Sucky life leads to sadness

One blogger alleges that most people are depressed for a very good reason. The thesis is that it’s normal to be sad when your life sucks. It’s strange to nod my head in agreement while I simultaneously feel a little defensive.

 The majority of people aren’t sad because there is something wrong with their brain. They are sad because their lives suck. But rather than admit that to themselves, they run to the Doctor and beg for a diagnosis that alleviates their personal responsibility in this regard. After all, if a man in a white coat tells you’re broken, you never have to worry about fixing yourself. The sad reality is that they’ll spend the rest of their lives switching medications and wondering why nothing they take works and cures their disease. Never once do they consider that the disease is their life and true healing will come once attempts are made to repair it.

If you are sad right now, I want you to consider that perhaps there is nothing wrong with you. Perhaps you are seeing things the way they ought to be seen. Maybe there is just something wrong with the world right now? Instead of popping some pills in the hopes that they will put us on a perpetual even keel, maybe instead we should figure out what is wrong with our society…and fix it.

Is my experience any different from the one addressed here? My anxiety was the result of too much stress, something I have taken steps to prevent in the future. It’s true that my life royally sucked for the year or so that I was under immense pressure. But then the pressure stopped, and I couldn’t climb out of the suckiness. And I didn’t run to the doctor… I waited over a year.  So am I somehow justified?

To answer my own question, I don’t really think my experience with mental distress is much different from the experience that others have. In retrospect, I still do not regret my ongoing use of anti-depressants. But I am really ready to discontinue their use, and this article makes me feel all the more ready. On top of that, it’s a good reminder not to let your life suck.