
Depression Part Two (2013) - Elof
http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2013/05/depression-part-two.html
======
xivzgrev
I get why the corn was funny, it makes sense to me having depression. She was
feeling really down, everything was pointless. She was on the floor at her
lowest. Then she saw a very concrete example of something just as pointless /
sad. A corn under the fridge is going to be alone, forever (or at least until
the fridge is moved). I think it probably felt like relief, she wasn’t alone.
Someone understood. That’s what she had been missing throughout the blog post.

~~~
chris_st
That's a great explanation -- I didn't get why it was so funny when I read it
originally.

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probably_wrong
As a companion piece, I remember finding this other post [1] by a psychologist
explaining the (non-biological) causes and stages of depression displayed in
this comic.

Hyperbole and a Half was one of the funniest things on the internet. I keep
hoping the author will come back one day.

[1] [http://www.thedirtynormal.com/post/2013/05/09/the-science-
of...](http://www.thedirtynormal.com/post/2013/05/09/the-science-of-feelings-
as-illustrated-by-hyperbole-and-a-half/)

~~~
chris_st
It's worth buying her book to read the introduction. It's not on the net, and
it's one of the funniest things I've ever read in my life!

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Elof
I go back to this post when I’m feeling my worst. It’s salient and relateable
and has probably saved my life

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fernly
It's sad to be reminded of Allie Brosh who published these wonderful stories
and then went silent[1]. It's nice that the stories are out there and people
continue to rediscover them.

I hope she's alright and having a good life off the internet.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allie_Brosh#Book_and_later_act...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allie_Brosh#Book_and_later_activity_\(2009%E2%80%93present\))

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alexashka
This was very relatable. In some cultures, becoming disinterested in the world
is not seen as something wrong - you end up a monk as one example.

It's really, everyone else not knowing what to do with you that causes so many
problems. If we viewed it as ok that a few % of the population will want to
drop out of playing along and simply do their own thing without harming
anyone, we'd be in a much better place.

~~~
m_fayer
Ascetic types may indeed become uninterested in the day to day grind of the
world at large, but they are very much seeking some culturally-specific
version of exaltation or enlightenment. The utter inability to ever feel
anything but detached boredom is something very different, and eventually
excruciating.

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Pimpus
> The beginning of my depression had been nothing but feelings, so the
> emotional deadening that followed was a welcome relief. __I had always
> wanted to not give a fuck about anything. I viewed feelings as a weakness —
> annoying obstacles on my quest for total power over myself. __And I finally
> didn 't have to feel them anymore.

This part rang alarm bells for me. Not going to play armchair psychologist
with this guy, but for anyone else who views emotions as
"obstacles"/unnecessary and is depressed, that's probably why. You need to
learn to regularly express your feelings in a healthy way, even the unpleasant
ones.

~~~
Nicksil
> Not going to play armchair psychologist with this guy

He's a she.

> You need to learn to regularly express your feelings in a healthy way, even
> the unpleasant ones.

This is a bit simplistic. There's more to the effects of depression lending to
the inability -- or lack of desire -- to express one's feelings. Expressing
feelings as a part of a healthy way of life isn't lost on folks with
depression, it's just that the depression makes it so easy to avoid what is
seemingly an undesirable situation. Things that don't make sense to an
otherwise healthy mind make a lot of sense when you've got depression (or some
other mental malady).

~~~
jm__87
I think it entirely depends on your past experiences. Let's compare two
hypothetical experiences:

1\. When Alice was 7 years old, she scraped her knee and started to cry. Her
mom ran over and comforted her and then they went and got her a bandaid.

2\. When Mark was 7 years old, he scraped his knee and started to cry. His dad
yelled at him to stop being such a pussy and shut the hell up. He couldn't
stop crying so his dad hit him.

It is pretty clear who is going to try to not cry going forward. You don't
need to repeat what happened to Mark many times for him to learn that
expressing how he feels in that scenario is not a good idea. Keep this pattern
going long enough and you get an adult who is probably going to view emotions
as a burden. As to whether expressing emotions is a good thing or a bad thing,
it entirely depends on who you are expressing them to.

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carelesswhisper
Really good read. As someone who can’t really relate but knows someone very
close who likely can, if any of you know of any other similar articles I’d
love to read some more and have them to share from time to time.

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lucasfcosta
This is why I love the internet.

Thank you so much for posting this here. It made my day.

~~~
metamet
She's very salient and talented. A lot of psychologists have recommended their
patients to send this and "Part 1"
([http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2011/10/adventures-
in-...](http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2011/10/adventures-in-
depression.html)) of hers as a way for those who are _not_ dealing with
depression to better understand and relate to those who are.

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JonasJSchreiber
This is really beautiful and expressive.

