--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If we admit our depression openly and…" description: "\"If we admit our depression openly and freely, those around us get from it an experience of freedom rather than the depression itself.\" — Rollo May" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fba/rollo-may-1295_depressing_if-we-admit-our-depression-openly-and-fr_1104289.jpg" --- # If we admit our depression openly and freely, those around… ![“If we admit our depression openly and freely, those around us get from it an experience of freedom rather than the depression itself.” quote by Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fba/rollo-may-1295_depressing_if-we-admit-our-depression-openly-and-fr_1104289.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fba/rollo-may-1295_depressing_if-we-admit-our-depression-openly-and-fr_1104289.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fba/rollo-may-1295_depressing_if-we-admit-our-depression-openly-and-fr_1104289.jpg) > “If we admit our depression openly and freely, those around us get from it an experience of freedom rather than the depression itself.” [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Openly acknowledging depression transforms it into a shared experience, allowing others to respond with empathy and freedom rather than being overwhelmed by the illness. **In simple terms:** Admitting depression openly creates freedom for others. Key Takeaway Share feelings honestly to foster supportive freedom. Themes mental health empathy communication Mood reflective hopeful Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - therapy sessions - support groups - personal relationships - workplace discussions Key Concepts existential psychology authenticity social connection Questions to Reflect On - How can you model vulnerability without burdening others? - What support structures help turn shared pain into collective freedom? A Different Perspective If others react judgmentally, openness can increase stigma instead of relief. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Admit Depression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/admit-depression-2909346/) [Depressing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depressing/) [Depression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depression/) [Depression Openly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depression-openly-2909345/) [Experience Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience-freedom-424460/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Freedom Depression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom-depression-766518/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Openly Freely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/openly-freely-2909347/) ## Related quotes > [I live my life openly and freely every day anyway, and do what I want to do, but I don't take any great risks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barrowman/i-live-my-life-openly-and-freely-every-day-anyway-and-do-what-i-want/) [John Barrowman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barrowman/) > [“Money or health? 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Always here and now - in that freedom which is one with distance in that stillness which is born of silence.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dag-hammarskj-ld/the-mystical-experience-always-here-and-now-in-that-freedom-which-is/) [Dag Hammarskjöld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dag-hammarskj-ld/) > [I'd like to welcome everyone, everywhere to come to West Virginia and experience all the freedom and beauty our state has to offer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-justice/i-d-like-to-welcome-everyone-everywhere-to-come-to-west-virginia-and/) [Jim Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-justice/) > [I am convinced that no one loses anyone, because no one owns anyone. That is the true experience of freedom:having the most important thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-am-convinced-that-no-one-loses-anyone-because-no-one-owns-anyone/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“No one loses anyone because no one owns anyone. That is true experience of freedom; having the most important thing in it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/no-one-loses-anyone-because-no-one-owns-anyone-that-is-true-2/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“Now, though, I am convinces that no one loses anyone, because no one owns anyone. That is the true experience of freedom: having the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/now-though-i-am-convinces-that-no-one-loses-anyone-because-no-one/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Are you ready to step out of the prison of memory and conditioned responses into the experience of freedom? If so, then observe your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/are-you-ready-to-step-out-of-the-prison-of-memory-and-conditioned/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [Experience through freedom is the only means to arrive at the truth and the best solutions; and there is no freedom if there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/errico-malatesta/experience-through-freedom-is-the-only-means-to-arrive-at-the-truth/) [Errico Malatesta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/errico-malatesta/) > [Ideology today is unfreedom which you sincerely personally experience as freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/ideology-today-is-unfreedom-which-you-sincerely-personally-experience/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [Although we have the potential to experience the freedom of a butterfly, we mysteriously prefer the small and fearful cocoon of ego.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/although-we-have-the-potential-to-experience-the-freedom-of-a/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [“No one loses anyone because no one owns anyone. That is true experience of freedom; having the most important thing in the world without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/no-one-loses-anyone-because-no-one-owns-anyone-that-is-true/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“That the truest experience of freedom: having the most important thing in the world without owning it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/that-the-truest-experience-of-freedom-having-the-most-important-thing/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) ## More by Rollo May > [Human freedom involves our capacity to pause between the stimulus and response and, in that pause, to choose the one response toward which we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/human-freedom-involves-our-capacity-to-pause-between-the-stimulus-and/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [Political freedom is to be cherished indeed. But there is no political freedom that is not indissolubly bound to the inner personal freedom of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/political-freedom-is-to-be-cherished-indeed-but-there-is-no-political/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [Joy is the effect which comes when we use our powers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/joy-is-the-effect-which-comes-when-we-use-our-powers/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [In religion, it is not the sycophants or those who cling most faithfully to the status quo who are ultimately praised. It is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/in-religion-it-is-not-the-sycophants-or-those-who-cling-most/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [One of the few blessings of living in an age of anxiety is that we are forced to become aware of ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/one-of-the-few-blessings-of-living-in-an-age-of-anxiety-is-that-we/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [Intimacy requires courage because risk is inescapable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/intimacy-requires-courage-because-risk-is-inescapable/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [Artists do not run away from non-being, but by encountering and wrestling with it, force it to produce