I see you Khloe
If you saw the K in front of Khloe you know who I am going to be talking about today; so if you’re a Kardashian hater, move along, I love them, lol. If you must know why, I’ll make it brief. They are business women, period. Any woman (or family of mostly women) that can build what they’ve built, I’m in. And I love Good American and Skims. It is what it is. Anyways, onto why I’m here today writing about Khloe.
In this most recent season, Khloe is really open about wanting to turn 40 because her 30s have been horrendous. She says this a lot, and she’s right! If my research is correct, she was 31 when her ex-husband, Lamar Odem, was hospitalized with not so great circumstances around why, she met Tristan at 32 and that was cool, until it wasn’t (Timeline of Khloe and Tristan), had a baby, had a break up, had another baby, and another cheating scandal. Not to mention, all the life stuff that comes with being a single working mom with 2 kids. I get it, I’ve been one, it’s really hard, even when you have the best team around you. I don’t blame girlfriend for wanting to sprint into her 40s, she’s right, her 30s sucked hard.
As a therapist (not hers of course, but we established that with Jonah), she’s depressed, I’m just not sure anyone in her life sees it. But guess what? That’s actually pretty common. I believe she is suffering from “High-Functioning Depression”*. And in fact, I think a lot of people are. She’s been through the damn ringer and is still expected to perform at a high, all hands on deck level. Khloe talks about her feelings all season. She doesn’t want to date. She doesn’t want to go out with friends, and she’s not interested in taking on new projects. She wants to stay home and talks about loving being in her sweats (and damn does she know how to rock a sweat suit). She is not her, and that’s what depression can do to a person.
Doesn’t that sound familiar? How many of us have been through the ringer and are still expected to “keep it moving”? It gets exhausting, and that exhaustion can lead to feelings of depression. But it doesn’t have to be like this. That’s what us therapists are for! We can help you process the trauma that’s being activated in the background. We can help you set boundaries to promote self care. We can validate and see you when others bypass the pain you’re in. We are confidential so you have the comfort of privacy. And we know this topic, because some of us deal with it too. Khloe is a good example of depression hidden in plain sight, and it’s painful to see her so beautiful and funny and kind and sad. But, we gotchu Khlo, or whomever may be reading this now.
If you need resources, Dial 2-1-1 on your phone and you can get connected to help wherever you live in the US.
*High-Functioning depression is not a clinical term. It’s when someone doesn’t meet the criteria for clinical depression but still may have difficulties performing at their normal level.