Depression

Over the wkend, I realised that there are so many people around me who are falling into the abyss of depression and the likes e.g. bipolar disorder, schizophrenia.

This is so frightening. These are people who were/are high-flyers and overachievers with great accomplishments at work or studies, yet even they fell prey to depression. These are also the same people with adequate family and peer support.

Is it due to exceptional stress or unrealistic expectations of themselves? The pressure on them may have accumulated to such an extent that they just snap.

I worry because these are people whom I know, with characteristics akin to mine e.g. being opiniated, with little trust in people.

It's ironical. When you have so much, you will fear losing everything and that adds pressure. But when you have little or nothing, it is hard to survive or even do well in life and that also adds pressure.

In the middle of this 'problem' spectrum, is someone who has little or minimal pressing problems, like me. Yet I feel unfulfilled and that adds pressure cos I wonder why I think this way.

Are humans born to be worriers? I do not think so. Perhaps I wonder why I am born to be luckier (or worse off, depending on who I am tokking to at the moment) and this sort of thinking which has no answer will only lead one to search for deeper answers within one's soul, and that eventually leads to the slippery path of wondering what life is all about.

I have come full circle to realise that perhaps all the above is just an excuse, just like all the other excuses I have been giving. And certainly I do not think that love is the be all and end all of all 'problems'. It brings a different set of problems, and I suppose there will be novelty at that point, but that will also wear off.

More importantly, I need to be happy with myself and the way I am. I am not perfect and I should not expect others to be as well. If others can be happy with me, why should I hanker after the impossible or pray for a lucky break. Whatever will be will be. And that is perhaps the best advice to avoid depression.