How I’m Dealing With My Depression
How I’m Dealing With My Depression
Source: Finding Your Way With Caleb Campbell (Listen: 29 min)
Contributor: Selena Garcia
“I’LL BE HONEST, I’VE NEVER THOUGHT OF MYSELF AS SOMEONE WHO DEALS WITH DEPRESSION, BUT THAT’S NO LONGER THE CASE.” - CALEB CAMPBELL
Caleb Campbell is an emotional wellness speaker, podcaster and creator. He is also a former NFL player.
Caleb speaks openly and candidly about his healing journey, and for the first time in this episode, he addresses his experience with depression.
He starts with sharing tweets on depression that he saw in response to a question: “If you are experiencing depression, if you have experienced depression or you are constantly experiencing some measure of depression in your life, how would you describe depression based on how you experience it?”
Some answers he shares are: “depression is actively, cognitively depleting. You can’t think or focus. Sometimes you can’t hold things properly or complete actions as everything just feels crushing and numb. Depression is complete apathy for getting how or why to do the most mundane things.”
Someone else said “depression is an organic despair that is trying to kill you.”
He shares more in this podcast you’ll just have to tune in for.
“DEPRESSION DOESN’T CARE IF YOUR LIFE IS GREAT. DEPRESSION DOESN’T CARE IF YOU HAVE A MILLION BUCKS IN THE BANK AND YOU DRIVE A NICE CAR. DEPRESSION DOESN’T CARE.” - CALEB CAMPBELL
(4:11): "I don't think I've ever really actually opened up and talked about depression. I think that's for a couple of different reasons, but mainly, I will say that I'm not ashamed of the mental health challenges that I face. I'm not ashamed of the depression that I fight against, probably more regularly than you would think."
"I think I've never allowed myself to accept depression or define things, or when I'm actually going through a season of depression would define it as depression. I think I've had such an intense will-power in my life and I have been able to for so many years pull myself up by the boot-straps—as unhealthy as this is, I know—I've been able to pull myself up by the boot-straps and really just push my way forward, will my way forward."
"But this last season, a few months ago, when everything kind of shifted in my life, I felt this pendulum shift in my heart, and it's been a season of feeling complete apathy. This emptiness, this void, just very much like those descriptions of people's experience of depression, I relate to them so so much."
(8:10): "I also want to say you have no reason to feel guilty if you are going through something in life. You have no reason to feel guilty if you are facing some sort of mental health challenges, especially if your life is good."
(9:36): "Depression doesn't care if your life is great. Depression doesn't care if you have a million bucks in the bank, and you drive a nice car, and you have an amazing—depression doesn't care. And so you have the permission, in case nobody has told you recently, you have the permission to feel how you feel and to accept what you're going through in life regardless of how good your life is."
(17:26): "Healing happens when we radically accept our life."
LISTEN TO THE FULL PODCAST, HERE. (29 min)
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