Depression is Contagious: Personal Experience

I was a happy, shy kid for most of my childhood. Specifically, I always looked for the silver lining in every situation, no matter what happened. For me, being content with the present was the priority, and things could just go up from where I was at the time. However, soon things took a drastic turn, and I learned the reality of life.

In this piece, I’m going to give some thoughts on how I discovered Depression is contagious. For more backstory, you can check out my previous story. With that being said, a little backstory is that I had a friend who had severe Depression and Anxiety issues. After I cut him off, I developed these symptoms while not facing something drastic.

I didn’t experience something that onsets the symptoms of Depression. However, just by being close to someone who had it, I developed it too. For four long years of my life, I was diagnosed with Persistent Depressive Disorder.

Is Depression Contagious?

While I had my personal experience, I couldn’t generalize this event to everyone. For this reason, I began researching this topic with my close peers. For instance, while once talking to my brother, he mentioned that he was developing symptoms of depression because people in his circle had it. This solidified my belief that Depression is indeed contagious.

However, this isn’t the only case. In particular, a close friend I had shared something similar to what I had faced. All these instances made me think more about how people can catch symptoms from each other. These symptoms can turn into disorders if no intervention is given to the person.

These are personal experiences, but I also needed theoretical evidence to support this hypothesis. To do that, I thoroughly researched this topic. For an in-depth look at this topic, look at the scientific evidence here.

What does this mean?

The point of writing this article isn’t just sharing my experience, but spreading awareness that self-care is important. In particular, while I believe that helping another person is important, it’s also essential to take care of yourself. In conclusion, humans need each other to function, and to help one another, but it shouldn’t be at the cost of your own mental and physical wellbeing.

Always remember, to take care of your needs, asking for space is never unhealthy, and having boundaries is essential. Most important of all, you are worthy of respect, love, and care. You deserve happiness, and while giving it importance, you should also prioritize how you feel. Stay strong everyone and take care of yourself and others around you.