being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/artists-do-not-run-away-from-non-being-but-by-encountering-and/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [“Technology is the knack of so arranging the world that we do not experience it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/technology-is-the-knack-of-so-arranging-the-world-that-we-do-not/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [By the creative act, we are able to reach beyond our own death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/by-the-creative-act-we-are-able-to-reach-beyond-our-own-death/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [Joy is the zest that you get out of using your talents, your understanding, the totality of your being, for great aims...That's the kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/joy-is-the-zest-that-you-get-out-of-using-your-talents-your/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [One must have at least a readiness to love the other person, broadly speaking, if one is to be able to understand him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/one-must-have-at-least-a-readiness-to-love-the-other-person-broadly/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [Man is the "ethical animal" ethical in potentiality even if, unfortunately, not in actuality. His capacity for ethical judgment like freedom, reason and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/man-is-the-ethical-animal-ethical-in-potentiality-even-if/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [Evil, in this system of ethics, is that which tears apart, shuts out the other person, raises barriers, sets people against each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/evil-in-this-system-of-ethics-is-that-which-tears-apart-shuts-out-the/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [We receive love — from our children as well as others — not in proportion to our demands or sacrifices or needs, but roughly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/we-receive-love-from-our-children-as-well-as-others-not-in-proportion/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it is conformity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/the-opposite-of-courage-in-our-society-is-not-cowardice-it-is/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) [Explore all 259 Rollo May quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) ## More Depressing quotes > [We don't make glamorous movies today. Everything now is very realistic, artistic - and depressing. When is the last time you you saw a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-head/we-don-t-make-glamorous-movies-today-everything-now-is-very-realistic/) [Edith Head](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-head/) > [There is not a country on earth that could get its fiscal house in order by shrinking opportunity and depressing growth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-o-malley/there-is-not-a-country-on-earth-that-could-get-its-fiscal-house-in/) [Martin O'Malley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-o-malley/) > [It is true that from a behavioral economics perspective we are fallible, easily confused, not that smart, and often irrational. We are more like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-ariely/it-is-true-that-from-a-behavioral-economics-perspective-we-are/) [Dan Ariely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-ariely/) > [Of all the bewildering things about a new country, the absence of human landmarks is one of the most depressing and disheartening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/of-all-the-bewildering-things-about-a-new-country-the-absence-of/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [I think it is kind of depressing how few female filmmakers there are. I think it is in general depressing how few women there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susanne-bier/i-think-it-is-kind-of-depressing-how-few-female-filmmakers-there-are/) [Susanne Bier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susanne-bier/) > [We're in a situation where talented, motivated school leavers and graduates can send off a hundred CVs and not get a reply, and where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jameela-jamil/we-re-in-a-situation-where-talented-motivated-school-leavers-and/) [Jameela Jamil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jameela-jamil/) > [It's so Canada. On some level, you laugh, but on another level, it's just depressing. We pride ourselves: We're not like the bad old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/constance-backhouse/it-s-so-canada-on-some-level-you-laugh-but-on-another-level-it-s-just/) [Constance Backhouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/constance-backhouse/) > [It is, of course, a luxury to create art and, on top of this, to insist on expressing one's own artistic opinion. Nothing is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-beckmann/it-is-of-course-a-luxury-to-create-art-and-on-top-of-this-to-insist/) [Max Beckmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-beckmann/) > [Antidepressants sure kill your sexual life...Now, THAT'S depressing!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ozzy-osbourne/antidepressants-sure-kill-your-sexual-life-now-that-s-depressing/) [Ozzy Osbourne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ozzy-osbourne/) > [“They went through the last of the cars and then walked up the track to the locomotive and climbed up to the catwalk. Rust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/they-went-through-the-last-of-the-cars-and-then-walked-up-the-track/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [I read the most extravagant things about people who suffer and depress because of things written about them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mick-jagger/i-read-the-most-extravagant-things-about-people-who-suffer-and/) [Mick Jagger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mick-jagger/) > [Take the story of Cain and Abel. Why were we given that story? Scientifically, you may have an explanation for it, but I'm not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/take-the-story-of-cain-and-abel-why-were-we-given-that-story/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [Despite my extremely modest prices, dealers and art lovers are turning their backs on me. 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And sometimes that’s overwhelmingly depressing to me, and sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joss-whedon/everything-we-do-really-is-just-a-little-marker-on-the-long-road-to/) [Joss Whedon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joss-whedon/) [Browse all 888 Depressing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depressing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If we admit our depression openly and freely, those around us get from it an experience of freedom rather than the depression itself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Rollo May" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/if-we-admit-our-depression-openly-and-freely-those-around-us-get-from/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Depressing" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/if-we-admit-our-depression-openly-and-freely-those-around-us-get-from/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fba/rollo-may-1295_depressing_if-we-admit-our-depression-openly-and-fr_1104289.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fba/rollo-may-1295_depressing_if-we-admit-our-depression-openly-and-fr_1104289.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fba/rollo-may-1295_depressing_if-we-admit-our-depression-openly-and-fr_1104289.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If we admit our depression openly and freely, those around us get from it an experience of freedom rather…” — Rollo May", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Rollo May", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If we admit our depression openly...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/if-we-admit-our-depression-openly-and-freely-those-around-us-get-from/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/if-we-admit-our-depression-openly-and-freely-those-around-us-get-from/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```