I don't know if any of you read Hyperbole and a Half, a blog with drawings which is usually very funny. The blogger, Allie, has been gone for a while and came back a few days ago with some posts about depression. The first is here and the second here. I've experienced this twice. The first instance lasted about 6 months but wasn't as bad; the second was shorter in duration, but really terrible. If you have never been depressed in this way, you think of depression as something that happens because of events in your life. You are depressed because you lost your job, or you're fat, or your marriage is bad. You think that if your circumstances change, you will be happy. Once you experience what Allie is talking about here, you know that wasn't depression at all. You don't have any reason for feeling (or really not feeling) the way you do, but you can't imagine ever being happy again even in the best circumstances. Anyway, it's worth reading because when you do come across people who are depressed, it's good to know what she writes about.
I may add something here later, but I have to work.
And please pray for this young woman.
AMDG
Yes. To all of that.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm going to worry about everybody that agrees with me.
ReplyDeleteAMDG
I was going to post something about this, too. May still. My first reaction was that it isn't surprising that she would suffer from depression, because her humor is so dark anyway. But I don't know if that really has anything to do with this kind of depression.
ReplyDeleteI don't know. I would think an appreciation of dark humor might be defense against the darkness. I think all this type of depression has some chemical unbalance at its root.
ReplyDeleteAMDG
Oh yeah, definitely (that the humor is a defense). That indicates that the darkness is there.
ReplyDeleteI think you took that differently than I meant it. What I mean is that the humor really is effective against the darkness. It can hold it off.
ReplyDeleteAMDG
Actually now I'm not sure what *I* meant...[insert gmail head-scratch symbol]
ReplyDeleteWell, I thought you meant that she was using the humor as a defense. I think the difference is that I'm thinking having the sense of humor wards it off, whereas, when you lose it, it comes in.
ReplyDeleteAMDG
I can't help thinking it's never a good plan to hang about in dark places. But perhaps I'm just too literal-minded.
ReplyDelete