closet-keys:

One thing I think is useful to conceptualize when thinking about the severity of depression is figuring out what counts as a ‘task’ to your brain

for example, healthy people outlining the tasks they need to do that day might be something like 

- class
- work
- homework

if a healthy person is having a low energy day, maybe it becomes 

- make breakfast
- go to class
- class
- go to work
- work
- come home from work
- work on an essay
- do 2 readings 

a depressed person, on a high energy day will probably see that same day as 

- make breakfast
- eat breakfast
- take meds
- shower
- get dressed
- walk to bus
- take bus
… etc

a depressed person, on a low energy day will see that same day as

- wake up
- get out of bed
- walk to bathroom
- use bathroom
- stand back up
- walk to kitchen
- open fridge
- take out juice
- set on counter
- go to cabinet
- reach up arm
- take down glass
- unscrew lid of juice carton
- pour juice
- drink the juice
- finish the juice
…etc

the sort of chronic exhaustion manifests in how each ‘task’ takes a certain amount of energy and when you have depression, what begins to take that amount of energy- and thus, cognitively count as a ‘task’- are smaller and smaller subdivisions of what other people consider tasks. 

And the more ‘tasks’ you do, the less energy you have, and the smaller the subdivisions must be to take equivalent amounts of energy. And the longer that “to do” list of tasks is, the more exhausting and overwhelming and hopeless it feels, which creates a feedback loop of dysfunction.

So say our depressed person on a low energy day gets all the way to finishing their glass of juice. They’ve actually gotten through a lot of tasks! They’ve tried really hard. 

But to a healthy person, even on a low energy day, that probably looks like not having done anything- not having gotten through any tasks. And when our depressed person is surrounded by healthy people, they will likely internalize that they haven’t done anything, and further that they can’t complete any tasks no matter how hard they try. And that feeds worthlessness and suicidal ideation 

That, I think, is why it’s so important to encourage your depressed and chronically low-energy friends when they accomplish tasks, even if they’re operating at a level of subdivision that you don’t recognize. It is an accomplishment to get water and actually drink it for some folks. It is an accomplishment to get to class or to work. 

And acknowledging how hard someone is trying and how much energy they’re putting towards accomplishing those tasks can make a huge difference in whether they feel worthless and hopeless or whether they feel like it’s worth it to keep doing what they can.

kritseldis:

Postcard from National History Museum of Latvia, showing knitted mittens from 19th century.

I find it so sweet, that knitted mittens are gloried as treasures of Latvia!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by CRAFTS (@crafts.feed) on Aug 15, 2017 at 5:52am PDT

stimmystuffs:

https://instagram.com/p/BX0Ksdxg_VQ/

thefemmenist:

girl & flowers 

widewaterwoman:

Rose Queen Azaleas at Blue Mountains Botanic Garden

spi-ltmilk:

https://instagram.com/p/BNNMFl2hR4T/

torukou:

@shiba_sam

met-ancient-art:

Storage jar via Ancient Near Eastern Art

Medium: Ceramic

Purchase, H. Dunscombe Colt Gift, 1978 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/326386

yaatogamii:

My problem is that I’ll randomly get really motivated to do shit, but it’s within such a small window of time that I must do the thing at that EXACT moment and if I don’t the moment passes and I’ll have to wait like at least whole month for another random burst of motivation to do the thing ya feel

jdragsky:

we-are-star-stuff:

futurescope:

Robofrog jumps on revolving chair

we need to stop making robots nothing good can come of it

bullshit only good can come of this robofrog

heyskys:

paralyzed