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I find it I get depression really easily, but the thing is. I'm so wealthy, to have an education, food, water, roof over my head. But I'm still depressed? Why can't I be grateful? Is it normal to be depressed even when your wealthy?
Depression doesn't discriminate between the rich and the poor. Being wealthy does not render you immune to depression.
Exactly
It's a mental health issue, not a wealth/lack of wealth issue. There are hormonal, psychological and debateably even genetic causes of depression.
There are many very rich and successful celebrities who have come forward to speak about their experiences of depression, and they deserve to be taken as seriously as a normal person.
Lack of wealth can definitely contribute to becoming depressed. Talking from experience here.
Contribute is the key word there. If one is already susceptible to depression due to their brain chemistry, outside stress like a lack of wealth can certainly help trigger it. But we're talking prolonged stress, not just a singular event. Being fired won't cause depression, but being unemployed for months or years - or being at an extremely stressful job - can do it. A break up won't cause it, but being single - or being in a terrible relationship - might. Getting the flu won't, but fighting cancer could. None of these things will cause an otherwise perfectly mentally healthy person to become depressed, but if they're already at risk of it, these things can set them over the edge.
OF course, if one both lacks wealth and is depressed, there's also a good chance the two aren't connected or even that the depression contributed to the lack of wealth and not the other way around. The effects of depression can definitely put one on the road to lacking wealth, even if they don't realize they're depressed. Depression often goes unnoticed and undiagnosed for months or years, sometimes decades or entire lives. Somebody who has plenty of wealth might be depressed and not realize it, slowly lose their wealth because of the long term effects of depression(struggling at work, losing important relationships, etc), and then realize they're depressed once the wealth is gone...it would be easy to think the lack of wealth caused them to be depressed, when in reality it was there all along. I don't know your personal experience, so I have no idea if that's what happened to you, but that can and does happen.
Of course a perfectly mentally healthy person could become depressed if he loved someone enough for long enough and they broke up with him. It'd go away eventually.
Actually getting a severe flu can cause depression. There is a direct relationship between inflammation and depression and flu being a respiratory illness causes inflammation in the respiratory pathways. I almost always become depressed when I get a severe flu and it clears up when the flu subsides. Depression is directly linked to inflammation in the body. Search "inflammation and depression" for more info.
My experience with poverty is that it causes a profound sense of helplessness which in turn causes depression. For example where I live doctors and medical care costs money. If you don't have money here and you get seriously sick you are pretty much screwed. Dark thoughts then begin to come to mind even if the illness is non-fatal.
That's like asking if it's normal to catch the flu even if you're wealthy. Depression is a disease, not something you can control.
And this isn't helping. Beating yourself up because you're not grateful, when depression has nothing to do with how grateful you are, is just going to make things worse. Having somebody as close to your mum contributing that nonsense is just going to make things worse.
You need to talk to a doctor. I hope you can make your mum understand what you're going through, and if not, find somebody else who can help you through this. If you don't have somebody in your circle or friends or family you can confide in(ask around...I bet you'd be surprised to find somebody else going through exactly what you're going through), there are also support groups for people dealing with depression in most countries, try to find one.
Good luck!
As someone who's out of anxiety meds and had to sleep in a car last week I'm incredibly close to tears. I suggest learning new languages and traveling though. Maybe go to Disneyland. Get a loan, go to Europe and then return home and pay it back. Start a business...
Are you gauging wealth solely on these factors or do you actually have oodles of loot? If it's the former, I'm wealthy too...minus the edumacationism.
They say money can't buy happiness. I think that depends on the person. If you're depressed to begin with, having endless money can make matters much worse by providing an unstable mind with all sorts of shit to further corrupt your thoughts, like drugs and alcohol. If you have your shit together in the first place, money and everything that comes with it can only further your stability. But either way, there will always be leeches trying to suck you dry...or something. What the hell do I know. I'm just a bird.
A side note, thinking about how depressed you are is only going to perpetuate the issue. Easier said than done, but try to shift your thoughts to the good things you have.
I'm saying I'm wealthy only on the fact that I have a house, food, water, clean clothing ect. I'm not rich. (Purely off money) because my family are divorced and can't afford anything like that now. I think I'm depressed because of my Pure O OCD and my GAD. I also get bullied at school but I'm classified as wealthy, I should be grateful for what I have. And not be depressed..
Look into Maslow's hierarchy of needs:
Physiological
Safety
Love/belonging
Esteem
Self-actualization
Wealth alone won't get you past step 2.
Instead of an education, why don't you invest your money on something worthwhile, like keeping a fire going.
wealth does that to you. when you have everything then what's the point in living anymore? btw if it would make you less depressed you could send some of that $$$ my way.
I don't get whatever I want and I don't have all the money in the world. My parents are divorced and are struggling with money. Although they can afford food and water. A house and an education. That's all they can afford, I should be grateful for what I have. My mum even told me I should be grateful and not a spoilt brat.