Medium.com - Happy on My Own

Coming to terms with depression in your twenties.
Abby Norman in Human Parts

DEPRESSION IS LIKE HAVING A POPCORN KERNEL LODGED in the back of your throat: it just sits there, irritating you, irritating your body. You can ignore it but, eventually, there it is again, scratchy and pissing you off. It’s not your fault it’s there and try as you might, you can’t seem to expel it. You forcefully cough, poke it with a toothbrush until you gag, make that weird hacking noise that makes everyone look at you funny: they don’t understand what you’re doing, and you could give them context but some of them still won’t get it. They’ll just shrug and say, “I don’t eat popcorn.” Other people might cast their eyes downward and nod knowingly, “Yep. I’ve been there.”

Eventually, though, the popcorn kernel will dislodge and you’ll be good-as-new. But what if it didn’t? What if once it got stuck there, it stayed and became a constant source of pain and irritation for you? An isolating, seemingly silly problem that slowly becomes a fixation and negatively affects your life?

https://medium.com/human-parts/5d6d9ab21abb

I like how this lady writes.