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LudwigPastorius

(10,782 posts)
Wed Sep 25, 2024, 02:58 PM Sep 25

How many of us who are prone to depression have heard this one?

“Stop feeling sorry for yourself.”

Especially, when it’s coming from a parent or friend, someone who is supposed to be supportive…

It really pisses me off. First of all, don’t you think I would will myself to feel normal if I could? And secondly, all that little bit of “advice” does is make you feel bad BECAUSE you are feeling bad.

😡

I don’t think there is anything worse to say to someone who is in the dark pit already.

20 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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How many of us who are prone to depression have heard this one? (Original Post) LudwigPastorius Sep 25 OP
My favorite is Get Over It. SamKnause Sep 25 #1
Jesus... LudwigPastorius Sep 25 #2
I was told this by a nurse as well. OldBaldy1701E Sep 25 #9
Interesting. LudwigPastorius Sep 25 #10
I always said that it takes a level of disconnect to be effective in that job. OldBaldy1701E Sep 26 #13
The thought that being a nurse requires... LudwigPastorius Sep 26 #14
OH yes. OldBaldy1701E Sep 26 #16
It's insulting, and doesn't even make sense jmbar2 Sep 25 #3
Yes, some people still view a very real chemical imbalance in the brain as just a "weakness" of character. LudwigPastorius Sep 25 #11
Or the charming "pull yourself up by your bootstraps". Dave Bowman Sep 25 #4
Yep, uggh... LudwigPastorius Sep 25 #12
It's the type of comment that comes from people that have no empathy. canuckledragger Sep 25 #5
I think that gblady Sep 25 #6
People who think they have the right to tell someone else how to feel really grind my gears. ShazzieB Sep 25 #7
"Wtf, do these people think humans come with a dial that can be set to the emotion of our choice?" OldBaldy1701E Sep 28 #17
A lack of empathy can also manifest as being upbeat and cheery. All. The. Damned. Time. ShazzieB Sep 28 #18
Me too! (n/t) OldBaldy1701E Sep 29 #20
This message was self-deleted by its author ShazzieB Sep 28 #19
Omg XanaDUer2 Sep 25 #8
I hate it AND Lulu KC Sep 26 #15

OldBaldy1701E

(6,338 posts)
9. I was told this by a nurse as well.
Wed Sep 25, 2024, 10:30 PM
Sep 25

She was a triage nurse for over 43 years. She was one of the most experienced emergency room nurses in the state.

She was my mother.

LudwigPastorius

(10,782 posts)
10. Interesting.
Wed Sep 25, 2024, 11:42 PM
Sep 25

My mother was the one who dropped the "stop feeling sorry for yourself" bomb on me, and she is also a former nurse, although she was in post-op recovery.

OldBaldy1701E

(6,338 posts)
13. I always said that it takes a level of disconnect to be effective in that job.
Thu Sep 26, 2024, 12:59 PM
Sep 26

Doing that job certainly requires some lack of human connection or one could not get past the patient's pain in order to help them heal.

It's just that we family members usually had to pay the price for that. I mean... it dawned on me a while back that my mother had never told me that she loved me in the first person. She has said that she did in the third person, as in she would tell someone else this with me in the room, but I don't recall her ever saying it directly to me. That is an aspect of what I mean when I say that she had a certain level of disconnect with her own offspring. The fact that our positive appearance in public was more impotent than either of us being in danger (unless our being in danger made her look bad as a parent) or getting hurt was another clue. (The ole "Stop crying where people can see you!" crap. I was freaking eight.)

LudwigPastorius

(10,782 posts)
14. The thought that being a nurse requires...
Thu Sep 26, 2024, 01:31 PM
Sep 26

you to be inured to the pain of others had occurred to me. I don’t think you could do the job for long if you had too much empathy for the patients. But, I’m sure you’ll agree that it sucks when mom can’t turn that off and give her own kid some healthy support.

That, and the inevitable graphic dinner table conversations about orthopedic surgeries and other gruesomeness.

jmbar2

(6,088 posts)
3. It's insulting, and doesn't even make sense
Wed Sep 25, 2024, 03:11 PM
Sep 25

If you feel sick with the flu or you are having an episode of low blood sugar, you feel bad. But you don't necessarily "feel sorry for yourself."

Most people experiencing frequent discomfort manage it with reasonable grace, not self-pity.

.

LudwigPastorius

(10,782 posts)
11. Yes, some people still view a very real chemical imbalance in the brain as just a "weakness" of character.
Wed Sep 25, 2024, 11:44 PM
Sep 25

To them, I say, fuck off.

canuckledragger

(1,922 posts)
5. It's the type of comment that comes from people that have no empathy.
Wed Sep 25, 2024, 03:35 PM
Sep 25

People that spew that nonsense are commonly pretty self centered, annoyed that you're inconveniencing them somehow, or showing emotions that they themselves would rather not acknowledge TO themselves.

