Sometimes people think that, when I write about depression, it’s because I’m depressed. Usually the opposite is true. I share thoughts and stories about depression when my brain is free enough to ask questions and contemplate what depression is all about and discuss it in a way that’s not so heavy.

There seems to be something of a stigma in the fact that even posting about depression or asking questions about depression gets you labeled as depressed - that you must be really down to even bring the topic up at all. This makes it harder to talk about mental illness.

People can be curious, they can want to empathize, they can just want to start a conversation, and they can also themselves be depressed or have other mental illness, or not! This distinction is significant.

As someone who lives with depression, I’m not in any way ashamed of the label that “I’m Depressed”. I just don’t want people assuming that every time I talk about mental illness, it’s because I’m being crushed by it. When I talk about it, in essence, I’m crushing it. Won’t you crush it with me?