Imagine you’re in charge of one of those giant computers — the kind that you see in movies. The computer contains billions of items of data that together somehow keep the Western world from falling into chaos. One day, as you watch the screen in horrified disbelief, the data begins to disappear. The world’s most virulent superbug has infected the hard drive and every fragment of information is slowly and methodically destroyed until all that is left is a blank, blinking screen.
With depression, that database is every particle of your personality. Every fragment of knowledge and experience that have provided the anchors and co-ordinates from which you are progressively able to address the world with a measure of safety and confidence, with a growing sense of who “me” is, has suddenly been completely voided. Dramatic? Yes. Terrifying? Absolutely.
This is one of the best descriptions I have ever read. It's such a hard thing to explain and I think he has hit the nail on the head.
I find it frustrating that it is near impossible to explain to those that haven't suffered from depression, the true magnitude of the disease.
ReplyDeleteI guess part of the thing is the name, so everyone thinks they've felt down, depressed. But hey that's life get on with it.
ReplyDeleteYes everyone has felt down. Not quite the same though as something that stops a persons normal everyday life. Or in some cases makes them put an end to it.
ReplyDeleteSo different terminology might be a good thing. People will say they are a little depressed at the moment when they are down. Not when getting out of bed is a near impossible task and getting dressed only happens when someone more or less does it for you.
ReplyDeleteI was a little depressed earlier when I checked Saturday's lottery ticket and found I hadn't won. :)
ReplyDeleteI was a lot depressed a good few years ago when I was admitted to hospital for a few months. :(
Any descriptive word will have a personal interpreted element to it.
I never win the lottery, I wonder if buying a ticket would actually improve my odds?
ReplyDeleteI count myself very lucky to not have ended up in hospital due to a lot of hard work by Ali and my GP. Not that I remember anything about it.