Why is there a negative social stigma attached to depression

[KiaKaha]

Or any kind of mental illness for that matter?

Seeing as the medical community view as an illness as opposed to a flawed character trait, why do people judge you if you are depressed? I realize that negativity can make everyone else feel bad, but why do people who have physical diseases such as cancer get compassion , whereas someone who is desperately unhappy get ignored? Is it because we cant see it? Or is it because other people dont understand what it feels like?

Why can you take a day off work if you have the flu, but you cant take one off if you are constantly sad?
One of the most furstrating things about my life, is that I have no one to support me when I feel so terribly low. No one seems to want to help...because its weak.. and it seems, to me, that if you are too weak to feel depressed in the first place, then you dont deserve to be noticed.

 

[BlueDays]

....Or is it because other people dont understand what it feels like?

^I think this has a lot to do with why it is not treated with the same compassion as a physical problem.

Some people who have never experienced it seem to think it is a condition that you can just "snap out of" or "choose" to not feel that way.
Poor general knowledge about the condition is a major factor for the social indifference to someone suffering depression imo.

 

[WeirdyMcGee]

People don't like things they don't understand.

There is also a stigma attached to 'going to a therapist' because if you go to a therapist- you must be a nutjob!
It's silly, really... but it's a fact about people.
They are kind of really ignorant.
haha

 

[The Lost]

I really hate this about people. It seems you're only allowed to be physically injured or ill, for it to be taken seriously.

 

[userremoved]

I believe its because people believe that we're mostly responsible for our situations and can leave it anytime we get ready. With things like cancer people can sympathize more because of how its out to the persons hands if they get it. But with things like SA people tell me "just get out more" or "dont care what people think". With depression I get "you decided how youre going to feel". While this may be true for some people, its not necessarily true for all. But I think because of these reasons people rarely sympathize and might even dislike you more for these kinds of problems.

 

[lilmutegirl]

I agree that people don't understand how it feels. I know that two people close to me have made negative comments about other people close to me who are depressed and bipolar. My mother even has told me "everyone has social anxiety" (which is what I have) and that I need to "suck it up". Since I realized that I had SA, I think I have become much more understanding of people with other mental illnesses, even though I may not fully understand, since I don't have them. I have told people that I think I have depression, though I think it is really just my anxiety overwhelming me, because depression seems more serious to people than anxiety, but even then, there is not much sympathy. My close friends know about my SA, and have been very supportive of me (many of them have depression or anxiety as well). I do not view us as weird, and I think that, people seeing us, without knowing about our afflictions, would not think we are freaks either. However, once you disclose this information, people tend to view you differently. I also had a professor once, after I started therapy and finally started going back to class, say, "Yeah, my son doesn't like to go to class either", as though I was just being lazy, and not the reality of my panic attacks at the shear thought of sitting in a classroom full of people.

 

[Bo592]

This is what bugs me about life.

 

[corvax]

I think physical problems are easier for other people to understand because everyone has undergone them to some degree or known someone who has. But most people don't struggle with mental illness, and it's hard to imagine a state of mind that you simply have never experienced. How do you begin to explain to someone who has never felt depressed what it feels like to be suicidal? You really can't. They just simply have never felt that sort of desperation.

Physical issues also tend to be more obvious. You can see someone with no legs in a wheelchair or a cancer patient vomiting up blood. You can't always see mental illness, so it's easy to argue it's not really happening.

 

[Flyingheart]

^I think this has a lot to do with why it is not treated with the same compassion as a physical problem.

Some people who have never experienced it seem to think it is a condition that you can just "snap out of" or "choose" to not feel that way.
Poor general knowledge about the condition is a major factor for the social indifference to someone suffering depression imo.

I completely agree with this. I remember the first time I revealed to my family about my social anxiety, feeling insecure and terribly sad.
Although they were supportive in their own way, I could tell they did not understand fully. I became easily irritated at their attitude though I knew it wasn't their fault they had so little general knowledge in this particular area. My brother even advised me that getting angry is a good thing and would "snap me out of it" as you said.
If only it were so easy. I've not spoken to him about my SA for 4 years, and though it was due much to explaining every painful detail to him (and him probably not understanding anyway) I am scared he won't take it seriously and I wouldn't want to burden him with a depressed sister.