First of all, welcome to the site. 

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Now let me explain what you're getting into.

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This project ultimately attempts to examine the gap that exists between the truth of a condition or experience (particularly painful ones) and what others think is the truth.  We all know this phenomenon - it exists in the feeling of trying to explain something to another person, someone who has never been through or felt that something; the feeling when, regardless of all exhaustive efforts, our explanation fails.

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It's not necessarily for lack of effort on the part of either the explainer or the listener (although, if we're being honest, it might be in some cases).  Either way, I'm not here to place blame.  My goal is to dive into the gap, to try and look at what's producing it in an effort to come to a better understanding of how I - and others - can both explain and understand unique experiences.

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I will do this by taking a close look at the language surrounding depression.

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I came about this project after realizing that people’s language about depression often – in fact, nearly always – falls into the realm of cliché.  I had to wonder whether it was even possible to talk about my own journey with depression in a unique way.  

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And right there you have it: the cliché.  "Journey with depression"?  Really?  When I hear other people say stuff like that, I immediately want to gag. 

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So how do I deal with this? 

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In the following pages, I will engage with case studies of multiple texts, most of which have been chosen just because they're popular (at  least, according to Google) and looked interesting. 

 

Each text I will look at is either an advertisement, a movie, or a nonfiction narrative of depression.  

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What are common patterns in the representations, and how do these patterns compare to those in first-person accounts?  What are common mythologies surrounding the illness?  How did they come into existence, and how do current representations work to either substantiate or debase those myths?  

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How should I talk about depression?

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