Warning!!
This chapter will cover a topic that can be hard for some to handle, so if you are easily startled, disturbed, et cetera, then please consider not reading this.

This is a little bit of a touchy topic, but I feel that a lot of people, especially those that have been affected by depression or are experiencing it, would agree with what I'm going to say.

Depression is obviously an issue that has affected many people in various different ways throughout history and in the present, however, it's something that on many occasions is less of a problem for one's health and wellbeing, and more of a problem for their ego. By this I am NOT saying that people with depression have big egos, but what I mean is that it's something that sometimes is flaunted by people that have it, or might not even have it.

Take, for example, a teen being sad because of something minor that happened. That's obviously very normal, and isn't necessarily a problem. However, if that teen starts going around saying they have depression to all of their friends, when they're really just sad, it then becomes more of a cry for attention, and less of a cry for help. Sadness can obviously lead to depression, as can many things in life, but in cases similar to this very vague example, it's simple sadness.

The internet is a place where I see much of this. People posting stuff about their "depression" constantly, and saying a bunch of depressing things. If someone has depression, wouldn't you agree the best way to deal with it isn't just posting about it all the time, or bringing it up constantly in conversations?

If someone has depression, they definitely should bring it up to a therapist or someone close to them, but it would probably be best to do that in a one on one. If they bring it up in conversations randomly and/or constantly, then it just depreciates the meaning and power of the "claim".

When it comes to people announcing their depression, it can definitely be for good reason. For example, and this is just one of many examples, someone going offline from an account or multiple accounts online. If someone takes a break from a website, app, or whatever because of their depression and what they're dealing with, and their followers are wondering where they went, or they would like to simply inform their followers why they've been offline, then it's totally understandable. They could also want to possibly reach out for help from their followers, which is also very understandable. Though, it can become a problem if it leads to constant posts about being depressed, when they aren't doing anything about it.

I'm fine with the occasional "edgy" joke, but when it gets to the point where a person is faking depression, it becomes truly wrong and offensive.

I won't share if I have dealt with depression or not, but I WILL say that I have had quite a few people close to me suffer from it and commit suicide because of it, so this is a topic I am passionate about.

I rambled and sort of jumped around a lot in this, so, sorry for that.

The moral is: Don't fake depression, and if you have depression DO reach out for help, but do it in a respectable manner.