Every person is vulnerable: we all feel down or anxious from time to time. In depression or an anxiety disorder, these emotions become dysregulated. You feel so down or anxious that you can no longer control it. Scheepers: “We used to think that these people had a certain defect in their brains. But now we think more in terms of vulnerability and imbalance. Every person is vulnerable. Some people are just a little more vulnerable than others and experience more setbacks over the course of their lives that throw them off balance. As a result of this accumulation, they can become so dysregulated that they are no longer able to restore the balance themselves.” Viewing it as an imbalance is a more hopeful message than viewing it as a defect. With an imbalance, you assume that it can be restored, for example through medication or therapy. With a defect, this is much more difficult.
Dandelions and orchids
Vulnerability does not have to be negative. People with a particular sensitivity are often very strong in the right context. Floortje Scheepers compares this with the growth of dandelions and orchids: “Most people are dandelions and grow anywhere. Orchids do not: they need specific conditions to flourish. But once they have found these conditions, they are beautiful flowers.”
Stay connected
When you feel down or anxious, you may have a tendency to isolate yourself and avoid contact with others. But Scheepers advises you to continue reaching out to others: “Try to be open to the other person’s perspective and maintain your connection. You need the other person.”
Listen to the Donkergrijze cellen podcast series about anxiety and depression
Donkergrijze cellen is a podcast series by the Brain Foundation about anxiety and depression. As a proud ambassador of the Brain Foundation, Annemiek Lely talks in the episodes with guests who can tell us more about anxiety and depression—what they feel like, for example, or how the processes in your brain work exactly. Listen to the podcast on the Hoofdzaken channel, via your favorite podcast app: Spotify, Apple Podcasts or Google podcasts.
About Floortje Scheepers
Floortje Scheepers is a co-initiator of the exhibition ‘Vulnerability and Strength’. The exhibition consists of black-and-white portraits, MRI scans and interviews with psychiatric patients, mental healthcare professionals, family members of patients and other people who are closely involved in mental healthcare.
This exhibition draws attention to the fact that everyone is both vulnerable and strong, and that above all, we are all human. The first stories can be viewed in an online exhibition by the Museum of the Mind, a collaborating partner of the Brain Foundation. For more information, visit Online exhibition about vulnerability and strength | Museum of the Mind.