August 29, 2009
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Depression
I suppose this post will sound very cold and heartless, but I just have to write about it. I just don’t get depression. I see bloggers, even ones that I subscribe to, write about how depressed they are and how much their life sucks. They use black backgrounds, contrasting font colors, and whiny dialogue. They just complain about how crappy their life is. Chances are strong that they don’t even mention the reason for their depression in the post itself. I simply don’t get it.
Sure, I’ve been sad from time to time, but I have never reached the depths of depression some of those folks feel. What is it about their lives that make them so depressed anyway? Did they suddenly lose their job after no fault of their own? Hell, that happened to me back in January. I was out of the job for six months. Is your family a retched hive of scum and villainy? Let me guide you down my family tree and show you a thing or two. Did you have a bad breakup? Why not take a hint from our Great Lords and Saviors, Journey, “When you’re feeling love’s unfair, you just ask the lonely. When you’re lost in deep despair, you just ask the lonely.” I’ve been unfortunately single all of my life, thanks for asking. Are you running low on money? I just had to pay for college and buy all of my textbooks, thus draining my bank account. This is the reason why I have to be a fulltime employee and a fulltime student just to get by.
Do I feel depressed? Sure, sometimes, but I don’t let it “get to me.” That’s ultimately the part I don’t understand. I think the ultimate difference between me and these bloggers and other depressants is how we deal with feelings of bummed-outness. They resort to writing dreadfully boring and longwinded rants, cutting themselves, wallowing in self pity, whereas I:
- Listen to music. For this kind of purpose, I listen to something spiritually lifting, like Weird Al, MC Hawking, or The Lonely Island.
- Read a book. Generally, I don’t read an actual book when I’m depressed. This is when I call in some of my comic book buddies like Garfield, Dilbert, Calvin, and Hobbes.
- Play video games. There is nothing more cathartic than mowing down a street of pedestrians and dust carts while dressed as a catgirl in Saints Row 2.
- Watch a movie. I wouldn’t recommend Tim Burton movies for this. It may very well exacerbate the problem.
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Masturbate.
See? I can keep my depression to myself. Now that I have passed on my knowledge and solved the depression crisis, it’s time to move on to world hunger.
Comments (6)
Well, it may be hard for them to state the reason of their depression because it isn't caused by one event necessarily, but a chemical imbalance in the brain and negative cognition in general. There's a difference between Major Depression and just feeling really sad (which is really really common for people, especially young people, who might mislabel it as depressed to emphasize how horrible they are feeling). Once they learn that there are two ways of thinking about everything, and that emotions can be proactive rather than reactive(aka internal locus of control rather than external), they will be fine and on their way to happier days.
People are all different - you obviously have a healthy cognitive schema that helps you see the silver lining in dark clouds and so you can get through hardships. When someone loses their job they can feel a number of different things depending on the way they think - they might feel hopeless and worthless or they may run with the change and just start looking for something new, not taking the loss too hard. Those who react with negative emotions are the ones who may become depressed. It may sound like they are just whining and complaining (which they very well may be) but if someone is depressed, these blogs may be their attempt to cope with and examine their emotional responses. It might be hard not to just say "jeez get over it already!" but it is definitely easier said than done. But, depression also comes along with a loss of motivation and interest in things you once enjoyed, so that could explain why they don't just distract themselves from their sadness by playing videogames or reading books.
Yes, I know this was probably just a sarcastic post, but there had to be some motivating thoughts behind it.
And as Miss Empathy, I had to say something haha. Not to mention I actually struggled with depression in middle school and anxiety in my freshman year of college, and was able to overcome them without intervention.
@XfantomcatX - Thank you Miss Empathy. You've saved the day again! Yes, I understand that everyone's mind is different, and that is sort of what I was hinting at. I just don't get it, and can't possibly get it because I don't have that mindset. At least, that's what I was trying to say for the first half of the post. I started feeling silly by the latter half.
Wow, I should tell this girl that I know about this post. Whenever she gets depressed, terrible, terrible things happen. Not just to herself, but to the people around her. It's like her depression could affect the world entirely, and if she gets depressed enough, grave things could happen...
I'd say that my feelings on this subject sort of go through cycles. At certain points I feel like they should suck it up, while at others, I have a more caring mindset. I suppose it depends on how things are within my own life and what it is they are necessarily depressed about (whether it balances well with the amount of sadness realistically).
For instance, a whiny depressed post about not being able to see a concert that you have wanted to see for a year now is not worth the time and energy to help someone with. I do feel for those with a negative frame of mind and for those suffering from depression. It's a painful thing. I would love to help them or at least get them to see someone who could help them - but only if it is truely depression.
In the case of the fictitious concert post depression, I wouldn't help them unless they were proactive about it. I think I have a low tolerance for people who wallow in their problems to the point of self apathy. Because, not only have you dug the hole and jumped in, but you've posted a for sale sign on all your property and said your goodbyes not expecting to climb back out of the hole until some divine intervention takes place - and that is NOT how to go about that feeling at all. Seriously though, I can feel my attitudes switching to more caring as I type this so I'm gonna stop here so as to not ruin the original point with people helping activism talk XD.
Oh, and I love the picture XD
I think the hilarious Carnivore vs. Vegan poster at the end of this post sums it up nicely.
haha, I've been waiting for someone to write about this
and well, I completely agree with you.
I don't think people understand that
Everybody has a shitty life.... it's just that
other people don't let it get to them.