eeyore_grrl made a friends-locked post about "fighting depression," which inspired me to make this comment about my depression issues:You wrote "fighting depression," and I suddenly had a flash of understanding of why I identify with warrior characters/archetypes, even though I am not particularly warlike in any standard sense. I frequently feel like I'm wrestling with a motivation- and appreciation-suppressing force that lives in my brain but isn't really me. And I really do need to use a lot of warrior-type tools to deal with it (the tools that are about keeping going even when you are scared or hurting, the tools about conserving your energy when you can, the tools about waiting for the right moment...)It's a bit more melodramatic than usual for me, but somewhat apropos.
Hm, maybe it belongs on my interest list.
Page Summary
Designed by chasethestars
chasethestars
Comments
I don't know if the stuff I've been working on on learned hopefulness is useful to you or not.
One of the things I've been reading: http://mentalhelp.net/psyhelp/chap6/chap6f.htm
I am more lacking hope than I am depressed at this point, I think.
My depression is more biochemical than cognitive. I know how to rethink the kinds of pessimistic beliefs that the depression generates, but when I am particularly depressed, it's much harder to bother to rethink them. So I think of my depression primarily as an illness of motivation, not as a habit of thought.
I really appreciate this discussion with you; I've found it very useful. Partly because it's reminded me of who you are. (I never forgot, of course, but this is a really visceral conversation, and I forgot how articulate you are about viscera.)
you can amend or not to identify me, it's friends locked, so no one not on my list can see it anyway...
i think it's a good image though.
If a writer is able to sway public opinion on a matter, simply through words, can the satirist be said to have fought a battle (or a war), and won it?
I'd call a writer who was determined to sway public opinion, and who tried to do so, a warrior... a person who was struggling to accomplish something, and fought it with the tools s/he had available.
Maybe "warrior" isn't the best word, but I can't think of a better one. (Admittedly, I haven't tried very hard, because I *like* a broad definition of what it means to be a warrior.)
But even if it's not the right word, there are a lot of similarities between fighting depression (an internal battle) and fighting an external battle.