 1980s, coincidentally.
Yet somehow, here we are, 30 + years later, still treating people suffering from such ILLNESSES (key word here: illness. As much an illness as a cold, as bronchitis, as malaria) with condescension and disdain.
You can STILL hear people say openly and legally:
«Depression is for lazy bums»
«Depression? Just snap out of it»
I'm sorry; have you ever tried to snap out of CANCER?
Yeah, I don't know how easy that is.

Just like AIDS, depression is still being treated like a lower-class illness.
Just like AIDS, YOU CAN VERY WELL NOT KNOW that a person is suffering from it right in front of your face.
Just like AIDS, if we keep making people feel shameful and guilty for an illness they did not choose to have, then
Just like AIDS, the bodies are going to keep piling up.

Prime example: me.
My family had a dismal and ignorant understanding of mental illnesses, always approaching the subject with condescension.
I went 5 years. 5 YEARS without treatment and ended up in a mental institution.
Not. Fun.

I am going to leave you with one last thing:
This past summer a friend of mine asked me what to do about a friend of hers who suffered from depression.
I asked her if they had discussed suicide, and this friend of mine told me that she had told her friend suffering from depression how selfish and irresponsible suicide is.
If I could give her, and all those spewing ignorance like so, one little advice, it would be this:
STOP
BEING
IGNORANT
AND
EDUCATE
YOURSELF.
Do you think the person who is feeling suicidal will want to ask help from people demonizing their emotions?
Your words can be the last drop in someone's glass.
If you want to keep giving your bigoted opinion, that is your creed.
Just don't forget to wash the blood off your hands after you're done.

If you need more info, suffering or just willing to understand more, click on these links
http://www.amiquebec.org/DepressionScreening.htm
http://www.depression-understood.org/
http://www.depressionhurts.ca/en/understandingdepression.aspx
or email me at fudgeperfection@gmail.com

I love you all so very much `<3
xoxoxoxoxoxo
Gabby