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Sugar_glider's avatar

This is a wonderful post and expresses something that has bothered me for a while but haven't been able to put into words why. I find that some of my friends loudly broadcast their depression on social media as if it's a badge of honor, not realizing that the thing that you should be proud of is finding a way to not be depressed. It's like an alcoholic constantly garnering pity for being an alcoholic but still drinking every night.

Yes, I realize these things are hard - I suffered from depression in college, both my parents were alcoholics before dying of alcohol related deaths - but there's no pot of gold at the end of that rainbow. Talking about your depression is pointless unless it leads to you not being depressed, yet it seems like people don't see that forest for the trees. They instinctually prefer to get attention for being depressed over the feeling of happiness. At some point you need to get on with your life and find better ways of coping because it's a shitty way to spend your time.

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KW's avatar

Brilliant article. I've suffered from depression my whole life, and I've had major issues with avoidance and playing the victim.

But something has happened in the last few years. Seeing this embrace of victimhood in mainstream liberal culture, combined with the incredibly mean, prosecutor-style nature of Social Justice Politics... it has me thinking "Oh God, that's what I used to look like? Well fuck that. I want outta here."

So I'm doing my best to limit my social media consumption because it's a huge driver of this stuff. I feel for the youngest generation who grew up with this stuff and feel like they can't escape.

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