I Understand
I can't give you a timeframe, but especially the past few weeks, I have developed so much more empathy, compassion, love, and understanding for my dear friends that suffer from depression and anxiety/panic attacks. I don't have depression, but I have definitely had some crazy emotional weeks that I think (from my incredibly limited knowledge and experience) have helped me to develop this empathy. I never understood how someone would just stop doing the things they love. I didn't understand not being able to get yourself out of bed. I didn't understand how a panic or anxiety attack worked and how you could get to the point of your body inducing that. Etc., etc. I had compassion, I had sympathy, and I respected that their/your experience was hard and different from mine. I mean, I had hard days, but a hard day is very different than hard weeks, months, and years. For those that deal with it all the time- I'm sorry. I love you. I understand a fraction of what you a