[blackoutTaxonomist]

Wonderful stuff, as always, Apache. I adore your soft and silky style that you have (I so jelly).

I completely agree with the message also. Too many people (especially on the internet) believe that they've 'got it' terribly, when in reality, there are people much worse off who refuse to succumb to their conditions, and stay as bright and positive as can be. I don't have long-term depression myself, and I'm not a jolly person, but I'm not one to say "Oh, I want to dieeee. Life is so terrible to meee", because it isn't. I do sometimes have episodes of feeling low (pretty much everyone in the world does), but that's besides the point. I've been through a lot in my life, and seriously, there is no point in becoming depressed and 'emo' because of it.

It would be nice if people just sucked it up and enjoyed life for once, but people are treating depression as some sort of fad. I'm not implying that people with medical conditions are shallow, I'm just stating that people who think conditions like this make you 'cool' should, well, get a life.

Rant over.

The funny thing about people over the internet... You don't actually know the extent to which they "have it". If you say that other people have it worse, you're being a bit ignorant. The difference between being sad and being depressed is that depression makes it nearly impossible to acknowledge that your situation "is not so bad." That is why you can't just "get over it" or "suck it up" as it was so nicely put. By telling people to just suck it up, you are hurting them by telling them that you don't really care enough to delve into their situation. What good do the words "It gets better" or "you have everything to live for" do for those who cannot believe it?

I also don't know anyone who acts depressed to be cool. If they act like this, there is most likely a reason for it other than to be "cool" that should most likely be addressed. This is a really nice piece and the colors are great, but I do not agree with what it represents.

[Harpalyce]

And besides, even if there are some that are "faking it"... do we REALLY need to be tossing a "just get over yourself and think of the starving orphans in Africa!" to them? Most of them are miserable because they KNOW their lives are relatively good, AND BECAUSE OF THIS THEY FEEL THEY DO NOT DESERVE HELP.

I'm sorry, but this 'message' is just more of the same equating mental illness to weakness and personal failing and discouraging people from actually getting professional help.

[Demilune]

I think Apache more direct this piece at people who complain about every little thing in their lives...

"I have to do chores...OMG my life sucks!"
"omg my parents suck! They grounded me for like no reason!"
"my life is horrible, my parents run/ruin my life. They don't GET me. baaaaw"

People like this need a reality check and frankly, yes, they do just need "suck it up," and grow up.

You're talking more about people who have a mental illness. REAL depression is not something you can "fake", as you said.
Also like you said it's hard to say what really goes on in someones life over the internet. They could be lying, the could be telling the truth, they could just be in general overreacting or making things up to get attention. You just never know.
You're right to say that implying that someones depression/situation is better/worse than someone else's is wrong. Kids in africa suffer, yes, but that doesn't make the pain of say your parents divorce...or something like that, any less painful or unimportant.

Kids, well people in general, need to learn that complaining about every little thing in your life will get you no where. Depression hurts, but unless you really do suffer from a mental illness that makes it incapable for you to get over it (unless your using medication to help), you can do things to improve your own life and the best place to start is to just buck up, take a look at your life, realize that it really ISN'T as bad as you make it out to be and try to be thankful for the small things in your life.
You may not be rich, but if you have a roof over your head and you can afford to pay your bills and buy food for yourself you don't have it that bad now do you? You may not have a lot of money left over to buy a new "toy" but you don't NEED that toy now do you?

Anyways, that's my two cents. Make of it what you will.

[Charias]

I personally love this, especially the message that comes with it! As bad as your life is, always at least try to look at the bright side!

I have a rough life (trust me, i go through some stuff that some people wouldn't believe) so I guess I have a reason to be depressed, but I'm not. Being depressed doesn't get you anywhere in life - I know very well that it doesn't. Let yourself get down like that and you'll never get back up; even if you have a reason being depressed isn't going to make it go away. My mum has clinical depression so I see it as my job to cheer her up; it is hard, not impossible, but it would be impossible if I was depressed too.

If I ever start to get down, I go for a walk in the forest with my dog and just chill. Being in nature always cheers me up! I think about all the good things in life: mainly my dog. I think he's the once that's kept me sane for so long. But, anyways, looking at the bright side is always better than dwelling on the bad things in life. Life will never be perfect - there will always be something tragic happening, but being depressed isn't going to help that, it'll only make it worse. So why get yourself down about it?

That's me done!

[Harpalyce]

LishaCakes, you're her daughter, not her physician. You can't expect to treat your mother's clinical depression - or ANY of her serious medical conditions - alone.

Some people need medication. Some people need professional help. Not everyone can simply 'suck it up' and move on. It's just like how some mild diabetes can be controlled mostly by diet, but some people need to take medication, and some people depend on injecting insulin. And just like how type 1 diabetes can never be controlled by diet, there are some types of depression and mental illness which can't ever be fixed by simply 'happy thoughts'.

[tacocat.]

Oh my gosh! Some of you people are totally overreacting!
And apache~ didn't say you weren't allowed to talk to someone about your issues or take a medication...
They're just pointing out that there are people who are worse off and that you can try to be happy. Wallowing in sorrow will not help anything!

[aric]

Oh my gosh! Some of you people are totally overreacting!
And apache~ didn't say you weren't allowed to talk to someone about your issues or take a medication...
They're just pointing out that there are people who are worse off and that you can try to be happy. Wallowing in sorrow will not help anything!

You're missing our point-- some people can not just cheer themselves up by trying to think positive. In fact, wording it as "there are people who are worse off" just make depressed people feel like, "oh, well, I guess my problems actually don't matter, I'm just imagining this sadness, I shouldn't go get help for something so insignificant--" Which is wrong. People should not be made to feel like their own problems aren't important just because they aren't 'as bad' as someone else's. Perhaps wallowing in sorrow doesn't help, but there are people who lack the physical capability to pull themselves back up without careful guidance, not a drawing and a message that basically says, "just because your life isn't a complete ruin you have no right to be sad."

[Harpalyce]

'You're just overreacting' is usually the rallying cry of those who want to dismiss mental illnesses as actual illnesses or even problems.

Thanks for stopping by to demonstrate out how promoting this attitude is actually detrimental, though. Mods, this is why I have an issue with this. Having this slathered all over CS... well, it promotes the core message of 'people with depression are just wusses who need to try harder to be happy like I did, and if you can't do that you're overreacting'. It may not be exactly what was intended, but it's what the message ACTUALLY SAYS. Telling people they just need to try harder and don't actually need professional help is a really, really, really bad thing to do.

It's doubly bad if you shut down discussion about the message being pushed here as irrelevant to the piece at hand.

[Tess]

The oekaki board is not the place to carry out a debate about mental health. Several comments here break our rules against talking about self-harm or suicidal thoughts on CS. In short, this is not the right place to be talking about these kinds of issues. Anyone who needs help for whatever reason should seek help from more appropriate sources such as real life family, friends, teachers, adults, counsellors, or doctors. People who have never met you in real life (e.g. CS members) probably don't know enough about your real situation and feelings to give you reliable advice, so you should always be careful how you respond to the information you receive here.