I Need a Friend, Not Fixing.

I have anxiety and depression. Christmas and the holiday's is a difficult time for many people, and I am no exception. Usually, though, about a week into January I can get back into my stride and grab life by the horns, so to speak.

This year, just as my stride was about to come back, something happened. A very awful, terrible something. A something that lead to the police interviewing my 13-year-old daughter about something that may or may not have happened two years ago.

But even when it seems the worst is behind us, my anxiety and depression doesn't go away. Instead of being pulled out of the water, I feel as though I only just caught my breath.

I was having a hard day earlier this week and it lead me to this epiphany about mental health. I wanted to reach out and talk to someone, knowing that I would probably feel better if I did. But here's the problem with that, generally speaking, if you were to ask someone, 'how are you' and the person responds with anything less than positive, the first response that comes out is usually, 'what's wrong?' or, 'what happened?' or, 'why are you...?' The reason this is a problem is because sometimes there is no why. The other reason is because, though well intended, people try to offer solutions instead of just listening and accepting what is being said. I need a friend, I don't need to be fixed. So my epiphany (which now that I think about it, isn't really an epiphany) is this: it is not that people are afraid to admit to having depression, anxiety, or other mental health problems, it's that people are afraid to admit to present symptoms of depression, anxiety, etc. What I mean is, it is easier for me to explain what an anxiety attack feels like, but I don't ever want people to witness me having an anxiety attack. It's easier to say, 'yesterday was a hard day' and blowing it off as just one of those days, instead of admitting I'm having 'one of those days.'

What do you think? Am I wrong or do you agree?