If you are depressed it can be hard to talk about your feelings. Because you don’t know how others will react on it. Most of the time depression is a secret for people. Mirjam was wondering if it was allowed to be depressed. Since she was eight years old, she has regularly depressive thoughts. Nowadays she sees it as her identity.
Keep talking about it
The people around you do not know always how to react if you tell them that you have depressive thoughts. They are afraid to lose you and try to give you a solution. Most of the time these solutions are not the things you want to hear. What a lot of people forget is that talking about suicide is more important than the solution. In most of the cases, depressed persons will not do a suicide attempt.
Do not carry this alone, start talking about it
Research has shown that Dutch men commit suicide twice as often as women, while Dutch women are twice as often depressed. An explanation for this is that men find it more difficult to talk about their depressive feelings and therefore carry it with them as a secret. Depressed thoughts only become dangerous if you keep them to yourself.