The 'impossible task': Viral thread describes commonly-overlooked symptom of depression

Responsibilities such as getting the mail, paying bills, or answering an email can often seem insurmountable

The impossible task is an overlooked symptom of depression (Stock)

For those suffering from depression, each day can feel like a new battle - and there is rarely only one symptom.

In reality, depression affects everyone differently and can manifest in symptoms or feelings that are not always discussed.

On Twitter, M Molly Backes, author of The Princess of Iowa, highlighted an important but often-overlooked symptom of depression, which she referred to as the “impossible task” - and it’s resonating with thousands of people.

Backes began the thread, which has gone viral and received almost 15,000 likes, by discussing depression treatment commercials, which “always talk about sadness but never mention that sneaky symptom that everyone with depression knows all too well: the impossible task.”

“The impossible task could be anything: going to the bank, refilling a prescription, making your bed, checking your email, paying a bill. From the outside, its sudden impossibility makes ZERO sense,” Backes wrote, before explaining why the impossible task can be so hard for others to understand.

Because the task is “rarely actually difficult” or “something you’ve done a thousand times,” it is “hard for outsiders to have sympathy.”

This outsider viewpoint, and questions of “why don’t you just do it and get it over with?” only make it more difficult for the person suffering - who are already asking themselves the same questions.

The impossible task can also change, according to Backes, who wrote that one day it can all of a sudden be something entirely different, such as being unable to do the dishes.

For those suffering with an impossible task, Backes offered some advice - “be gentle with yourself. You’re not a screw up, depression is just an a**hole.”

And for people who know others struggling to complete their own impossible task, she suggested asking what their tasks are and figuring out ways to help “without judgement.”

“The one good thing about struggling with impossible tasks is that they help you to be gentler and more empathetic with other people in your life, because you know what it’s like. The trick is to turn that gentleness and empathy towards yourself,” she concluded.

In response to the thread, people are thanking Backes for her honesty and sharing their own impossible tasks.

“I would like to thank you for giving a voice to the complexity of emotional states that depression has wrought in my life,” one person wrote. “Just thank you.”

Another said: “Thank you for this. I just thought it was me. People in my life just don’t understand so I don’t say anything. Right now it is doing laundry.”