“Every storm runs out of rain.” – Maya Angelou
I have always found Maya Angelou to be inspiring. Her poem, And Still I Rise is one of my favorite poems. I always included it when I taught high school special education English classes. I discovered that my students could relate to her words, especially when I showed them a video of her reciting And Still I Rise. It was inspiring to watch them relate to the poem.
The above quote from Maya Angelou really strikes me as I consider my own mental health. The storm could represent my depression and anxiety. There are times when the darkness of depression’s storm is very thick. I am soaked by my depression and left dripping with the pain it causes. When I think of a storm, I see dark clouds and pouring rain. It feels dreary. Can you see the image of a storm? That is what depression is like. Depression and other mental illnesses are storms that run through our lives.
Angelou’s statement indicates that storms do not last forever. The rain runs out. Does that happen with depression? I think it does. Even the deepest depression will lift at least somewhat at times. Usually, that lifting of the depression is a result of treatment. That treatment is different for each of us. For me only TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) and esketamine lift my depression. These two treatments cause the storm to run out of rain. For others, it might be medication that lifts the storm. Others might find relief from ECT or psilocybin.
Whatever treatment works for us, we must trust in its ability to stop the rain. Angelou says, “Every storm runs out of rain.” Yes, depression lifts. It runs out of its force in our lives. That does not mean it doesn’t return. Storms come and go. Weather exists in patterns. The same is true for mental illness. Depression often has patterns. There are times when it pops up in our lives. For some of us it pops up more than others. I think Angelou is saying we need to believe that things will get better. We must believe that we can get through depression or other mental illnesses by relying on our treatment and support systems. This is not an easy task. When we are in the eye of the storm, it seems impossible to escape. The rain and the darkness are intense. At these times we feel trapped. We are soaked in the pain of the mental illness. If you have never experienced depression, think about being trapped in a storm. You are soaked and surrounded by darkness. You are lying in mud so thick that you cannot get up. Wind blows intensely around you. Can you feel it? Does this image let you know what depression and other mental illnesses are like?
But anyone who has studied weather knows that Angelou is right. Storms run their course. They end. Depression can lift. It is difficult to get out of the storm, but it is possible. We need to trust our treatment. We need to trust our support systems. We need to trust the strength we carry within ourselves. It may not seem possible, but we possess the strength to allow mental illness to ease. Notice I didn’t say disappear. Depression and other mental health disorders are illnesses. So, they are not going to disappear just because a storm has passed, but they can ease up and allow us to heal. If we think about episodes of depression as a storm, we can understand that it will run its course. There will be an easing of symptoms. What we do with the times in between storms is important for our healing. We need to use this time to build our coping strategies and develop our support systems. That is how we make future storms easier to survive. This involves work. It is not easy to live with a mental illness. We can make it a little easier if we have something positive to focus on. That something could be Angelou’s quote. She gives us that reminder that storms end.
I am not trying to simplify living with mental illness. It sucks. That does not mean life is without hope. We can get through the storms. We can trust our treatment and support systems and heal. Remember: “Every storm runs out of rain.”
