[wontgiveup]

Hi everyone, this is my first thread. My name is Nigel, I'm an artist that has battled depression for a very long time. This forum is a wonderful thing, coming here has given me an idea.... a cartoon series to get back at depression...something I can occasionally post to lighten things up. I'm looking for ideas on what you would like to see happen to depression

[sad nana]

I'd send it of of the universe into a black hole since it causes millions of people to be in a black hole.

Depression should be befriended to allow a better understanding and a better relationship.

[crzyladee]

I would kick it in the face! Then the shin!

[sundog]

Hi Nigel! Great graphic! I agree with TheByzantine. If I met depression face to face I'd give him a hug. Then I'd ask him if there was anything he wanted to tell me. He's part of who I am and the most constructive way forward for me is to try and embrace him in a "warts and all" type way and then work with him as best I can.

[Muser]

Wow, Byz. That is totally not the answer I expected but makes more sense that what I was thinking which was something along the lines of a bucket of water and a very large stone....but as I write this I realize drowning it (figuratively) is what I do and why I've not been successful. This requires more thought.

Thank you, Nigel...very good question. Visualizing depression with a shape, a form.....never thought of that. I'll have to do a little doodle of my own and see what I come up with.

My mistakes:

Locking away grief in an effort to make it go away.

Hiding feelings in a misguided effort to appear strong and calm!

The result: Depression

[lynn P.]

Nigel - welcome to PC and I love your picture of what depression would look like - I especially like the phrases written along his sparse hair lol. I agree with Byz and Sundog, that acceptance is a postitive thing - this doesn't mean hoping it will stay. There's a reason why these deep feelings surface and they can help the sufferer learn about themselves and others. I also like crzyladee's thoughts - being a fighter is a good survival tactic.

[madisgram]

hi nigel, welcome!!!! great thread! accepting and befriending it helps. when i'm down i give myself "permission" to be quiet,etc and give it time to lift. i know it will run it's course. most recent spiral down lasted 2 months but intellectually i knew it would leave just as fast as it came so i waited it out. there are self destructive methods/not for me tho..and i find that it is counter productive since depression is a part of my life. not a good part but realistically it's there sometimes or comes to visit. long stretch recently but now i am the new and improved me again! thank goodness.

[venusss]

Befriending and accepting leads to understand. Fighting it is fighting an internal part of yourself.

[wontgiveup]

Thanks for responding everyone...I have to say some of the answers gave me a new way of viewing depression, maybe I won't be as hard on him in some of the strips. Thanks again Nigel

[Rhiannonsmoon]

Depression can't be gendered. To make it a "Him or Her" is to personalise it in a way that makes a patriarch or matriarch responsible for it.

In some cases depression is caused by a situation that we have the power to extricate ourselves from, or refuse to extricate ourselves from. In other cases it is a brain dysfunction we try desperately to have some control over.

What I am trying to do at the moment is put my arm around its shoulder and ask it why it wishes to hurt me so badly. To listen to it, to learn to understand it so that I can walk myself through the next dark forest, or swim through shark infested waters (col).

We can know how it works but that never prepares us for the next assault, for the next explosion, for the next black hole it blasts us into or the next cliff it pushes us over. Depression really is a war we're in so don't expect it to play by any rules. One thing I read recently hit home hard. You can't have rules in war because one side will not honour them.

That is why there must be a loser and a victor; you can't win if you are busy observing rules. So I go underground, wait quietly vowing not to observe any rules in my fight with depression. With each bout I come out with new understanding no matter how small.

You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar, by reaching for at least a base of inner peace you know your strongest point. I have found mine to be journaling and if I write as if I am speaking to a friend, or to the depression its self it opens up a dialogue for mutual understanding which brings a more rapid conclusion to the bout.

All we can all do is our best, and acknowledge the effort with self recognition and respect, that brings a smile to our face and helps us to find the crack in the wall of the depression (speaking from a personal point of view of multiple personalities here, not speaking for others outside myself).

[turquoisesea]

Oh dear I totally was going at this from the opposite direction. My first reaction: make DEPRESSION DEPRESSED, so that it knows what it feels like and can't function anymore, thus curing us all!

[so_punk_rock]

I feel that depression warps the mind and changes the way you think in negative ways. To me it's not like a moody friend but a disease. Therefore i would probably roundhouse kick depression. Hahaha

[venusss]

Originally Posted by so_punk_rock

I feel that depression warps the mind and changes the way you think in negative ways. To me it's not like a moody friend but a disease. Therefore i would probably roundhouse kick depression. Hahaha

The thing is feeling sad, even depressed is normal sometimes... there is nothing that will ensure we are never ever ever down again... that would be not normal. It would be a different kind of detachment. So accepting, that I *feel* down sometimes, but I don't let it interfere with my life, is the solution.

[Lilleth]

Its there its a part of me and there is no getting away from it. I have a few good days and when I was younger I used to think that on day I willl beat it but it cant be beaten I live with existing sometimes I dont know what else to do.