- Deep-Pressure is a photographic project with the aim of exposing and exploring the depths of depression in order to raise awareness upon it and help those going through it and those who don’t know or understand what it is, see it without jumping to stigmatization or ignorance. It is one of the most common mental health issues at the moment affecting more people than ever. Most of them remain in the dark, hiding in fear of judgment or misunderstanding.
I decided to call it Deep-Pressure because one of the main causes of this affection lies in the huge pressure we put upon ourselves or others in order to reach some sort of perfection, ignoring the vulnerable aspects of our human being. Someone who is dealing with depression has been deep-pressured all his/her life, reaching to a point when their mind, body and heart have reached the level of saturation. It is not a shame to be diagnosed with depression and it is certainly not a shame to ask for help and admitting how vulnerable we all are and how much we need patience and gentleness in order to heal. It is not a sin to need kindness and reach for the gentle. You must always remember that even if in your point of view one lives a “better” life than you, it doesn’t have anything to do with dealing with depression. What might mean little or much to you, might mean the world or nothing to someone else.
One of the most highly made errors when dealing with people who have depression is to judge and think that if that person has a career, a family, friends there is no way they could be depressed and then rejecting them, thus also the feelings that he/she is dealing it, throwing that person in a much deeper state of darkness. The way to help someone with depression is to reach your hand and be there for him/her, acknowledge their feelings with kindness and support.
The second error we make is forcing that person out of the state they are in, which only puts more pressure on them thus making them hide and feel ashamed and more unable to live up to others expectation which is one of the base roots of what caused the depression. The intention is for sure good, but our intentions aren’t always in alignment with what the one standing in front of us needs. Forcing the depressed to get better, just like that, in a flash, just as you would shake off a situation which made you angry for example, does not help. While not holding on to negative feelings for a healthy person usually helps to not keep your mind busy with unimportant things, for the depressed it's cutting them short. It's telling them to start over when they don't even understand where they are or should be.
It’s time for us to stop hiding away from our vulnerabilities or exploiting them, for pressuring ourselves and others into superhuman efforts and be more patient and kind to ourselves and to others around us. That way we create the space for the healing and understanding to take place. Sometimes just the fact that someone is there listening and checking up on you without judgment and pressure is the highest form of help and love we can offer each-other.
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