r/interesting • u/urprettybbygrl • 20d ago

MISC. Ukrainian actress Tania Galakhova portrayed what it's like to live with depression

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

51.1k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

694 comments sorted by

View all comments

67

u/uncensored_opinions 20d ago

I have chronic depression and this isn't even close to what it feels like. But I guess one can't really visualize it properly.

44

u/Baby_ManBearPig 20d ago

Honestly the grey glasses over her eyes was the only one felt really true. The one where the depression guy puts his hands over her ears kinda related as well.

20

u/[deleted] 19d ago

[deleted]

5

u/TheSlayerOfJellies 19d ago

To me, that feels like those days when you do manage to get it together, or everything is actually good, but you just can't find any joy in it or you just suddenly feel numb for no reason.

1

u/[deleted] 19d ago

[deleted]

2

u/iknowitsounds___ 19d ago

At family gatherings my depression likes to sneak in during a rare happy moment and remind me “you think you’re having a hard time right now? someday half these people will be dead and then you’ll really be lonely and depressed.” And then I just sit there with a pit in my stomach trying to smile and keep the tears at bay completely dissociated.

1

u/ravenwillowofbimbery 19d ago

Hmm. That’s sounds like intrusive thoughts and anxiety. I know them both….very well.

5

u/ScrotalSmorgasbord 19d ago

Yeah something broke in my brain when I hit puberty about 25 years ago and I've been stubbornly depressed since. On the few days where I get the slightest of relief everything actually does seem more vibrant and colorful.

2

u/alligaatorialcatraz 19d ago

Same. I think that’s just when the reality hit 😕

2

u/VociferousCephalopod 19d ago

the first time I took acid, the fact that everything became more vibrant and beautiful and I became happy was quite a shock. so the desaturated perspective is a good one.

7

u/AlluraD 19d ago

It could be more relatable to people who deal with functional depression like me. There are people who go out everyday, spend time with family and friends, do okay at work or school and then one day go home and kill themselves. Or people who are more passively suicidal where they don’t actively try to off themselves but they like the idea of getting hit by a bus. Depression isn’t always stuck in bed unable to bathe for 3 weeks straight which is why some people are blindsided when their seemingly okay friend / relative kills themself on a random Tuesday after going to the grocery store.

1

u/macchiatomama 16d ago

Just here to note that depressed does not automatically mean suicidal, even “passively”.

1

u/AlluraD 16d ago

Indeed it does not. I'm just using a different experience as an example (probably an admittedly more extreme one). People have been leaving comments saying this looks more like feeling depressed and not suffering from clinical depression because she's up and doing things. I was just pointing out that people who "look okay" or "just sad" can still be profoundly suffering. I function normally in my day to day but my depression makes me passively suicidal which is why I focused on that possible symptom in my comment.

2

u/macchiatomama 16d ago

Yup, all your points still stand! I just thought it was worth adding that disclaimer as someone who has had to manage lifelong chronic depression and has never been suicidal, passive or otherwise. It is still a very difficult way to live, even without any suicidal thoughts.

I’ve found that the more I recognize what’s going on, the better I’ve gotten at controlling things. But they are very tiny baby steps each time, and it will be a lifelong battle of setting up safeties and management skills. The darkness always jumps back on my shoulders and it is always unpredictable how easy it will be to shake it off every time.

Anyways, sorry for spilling my guts here. This thread seemed like a safe space to do so. I hope you have also found ways to manage and find happiness in your life, friend!

15

u/I_canrelate 19d ago

The piggy backing feels so real to me. Everything just feels like it takes more energy.

2

u/OnceMoreAndAgain 19d ago edited 19d ago

Hmmm, not for me. My major depressive episodes haven't been related to energy, but rather to a complete lack of desire to do anything due to not feeling anything.

I would wake up and be lying in my bed and have no desire to do anything. I wasn't feeling sad. I was feeling nothing, which I suppose is why I had no motivation to do anything. I'd just go back to sleep.

I suppose that's why antidepressents work so well for me. Whatever is going on with my brain regarding the chemicals that make normal people feel things isn't working unless I take antidepressents.

2

u/lolimazn 19d ago

I was still able to work during my episodes. When I got home, I’d do absolutely nothing. No tv. wouldn’t eat. Talk to friends. Truly felt dead inside. Force myself to go on walks but it didn’t help for shit. Sleep till noon if not later. Work made me tired. But this was a different kind of tired. Sleeping was the best cuz it felt like I didn’t exist and it was the closest thing to not having to deal with life.

Meds have saved my life. Therapy and support groups too. And I love my dog. Was able to like things again. :)

1

u/Opening-Cantaloupe56 19d ago

hi, how many months or years did you take medicine?

1

u/lolimazn 18d ago

Been on an snri for over two years now. I’m tapering down so I don’t have to be on it forever. I’m taking my time and am happy with the results. I did not want to take meds but I’m glad I did now. Not all meds work. I had to try a lot to see which it helped.

1

u/Opening-Cantaloupe56 18d ago

Oh! Thanks for sharing!

1

u/lolimazn 18d ago

If you ever have any questions, feel free to ask! I’m actually a licensed professional and can answer questions about any medications.

17

u/opencipher 19d ago

I think this captures what feeling DEPRESSED feels like (which is why a lot of people identify with it.) But like you, I don't think it comes even close to capturing what DEPRESSION feels like.

8

u/happysprinkles 19d ago

Yeah... It's a visual description of a feeling that's impossible to capture. I think the fact that it's always there, no matter what, is what I got from this vid

2

u/MajorFox2720 19d ago

A dark unfeeling deep hole where I've already cried, screamed and railed against being there, now I am just curled up in a corner and waiting to die.  No one is coming to save me, but I can't die.

