21 COMICS THAT CAPTURE THE FRUSTRATIONS OF DEPRESSION
BuzzFeed is wonderful. I came across this today and wanted to share it, as I think it is truly liberating for those suffering from depression to see that they are not alone.
Madison: I am a Millennial. Generation Y. Born between the birth of AIDS and 9/11, give or take. They call us "the Global Generation." We are known for our entitlement and narcissism. Some say it's because we're the first generation where every kid gets a trophy just for showing up. Others think it's because social media allows us to post every time we fart or have a sandwich for all the world to see. But it seems that our one defining trait is a numbness to the world, an indifference to suffering. I know I did anything I could to not feel. Sex, drugs, booze. Just take away the pain. Take away my mother and my asshole father. And the press, and all the boys I loved who wouldn't love me back. Hell, I was gang raped, and two days later I was back in class like nothing happened. I mean, that must have hurt like hell, right? Most people never get over stuff like that, and I was, like, "Let's go for Jamba juice." I would give everything I have or will ever have just to feel pain again. To hurt. - Madison, American Horror Story
[Editor’s note: This is by no means a definitive list. The comics featured here can not and do not represent everyone’s experiences. But there are some things they do capture. Part of the difficulty of depression is that it is a pain that is unnameable. Sometimes, art is the best way to capture the things we do not know how to say.]
1. The dream of waking up and randomly finding the source of your depression.
21. And, of course, no list of comics that capture the minutae of depression would be complete without the amazing work of Hyperbole And A Half creator Allie Brosh.
“You’re so young, yet you know desertion, abandonment. That’s why you play that third movement the way you do. Most cellists, they play it with joy. But you, it’s not about joy, it’s about the memory of a joyful time that’s gone forever’” (p205).