Gotta pretend to be a tough guy and everything.

I have friends that act like that sometimes, that come from big extended, supportive families that they can rely on...and I'm the opposite. So of course I'm going to get moody when the blood sugar's low and such, and the resulting depression stirs up old memories and difficulties they never had to face by themselves, or at all.

gblady

(3,551 posts)
6. I think that
Wed Sep 25, 2024, 04:23 PM
Sep 25

A lot of people who have never experienced clinical depression don't fully understand it, even tho they may want to or think they do. If they haven't experienced it, they seem to think it's like having a bad day, or going thru a rough patch, rather than being at the bottom of a murky pit that you feel unable to crawl out of. I have a couple good friends who I know try to understand, but I can tell they don't, not really. Fortunately, I haven't been in that pit for quite a while, but have spent many years there in the past.

ShazzieB

(18,641 posts)
7. People who think they have the right to tell someone else how to feel really grind my gears.
Wed Sep 25, 2024, 04:50 PM
Sep 25

I detest ANY kind of comment that implies we can all just decide how to feel and feel that way. Wtf, do these people think humans come with a dial that can be set to the emotion of our choice? Ordering someone to feel X instead of Y is just plain stupid, on top of being rude and insensitive, and doing that to someone who is dealing with trauma and/or whose brain chemistry is out of whack for reasons beyond their control is just plain cruel.

I don't think most people mean to be rude, insensitive, or cruel when they say things like that, but one's intentions and the effects of one's behavior on others cam be VERY different things.

Some people say things like "stop feeling sorry for yourself" or "cheer up" out of a genuine (albeit very misguided) desire to help. Others say those things because they're tired of hearing about someone else's misery and just want to make it stop.

There are also people who are deliberately inconsiderate or even cruel (and some of us unfortunately have more people like that in our lives than others). This group may do the most lasting damage, but the first two can also do a lot of damage without intending to.

I wish parents would do a better job of teaching kids how to manage their emotions, but it's a hell of a lot easier said than done, especially for those who have never learned how to manage their own emotions properly (like my parents). Too many of us never have a good model of a well-adjusted adult to follow or get our own needs met sufficiently while growing up, and we have to spend the rest of our lives figuring out these things work.

When I look back at the mistakes I've made in my life as a result of learning the wrong lessons while growing up, I can get very frustrated about all the things that went wrong because I didn't know how to handle them better. I'd be better off if I could remember to give myself credit for the lessons I've learned and the work I did to learn them, instead of resenting the fact that I had to do all that work. I suspect that's true of a lot of us.

OldBaldy1701E

(6,338 posts)
17. "Wtf, do these people think humans come with a dial that can be set to the emotion of our choice?"
Sat Sep 28, 2024, 09:12 AM
Sep 28

Well, you are referring to the people who usually have no emotions and therefore are empty and devoid of compassion and the ability to empathize. They have to be told how to feel. So, in a sense, they do have a 'dial'.

Most people just have not bothered to become educated about the issue and that is thanks to a bunch of ancient crap that some age groups/regions refuse to let go of. Hell, just the other day I had to endure a good friend's continued rant about chiropractors, based solely on 'I heard about this guy...', and 'I read about this girl...'. Of course, he could not provide the story he read about. He is of the generation that thought such medicine was 'quackery'. He has never bothered to find out about any aspect of it since.

(I got my neck popped on Friday. We have been working on my having a very bad crick in my neck while enduring COVID. I was unable to move it much for about a month. TWO sessions with my guy, it is almost completely gone. The feeling of release is beyond description. Just knowing I can turn my head now without pain is so amazing.)

ShazzieB

(18,641 posts)
18. A lack of empathy can also manifest as being upbeat and cheery. All. The. Damned. Time.
Sat Sep 28, 2024, 02:12 PM
Sep 28

And insisting that others do the same. You know, the type of person who is always telling people to smile more, look on the bright side, don't be so negative, "turn that frown upside down!" There's a term for this: toxic positivity. I hate it!


Response to OldBaldy1701E (Reply #17)

XanaDUer2

(13,829 posts)
8. Omg
Wed Sep 25, 2024, 07:06 PM
Sep 25

My loser sister. I should be grateful for what I have. I mean yes. She texted me the riot act Saturday when i made the mistake of texting her i was hurt by a relative. She texted me text after long text reaming me. I finally realized she's not a safe person to talk to

ETA A relative she's not related to

Lulu KC

(4,182 posts)
15. I hate it AND
Thu Sep 26, 2024, 06:10 PM
Sep 26

The truth is that in order to climb out of the hole, I actually DO have to DO something. It can be anything—a load of laundry, putting on a favorite article of clothing, watching a funny movie, to start to get things moving. I have to turn away from the people and things that hurt and move toward anything else.

But when someone says that? It moves me farther into the darkness because I will dwell on what they said, in, I hate to admit it—a very self-pitying way.

It’s all in the delivery.

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