Commentary from Published May 11, 2016
I had some drama on Tumblr a week or so ago so I did this strip. I’ve been trying to do something expressive about depression for a long time and after several failed attempts I struck gold with depression comix. But I still get a lot of complaints, both about romanticizing the illness and actually causing depression in others. But the thing is, if you read something that you don’t want to read, why send hate to the creator? Why just not go somewhere else on the web? I don’t understand this, unless some people feel there must be some punishment for talking about these kinds of things.
This is not a new character — sometimes I go through spurts where I draw a bunch of new characters but instead of doing that I’m going to add depth to existing ones. This character was first and last seen in #230.
This is not a new character — sometimes I go through spurts where I draw a bunch of new characters but instead of doing that I’m going to add depth to existing ones. This character was first and last seen in #230.
Brandon Duck I actually had a very similar train of thought the other morning while I was getting ready for work.
I actually went so far as to make a blog and make a few posts. :/
It appears you are doing exactly what this character was second guessing in your own way and I thank you.
I’ve been getting some grief recently and it just inspired this strip. I’ve been doing this strip for 5 years now so I’m fairly confident in what I’m doing but I can still remember when I was starting up these thoughts going through my head. It’s still painful for those starting out but we need everyone’s voices to be heard.
Thank you for keeping up with this. It was one of the major things that helped my pull myself out of my darkest days. The fact it felt like someone understood. I’ve learned to not be silenced as well through it.
As soon as I read the strip I was sure of what inspired it. Then I read your comment and I though, “yep, I nailed it.”
While I try and keep a sense of (very dark) humor about it, the fact is that you cannot talk about depression without going into some dark places. People that have never had depression can’t understand this and so any serious discussion of the illness quickly makes them uncomfortable. Sometimes I think the only people we can talk honestly with about it are other people in the same situation.
Thank you for being honest and realistic with these strips. It just wouldn’t work any other way.
I also deeply appreciate your honesty, especially your various and nuanced perspectives on depression. The way you explore the different trials and tribulations that depressed people face are excellent, but I also love how you show the ways it can affect the people around us too. This disease makes us focus inward so much, that it’s really easy to lose sight of the people we care about and even just the acquaintances who rely on us.
I love this comic and I’m so glad you’ve kept making it. Like Julie said, it’s a relief to find someone who understands. Some of your comics have made me cry, but in a good way. The comments have also reinforced the fact that I’m not alone. Thank you. <3
depression comix Thank you for your art
I blog about my hobby and sometimes I want to say that I just wasn’t up to it because of my depression but no one wants to hear it or at least that’s the poisonous little thought that nags at me most of the time
Spot on haha 8(
So. Much. This.
This makes me sad. Which is great because I understand sad, which is terrible because that’s the only emotion I feel I truly understand .^. thank you! x’D’x
I’ve wrestled with this for a long time. Finally I just said “fuck it.” http://andyoumayask.blogspot.com/2016/05/vitamin-aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh.html
Basically what I’ve been dealing with for a long time. I need interaction, but no one wants to be around someone who’s sad/depressed all the time :<
why most of my art n deviantart is DoA at the moment…
I actually started blogging when I was at the deepest point of my depression, and used to share it through my Facebook page. The reason I started with it was probably because I didn’t give a rats arse anymore about what people would say about it, about me. Truth to be told, I had (and still have) a small band of friends who wouldn’t let me fall. They knew of my condition before, so whatever shit others might throw at me, I still had a shelter to hide in. For me, it felt like a relief writing my blog. I wrote with brutal honesty and somehow people respected that, even if it was an inconvenient topic. I got quite some supportive messages during those days, somebody I don’t know even wrote me a handwritten letter and had it delivered by mail. I still don’t know who it is, but I’ve kept the letter and still mean to write something back through my blog someday.
It isn’t an easy thing to do and this comic perfectly explains the reasoning behind writing or not writing. For me, writing my blog relieved me of some of the pain in my darkest moments. It’s a curious thing, but it worked for me. Maybe for people who don’t dare to publish their blogs, at least write them. It won’t take away the cause of anything, but somehow for me it was some kind of additional antidepressant on the moments I needed it most.
I’m better now, no longer on medicines and having quite a stable life. But I remember just too well those dark times I left behind not so long ago which stole years of my life.
Courage to all who are still suffering from this disease. And thank you for these comics, I followed them and helped me realise I was not the only one to suffer from depression.
Trouble is a lot of people need to vent, but NO ONE wants to hear it, not even friends and family who supposedly are sympathetic toward your condition…
This is why I have a mental illness blog on tumblr that is followed by nobody that I know irl 🙂
I actually had a blog…those exact thoughts were in my head but I fought through. I thought it would help my friends who said they cared, to keep tabs on me without me having to speak the words, because most of the time, I get so anxious about speaking about it that my voice gets stuck in my throat and I imagine the horror or discomfort on their faces. This was going to be especially helpful because I was moving countries and I knew some people where I Waa moving to, I though it might be helpful to have a support group. I ended up deleting it because no one read it, no one cared to read it…
Thank you for your posts Clay.
Thanks, Clay. Another great summation of the immobilizing effects of depression.
The only people who understand are those who have experienced it. Only combat veterans know what getting shot at is like. Only depressed people, or those who have struggled with it, know what it’s like to feel totally worthless. It doesn’t respond to logic, it doesn’t respond to chipper attitudes of well meaning people around us. Criticism and sarcasm from others doesn’t help, or sermons about counting blessings.
Most of us don’t open up to people about the problem because explaining or even – ironically – defending the reality of the condition is too exhausting, and just makes it worse, and makes one feel like a bigger fuck-up.
Keep up the good work, Clay. We need these reminders that there are others who really, really get it. Your work is a real blessing to all of us in the trenches.
Peter
Back in the pre-Internet era, I found it helped just to write out what I was thinking and feeling on paper with no expectation that anyone would ever read it. When my mood was moderately better, I could see how irrational some of my thinking had been, and that (plus regular doses of fluvoxamine) made it much easier for me to fight off my depression when things got really bad again. The negative things that I knew must be true because I felt them so strongly all turned out to be false.
I have a question. I have bipolar and I’m curious if my depressive moments are similar to someone with depression. When I get depressed I just wait it out. They always pass, but I just have to kinda go about my day do something to distract my mind until the moment is done. Sometimes hours sometimes days. Does it work similarly for someone with depression? Like you just deal and wait until it’s over? Or is it a nonstop thing?
I love this comic but for me the reason has always been I’m too embarrassed to share how I’m feeling. I’ve decided to make it a journal to improve my writing, connect with myself more and improve myself.
Hi
How’d I get involved with this comic? Volunteering wise, etc.
Many thanks,
Ak
As an African American…I better not openly post my condition because they don’t believe in psychology or mental illness. Everything can be fixed with prayer. I want to be open but my family constantly tell me the family will be shamed. That’s why it took 40 years to get diagnosed. I enjoy and applaud your candid comics and can relate fully.
So very true, people don’t want to hear about it, even when they say they do if you actually do talk about it they usually turn on you.