I have some thoughts about the stigmatization of mental illness, and I figured I might be brave enough to test a few.

First, I don't think that not being depressed and being happy are the same thing. Depression is an oppressive condition that saps all meaning from my world. I can be crazy with grief, loss, and sadness -- and these can be meaningful. Why should I not experience grief and sadness if I lose someone or something I loved or valued? Grief and sadness are part of the human condition; the desire to be happy all the time is not reasonable.

I dread feeling nothing at all and the enervating fatigue as more dreadful than being genuinely sad, which at least is a feeling and an indication of being involved with life.