Why I Regret Being Open About My Depression

Mental wellness is having a moment. But don’t be fooled into thinking everyone wants to hear about yours.

Like all my worst decisions, it seemed a good idea at the time. My excellent therapist had identified a core problem in my approach to the world: I had become scared of my own shadow, I was paranoid about people and their intentions, I never missed an opportunity to avoid saying what I meant.

These, I learnt, are all low-key behaviours of a depressed mind.

And so it seemed like a sensible forwards-looking step to start being a bit more open about what my life had become. To get on the front foot, and to demonstrate an assertiveness I once knew.

Big mistake.

THE FASHION OF THE TIME

Mental wellbeing is in vogue, and that makes sense: ours is a post-religious, individualistic society, and happiness is centre stage. Good for us! Many of us actively benefit, including me.

But scratch beneath the surface, and something a lot more interesting and sinister reveals itself.

A society which makes happiness a doctrine is invariably an unhappy one. Telling ourselves we deserve to be happy means too many of us are…