Count your blessings
Count? My mind is hazy. I cannot concentrate on the simplest of tasks.
Snap out of it
Snap? I have slept for twelve hours but still don’t have the energy to move.
A good meal will cheer you up
I told you I cannot eat. My throat is constricted, my stomach a mass of swirling emotions.
Turn that frown upside down
I try. I really do, but my face feels like a grotesque mask.
If you can’t be bothered to help yourself
I am screaming for help, can’t you hear me? But the room is silent and you turn away.
Written for Friday Fictioneers. The first thing I noticed about this photo was the blueness of the sky. As it is Mental Health Awareness Week here in the UK, and as I teach Mindfulness to those with Mental Health conditions I thought I would try to raise awareness. Depression is more than feeling blue.
A 100 word story inspired by a photo prompt. Read the other entries here.
fabricating fiction 
Touching. They just don’t get it, do they?
They have good intentions. Thanks for reading.
I relate more with the person trying to do the cheering! 🙂 Very nice.
That’s good. Thanks Ryan.
Great story, and a very powerful message too.
Thanks Francesca.
i think s/he needs some tender loving care. tickling might help, too. 🙂
She does. Thank you.
Alone standing in a field.
The sky kept drawing me to this photo. It’s such a brilliant blue I couldn’t look away. Thanks for reading.
It must be so frustrating and annoying when you’re feeling like that and people just tell you to quit moaning and get on with it.
From reading various posts around the place it reminds me of how someone with fibromyalgia might be feeling.
Very good post and I like the way you laid it out.
Thanks Ali. I teach mindfulness to those with depression and as it is mental health awareness week I thought I would try something to fit in with that.
Interesting to know a little bit more about you.
Thanks
Very meaningful story. Some people think that just a few suggestions will take care of it all, but a different kind of help is needed.
It is hard to understand things we can’t see. Thanks for reading.
Great story with a powerful message. Too many people don’t understand that depression is an illness as much as any other and cannot just be shrugged off.
Invisible illness are hard for people to understand. Thanks for reading.
You really captured depression with this. And I like the way you left it open so the reader needed to guess why.
Thanks Alicia. Depression is tough on everyone.
Fresh take on this challenge. Platitudes aren’t very helpful, even if well-intended. But sometimes, that’s all people have to offer. Sad, huh?
It is sad. Thanks for reading.
My Pleasure!
Well done. Thank you for writing about and advocating for mental health awareness. It should not be a taboo subject but sadly it remains so. Interesting take on the blue sky!
Tracey
Thanks Tracey. It’s something no one should feel embarrassment or shame about. You wouldn’t if you had a broken leg. Thanks for reading.
I guess that asking for help is not easy when all you get is platetudes..
It’s difficult all round. Thanks Bjorn.
This is so true, all this good intentioned advice. Do people give that advice to people with cancer or another life-threatening disease? They don’t. Yet, depression is just as live-threatening. It’s a disease, not a mood, not a choice. Great post.
It is an illness. Thanks for reading.
So frustrating just to want to be heard.
Ellespeth
Yes. Thanks for reading.
Very good. They’re just not connecting with each other. Well-intentioned advice often comes from those who don’t know how to just listen. Well told.
Dear Louise,
Having had my own battle with depression and anorexia, I could relate to your story. The emotions, the feelings of being trapped and isolated…you captured them in few words. Well done!
Shalom,
Rochelle
Thanks Rochelle. It is a battle, but one we can win.
Great story and good call for action for Depression. 🙂