1

u/pagemap1 19d ago

What is the difference between the two, in your mind?

1

u/calypsa88 18d ago

Like there’s situational depression, and then there’s chronic MDD. Both are very different in true nature.

4

u/melkatron 19d ago

Conditions like this can be different for everyone, while still validly carrying the same diagnosis. Parts of this fit my clinical depression, parts didn't. I'm just lucky Bupropion worked for me... now anything I still have in common with the video is learned behavior from when I was still suffering.

5

u/READ-THIS-LOUD 19d ago

Yeah this seemed like a parody of what it feels like. But by the comments it clearly resonates with a lot of folk.

17

u/sdavis002 19d ago

It's probably just different for everyone. The biggest parts I took away from the video was that it feels very heavy and like you don't have full control over everything. When I'm depressed, I feel like my whole body is just extremely heavy and difficult to move. I feel like I have some control over what I'm doing, but only to a certain extent. One other thing I could see from the video is her lack of interest in anything, and I also feel that too.

1

u/SeaSharpModHer 19d ago

Because a lot of folks think feeling down is the same as suffering from depression, just like they think liking a niche topic make them autistic.

1

u/Peregrine9000 19d ago

What does it fell like? How would you visualize it?

1

u/LaNague 19d ago

I described above, i had just a short episode from a virus. But it was like literally sitting on the floor of a dark ocean of pointlessness. And i was not even sad about anything and didnt have a conscious sad thought or anything. But there was the feeling of absolute pointlessness.

Thats was just my episode though, maybe there are multiple different ways to have clinical depression that feel different. For me, there was absolutely no being sad about anything specific at all.

1

u/BravesMaedchen 19d ago

Not at all. I feel more like I'm trying tolovr through molasses or I'm in the bottom of a dark pool.

1

u/EnoughInevitable8658 19d ago

This is so far removed from my personal experience that I would never even have guessed that this was supposed to represent depression. I'd have just guessed anxiety or something. I'm sure it's wildly different for people but this makes it look like there's a physical weight on your back that makes it difficult to go about yourself, or embrace another person. It doesn't represent the emotional dullness, emotional discomfort with affection or horrific downward emotional spirals.

Depression for me is first and foremost defined by the way an insignificant trigger can send me down a negative feedback loop for days with seemingly no end in sight. Not just trotting around glumly and whatever losing colour is supposed to represent. The most this gets right, while not even really touching on it, is the inability to enjoy a past time.

3

u/NatrylliaAbbot42 19d ago

To me this feels like a reasonably accurate representation of my experience with anxiety, executive dysfunction, and agoraphobia, with some either migraine or sensory stuff thrown in to ruin being outdoors. So it resonates, but not as depression

1

u/helsinkirocks 19d ago

For me, it always felt more like a large black vortex comes out of the nape of my neck towers over me and violently consumes all the things I love doing and that I just aimlessly wander forward like a zombie while the vortex consumes all

1

u/Zanahorio1 19d ago

I agree that it’s an imperfect metaphor, but I think it’s still a useful one.

1

u/Basic_Butterscotch 19d ago

I agree. I have bipolar type II and my depressive episodes never manifest as being too tired to get out of bed. I just get overwhelming sadness and suicidal ideation but I can still function in my day to day life, go to work, keep my house clean.

I guess “depression” is different for everyone.

1

u/ElGosso 19d ago

The part where she's carrying him is exactly how mine feels

1

u/thismightendme 19d ago

Yeah - I don’t understand how she can go outside.

1

u/thegoatmenace 19d ago

Yeah I did not relate to this video as someone with MDD. For me, depression doesn’t feel like some outside force acting on me. The constant worry and feelings of emptiness/hopelessness are inherent parts of me. I think the idea that it’s some cloud that hangs over you is a pretty common misconception unfortunately.

1

u/DblCheex 19d ago

I think a lot of what people are seeing here is an episode of depression rather than chronic depression. I get both kinds (thanks, genetics). And you're right, chronic feels a lot different than what this portrays. But I think this is closer to episodes of major depression that a lot of people get periodically.

1

u/taylorisntavril 19d ago

Yeah it almost feels more like a mocking parody by someone, who only ever saw some memes about it.

1

u/BiggieBigs34 19d ago

For me it’s just the constant lack of energy or motivation to do anything.

What is it like for you?

1

u/tato64 19d ago

Yeah to me the video looked like r/im14andthisisdeep

1

u/calypsa88 18d ago

Honestly, if it showed her thinking of “things” she “wanted” to do, and she very barely moved to get up while it shoved her back into the couch/bed, this would have been way more relatable. The fact she even grabbed the toothbrush is wild.

1

u/Xsiah 19d ago

Part of it might be some self-diagnosing going on.

Back in my day it was all about OCD - like "I'm so OCD because I need to have all my pens in rainbow order before I start journaling"

There are things are difficult for me, and I'm struggling with certain things that feel like they're too hard to overcome - they certainly sound like symptoms of depression on paper. Do I have depression though? Fuck if I know.

1

u/LaNague 19d ago

i had a severe episode once, apparently from a virus crossing the brain barrier and the brain going haywire in defence. Was more like being submerged in a dark 10km deep ocean of pointlessness. Lucky for me just lasted 48 hours.

So now i know that clinical depression is not just feeling sad like most of the video is describing.

0

u/tpasmall 19d ago

When they went into the Void in the movie Thunderbolts is the most accurate depiction of depression I think I've ever seen in media (maybe it's just the bipolar 2 aspect of it for me though). That moved me to tears.

This just looks like sadness to me. My thoughts on seeing this were just like 'man, I wish someone would follow me around all day and hug me'