Five reasons why depression can be actually good for you!

1) Your outlook towards life changes: Depression is often episodic. When you are not in a state of depression, you tend to enjoy life more than people who are not suffering from depression. You value the little things in your life more.

“If you know what it is to feel low, acknowledge it, and you have seen life in such a stage which is negative, when you get out of depression, you appreciate the normalcy of life in a way that normal people rarely do. Say if you visit a park which is muddy and mushy, you might not appreciate it if you haven’t experienced depression, but the person who has fought it will find it extremely beautiful. So, it does make you appreciate mundane, normal things in life that otherwise wouldn’t have caught your fancy,” says Bhavna Barmi, Senior Clinical Psychologist and relationship therapist, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute.

When you are not in a state of depression, you tend to enjoy life more than people who are not suffering from depression. (Source: Thinkstock Images)

2) You grow professionally: Gauri Sharma, a happy-go-lucky girl in twenties was often rebuked by her parents for not taking her life/career seriously. After going through a messy break-up, all she wanted was to stop living life and deprive herself of all pleasures. Her parents stood by her during this period and instead of judging her, encouraged Gauri to apply for UPSC. Gauri, who was an HR consultant earlier, knew her career has taken an unexpected but pleasant turn.

“Had it not been for the low phase, I wouldn’t have valued my career so much,” says Sharma. “When you come out of depression, you have that extra urge to succeed, you feel overly charged to do things,” agrees Barmi.

Depression can also result in professional success (Source: Thinkstock Images)

3) You grow personally: Meenal Bhatia, a housewife had a laidback approach to life. She worked at a relaxed pace and was rarely in a hurry. Meenal was often teased by her husband for being disorganised. When Meenal was diagnosed with post menopausal depression, she never thought she would become a different person post depression. When Meenal finally overcame her illness, she became a more organised and even a happier person. “I discovered I could work more efficiently, and with more zest,” shared Meenal.

“When you are in depression, you feel helpless, hopeless, worthless, demotivated and your inter-personal communication is affected. When you come out of the feeling your compensatory mechanism comes into foray and makes up for the lost time,” opines Barmi.

When you come out of depression, you might become more efficient due to the compensatory mechanism in play. (Source: Thinkstock Images)

4) You become a better judge of people: You recognise your true friends, well-wishers and weed out unwanted people who left you in lurch when you needed them the most. “I discovered my parents were my true well-wishers, when they supported me at the time when I needed them the most. Today I value them more than anything else. I was earlier a very social person with loads of friends; now I have only a couple of people in my life whom I truly value,” shares Sharma.

You recognise your true friends, well-wishers and weed out unwanted people who left you in lurch when you needed them the most. (Source: Thinkstock Images)

5) You get over your complexes: Sonal Khanna, a media professional credits her depression for getting over her personality drawbacks. “Once you have experienced such a low phase in your life, you don’t feel bogged down by your negative traits, instead you feel comfortable in your own skin,” says Khanna.

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