Compassion means to suffer with. When Elliot suffered from major depressive disorder, I lacked compassion. I either could not or would not see his suffering. I regret this. Each day I repent of this and enter his suffering. His suffering is now entwined with my life.
Suffering with is a difficult road, and it is a path that can be difficult to even see. How many times do we say, “I didn’t even know anything was wrong?”
Holy Saturday is a feast of compassion. Christ entered hell and suffered with us.
Major depression is such a difficult thing. And often people don’t show how much they are suffering with it. Often when we’re depressed we can be irritable or angry and may isolate. I feel for your memory. It’s hard to know how to respond to someone.
Thanks for the insightful comment. Major depression is difficult for a parent to recognize from the outside. I do not think Elliot recognized it from the inside either. Elliot talked to me about ADD because he recognized that his ability to focus had changed. Elliot did become more irritable and angry in the last year of his life when depression started to impact him. He also started having trouble sleeping, and his appetite decreased. At the time, I did not know that sleep and appetite were symptoms of major depressive disorder.