Commentary from Published May 6, 2016
One thing confirmed by recent research is that people who are depressed respond to guilt differently than those who aren’t. Depressed people can’t fully examine why they are feeling guilty about something, which leads them to generalize the feeling of guilt as well as a helplessness about being able to do something to correct it.
The real nag of all this is that this behavior extends to people who are “recovered” from depression. This means that even when people are recovered from depression, a lot of the thinking patterns remain. So when we talk about “recovery” we’re really talking about better management, because the damaged way we think is still something we have to deal with.
Recently I’ve been trying to stop creating new depressed characters and going back and pulling out characters I used once or twice in the past. Last week’s character appeared in #133, this week’s character appeared in #229, and next week’s character appeared in #230. Next next week (#290) is a Society strip, and she also appears with a character who only has one appearance to her name, the Prettiest Girl in School from #255. I think I created too many characters, and it’s time to stop.
The real nag of all this is that this behavior extends to people who are “recovered” from depression. This means that even when people are recovered from depression, a lot of the thinking patterns remain. So when we talk about “recovery” we’re really talking about better management, because the damaged way we think is still something we have to deal with.
Recently I’ve been trying to stop creating new depressed characters and going back and pulling out characters I used once or twice in the past. Last week’s character appeared in #133, this week’s character appeared in #229, and next week’s character appeared in #230. Next next week (#290) is a Society strip, and she also appears with a character who only has one appearance to her name, the Prettiest Girl in School from #255. I think I created too many characters, and it’s time to stop.
So true…I can’t remember the last time I just brushed myself off and simply moved on. And because I can’t remember I feel tired because I probably will never get there I feel…
What is this “moving on” thing you speak of? 😉
So much yes.
Right in the feels
Pretty much this
Cognitive distortion – filtering!
Maina Melendez
Yeah, you nailed it again, Clay.
This is me, this is me all the time.
And “Of course, how did I ever think that it would go any other way..” ?
For me it’s more like “I messed up. Oh my God, I messed up, it’s the end of the world, nobody is gonna love me anymore, I can do nothing to fix this.” Neurosis ftw.
I’m still beating myself up over thinks a messed up in the 80’s………..
Ouch, bulls’ eye on this one. Thats why I’m essentially a round ball of fat that dropped out of Uni and is just waiting to muster up the courage to exit stage left.
Tommy
Hmm