2033: Get Happy

[Scumhook]

Lenny was great guest. Funny, witty, quick; and also a fan of the show.

He also confirmed why I hate being around the shiny chirpy happy people.

Win/Win.

[BritPete]

Two things:

1. Lenny is one of my favourite guests. I love his interaction with Keith and Chemda.

2. I'm with Chemda. Go fuck yourself.

[BritPete]

I finished listening to the show and have thought some more about what Lenny said, so I have a more reasoned response now.

Fuck you Lenny.

[Keith]

Originally Posted by Thumbnail

I made the decision to eat well, see people, go out in the sun. So Lenny and Keith's opinion is not dead wrong, it's just way too simple because it worked for me and it may work for a bunch of people but it may not work for severe cases.

Then we were only talking to a bunch of people.

I certainly wouldn't want to just say someone should eat well and get some sun if it definitely won't help them...

I wonder if people with severe depression LIKE to feel there's no cure (because it's a comfortable place to be even if it's horrid). And if not, then why get so angry when someone is trying to help? Obviously the depressed person DOESN'T have the right answer, right?

And like we said, don't expect help from non-depressed people if you think it's something we can't understand or help. Go to a meeting with other depressed people.

Easier said than done? Okay. Then don't go. What can I tell ya.

[Dean from Australia]

Originally Posted by Keith

I wonder if people with severe depression LIKE to feel there's no cure (because it's a comfortable place to be even if it's horrid).

As much as I hate to admit this...you have a point there Keith.

[BritPete]

I go to the doctors, I go for walks, I race a car, I take medication, I go to meetings with other miserable bastards like myself, I don't take drugs or drink, I eat fruit, I still feel like I want to die sometimes. I hadn't thought of just being happy though. How fucking stupid of me.

[Tomrl94]

Chemda, I'm rolling my eyes with you.

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by Keith

I wonder if people with severe depression LIKE to feel there's no cure (because it's a comfortable place to be even if it's horrid).

Easier said than done? Okay. Then don't go. What can I tell ya.

October - May

it was more comfortable. i knew intellectually everything i needed to get better. i could get up. take a shower. put on clothes. go outside. apply for a job. but, those things were so terrifying at the time, i just couldn't. i stayed in bed for 3-4 days at a time trying to do simple things like go to the store.

i was miserable and i felt like i deserved it. i hermitted away into my inner dialogue and got to hating myself so much that even though i knew what would start me on the healing road i just didn't feel worth saving. i was tired; all the failure i was experiencing, even minuscule day-to-day things, was exhausting and enough validation to not even try. i don't have access to mental or medical health care, so i grit my teeth and hoped maybe i had cancer and it would engulf me--i was a burden on everyone who loved me. i told myself that a lot and forcibly swallowed the guilt like poison. it took a long time to hear and feel them even though they had been screaming love at me the whole time. it still takes a concerted effort to be human. to get up. to take a shower. to get dressed. to go out into public. and i'm better now at turning "on" to that sparkly entertaining place that delights the masses for longer moments, but it's incredibly expensive emotionally and i absolutely killed a piece of myself last year in the aftermath of two huge productions doing it--my triggers. i still don't feel worth loving most of the time; it's hard to be close to me. i try to quiet the verbally abusive place inside myself, but it's hard; i've given it a lot of power.

i'm doing the best i can.

[jpj1421]

My problem with the news reporting on the exact details of how Robin Williams committed suicide is that the CDC specifically says to not report on suicide details. According to the CDC reporting on the specifics of the act encourage other vulnerable individuals to attempt suicide. They recommend reporting the situation briefly and clinically which encourages people to instead seek help.

[JaymztheKing]

I think there is something to Keith's point about not wanting to admit that there are solutions to people's problems.

Kind of a separate issue, but I've seen similar behavior displayed by groups of smokers (and other groups too like junk-food eaters, alcoholics, drug addicts, etc but lets focus here). When one person in the group decides to quit, the rest of the group gives them shit, tries to lure them back, and generally dishes out a lot of hassle. The reason being that the action of the one person quitting makes the current smokers realize that it is possible to quit and the fact that they still smoke regardless is partly their choice, their responsibility, and their fault and they can't just blame it on chemicals/addiction alone.

That said depression is a little different in that it physiologically prevents or at least limits you from taking action, but at the same time I think there are people out there who like to pretend that depression is unfixable and unpreventable and therefore the only thing at fault are chemicals/genetics/whatever.