There is a huge misconception going around about depression that people become egocentric and self-centered when depressed. What is true is that depression makes you concentrated on your feelings, emotions and thoughts. But there is a huge difference between this and selfishness.
Take introverts and extroverts for example. Introverts are more focused on the inside, tend to be shy and hide in their own world - does that mean they’re selfish or egocentric? No, they are simply different from extroverts who always voice their opinion, and tend to be too loud sometimes, not thinking about how this may annoy the others. And here comes the paradox - extroverts think that introverts are self-centered because they don’t talk with them too much; and introverts think extroverts are never thinking about others, thus them being egocentric.
The same goes with depression - people think that depression makes people only concentrated on themselves. And yes, that is the basic idea, but what they don’t see is the huge guilt, sadness and suffering this brings to the person. They don’t concentrate on themselves because they want to, but because their mind forces them. They don’t enjoy it. And god help, they sure as hell don’t think highly of themselves – in fact, it’s exactly the opposite! They feel like the worst person on the planet. They are tormented day and night, and in the end, they only endure it because of people around them. They don’t want to commit suicide because they are selfish, but because they don’t want to cause trouble for anyone anymore. And, of course they also think about their own suffering, but they also truly believe that everyone would be better off without them.
So no, they are not selfish. They feel like a burden to everyone else. And the reason they can’t get out of bed in the morning is not because of selfishness, but because they physically and mentally can’t bring themselves to get up.
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