First and foremost, I apologise for the long spell of
silence. Unfortunately, the depression
had taken such a strong grip that I could not ignore the ‘You can’t write!’ and
‘Nobody reads these.’ thoughts. Whilst I
struggle to ignore these thoughts I shall write my blogs for my purpose of
therapy, if nothing else.
As a student studying counselling skills one cannot avoid
self-reflecting. Since my teen years,
where I spent many hours alone, self-reflecting has become a habit. Whilst it is useful to think back on what we
have done, how it could affect ourselves and others, and what we could have
done better, it can be the basis for depressive thoughts.
Fortunately, I can reduce my self-loathing, morbid thoughts
to ‘how can I get better?’ ideas
that I had overlooked in the past. The
first being: Respect.
Something that annoys me and, at times, upsets me is the
lack of respect people show for one another.
I have seen doctors ignore care assistants in a hospital, middle
management disgrace retail workers in front of customers and people
disrespecting beliefs and life choices of people they have never got to know.
As cliché as this sounds, we are one of seven (or eight-
depending on when you read this) billion people who live on this planet. We separate each other by the
landmass we happen to live on, further separated by country, region, birth
right, culture, race, faith, disability and so forth.
It frustrated me that, despite us all being human beings, we
see fit to treat people based on how we value others. Because they follow a belief system different
to our own, because they did not have a privileged upbringing, because they
were born somewhere else. Differences
should be celebrated!
And for somebody who has depression, just having some
respect could mean the difference between having a good day and an unbearable
day. But don’t be nice to people because
of their mental wellness, do it because we are humans, do it to spread
kindness. You could make somebody feel
better about themselves if you smile and share a friendly ‘hello’, or hold a
door open for them (whether they are male or female). A little effort will mean a lot to somebody
else. Even being mindful of what we’re saying
could make a difference, keeping false information to oneself and not spreading
hatred.
So, today, let’s vow to respect one another.
