Saturday, March 26, 2005

Thoughts on Society and Depression

Excerpt:

Undoubtedly being a somewhat sensitive and emotional person to begin with makes me more susceptible to depression than the run of common people, but I still resist labelling this as a "biochemical imbalance." It's not. It's normal human variation. My circumstances fully warranted depression. It was a normal, healthy response to my situation, and only by paying attention to that situation and changing it, by validating that emotional response, did I manage to make a long-term escape from depression. Now when I get depressed, my response is not to say, "What's wrong with me? Can I fix myself?" My response is: "What's wrong with my life? Why am I having trouble? Can I change it, and if not, how can I cope?"...

I don't like that our society has such a narrow definition of what constitutes an "ok" emotion that when someone feels something outside this narrow bound it gets labelled pathological. I don't like that we are all expected to be the same people, feeling the same things in the same way at the same time. I don't like that we are expected to be happy all the freaking time, even when life is hard and we are struggling. And then if we're not happy, we can't just be sad--we're sick.


via Bitch

6 comments so far. What are your thoughts?

Anonymous said...

I totally agree with everything you wrote on this post. I have suffered with depression and panic disorder for years and I can't tell you how many times people just think I 'create drama.' Depression is an illness but also en environmental issue. We all can't be well and happy and everyone does not operate the same or function the same. Thank god. It is what allows us to be different and to have some unique qualities, creative abilities and perhaps some edge. I really like your blog. Great work. Keep it up and keep in touch. 

Posted by Ashley

Anonymous said...

I totally agree with everything you wrote on this post. I have suffered with depression and panic disorder for years and I can't tell you how many times people just think I 'create drama.' Depression is an illness but also en environmental issue. We all can't be well and happy and everyone does not operate the same or function the same. Thank god. It is what allows us to be different and to have some unique qualities, creative abilities and perhaps some edge. I really like your blog. Great work. Keep it up and keep in touch. 

Posted by Ashley

Anonymous said...

*nod nod*

I absolutely agree. 

Posted by Hippie

Anonymous said...

lessee now... massive social, economic & political inequality the world over, widespread racism, misogyny & xenophobia, massacres & torture chambers, tsunamis & droughts, fundamentalists & authoritarians run amuck

and here, closer - friends losing jobs, discovering that treating chronic pain is considered a luxury by health insurance, my neighbors who've lost their cat & cry about it at night, & hell even a windshield that cracks right before inspection...

yeah, nothing to be depressed about. just need a stiff upper lip, right? or a stiff upper...

thanks for posting the link to this essay - well said, & needs to be heard. 

Posted by jam

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the link. I was wondering where all the people reading this essay were coming from.... 

Posted by Andrea

Anonymous said...

Yea, it's mostly Prof. B who you're getting readers from, I'll wager. Her hit count's *way* bigger than mine...  

Posted by Kameron Hurley