Now Reading
Dueling with Depression: Look for the Helpers

Dueling with Depression: Look for the Helpers

[WARNING: GRAPHIC]

I hope everyone had a spectacular Denver PrideFest (and I hope you got laid). Aside from the sun almost burning away my skin, cauterizing my flesh, and charring my bones, I had an absolutely wonderful Pride weekend.

But not everyone’s Pride was the paradigm of perfection.

There was the nutjob who threatened to shoot a woman and her kids as they stood along Colfax waiting for the Parade to pass by. And there was that hate-filled scrotum who lit woodchips on fire in the shape of swastika near Colfax and Sherman.

Then, of course, there was Orlando. The tragedy was a grim reminder that hate still abides, as 49 members of our community never had the chance to celebrate Pride this year.

I’ve grown fatigued with “experts” telling me how I should react or who I should blame for these all-too-common shootings. However, there’s one person I continue to draw advice from when witnessing such unfathomable suffering and grief. Someone I’ve been listening to since I was a little kid eating handfuls of Peanut Butter Captain Crunch right out of the box.

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news,” said the late Fred Rogers of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, “my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers — so many caring people in this world.”

The most conspicuous example was all the caring people in Orlando who stood in long lines to donate blood, so many in fact that blood banks turned people away because they were at capacity.

But I’d like to redirect the spotlight back to the preeminent helper himself, Mr. Rogers, and how his words have helped me with my own depression.

Mr. Rogers was a true humanist, consistently demonstrating his genuine empathy for children all over the world. He gave advice on everything from how to tie your shoes to how to deal with bullies (he was bullied himself growing up, garnering the nickname “Fat Freddy”).

But I think his most poignant message was encouraging kids (and adults) not only to talk about feelings, but to acknowledge them — good or bad — as an important part of who you are.

“There’s no ‘should’ or ‘should not’ when it comes to having feelings,” he writes in The World According to Mr. Rogers, adding that the origins of feelings are outside of your control. “When we can believe that, we may find it easier to make constructive choices about what to do with those feelings.”

I’ve attempted to escape from my depression, usually with the liquid relief of Jack Daniels and horrible hangovers. I’ve often ruminated over what my life would be without that emptiness eagerly gorging on my thoughts and my perspective and my future. And depression has a nasty habit of trying to convince me I’m alone, completely isolated from the caring helpers of the world.

But that simply isn’t true.

Whether depression comes from bad brain chemistry or trauma or aliens from Jupiter, there’s always … always someone out there who will listen. When you find yourself losing ground in your own duel with depression, look for the helpers.

What's Your Reaction?
Excited
0
Happy
0
In Love
0
Not Sure
0
Silly
0
Scroll To Top