Embracing Depression

568 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essay about understanding depression

"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." -- Oscar Wilde Perhaps I feel compelled to write on the subject of depression because it is a selfish disease. It seeps into every crevice of one's life; it refuses to be ignored, to be relegated to some obscure corner of the mind. Perhaps I'm writing about it because of what I have learned about my relationship with the disease. Perhaps the time has come when I'm ready to stop cursing the depression and start embracing it.

What I'm about to say is terribly unfashionable, and I hope that you will forgive any offense that it may cause. In all truthfulness, I'm glad that I have lived with depression as a companion. This statement does not imply that I have relished the grief and guilt the disease has borne. It does not mean that I have enjoyed the fits of despair, the self-imposed isolation, or the shared sorrow of my frie...

... middle of paper ...

...effe, Ray Charles, Francis Ford Coppola, John Kenneth Galbraith, Soren Kierkegaard - I can't help but wonder if their accomplishments were not just in spite of, but partially because of, their illness.

Oscar Wilde once wrote, "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." I have reached a point in my life where I can concur with that sentiment. At last, I have realized that lying in the mud enhances the times when I've set my heart with the stars.

Show More
Related

  • A Look At Neo-Paganism Through Ethnography

    1800 Words  | 4 Pages

    The growing practice of Neo-Paganism in America has caused many to turn their heads. The misunderstanding of the religion has caused many to equate the practitioners with the popular conception of typical "witches," that perform black magic rituals, satanic sacrifices, and engage in devil-inspired orgies. After many years, the Neo-Pagan community has cleared up many misconceptions through the showing that many of them do not engage in activities, and are rather participating in a religion, just as those would that participate in a Christian community. It's unacceptance continues, perhaps due to its non-conformity to the ideal of worshipping a Christian God. Through the use of ethnography, anthropologists and sociologists are able to present the public with a much different view than what we are bombarded with in popular media.

    Read More

  • The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex and the Meaning of Life

    774 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Question of God is divided into two parts. The first part, titled: “What Should We Believe” seeks to answer the first half of the questio...

    Read More

  • Situation Ethics and its Relationship to Idolatry

    1247 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sigmund Freud's writings continue to influence people even though most psychology philosophy discredits a lot of his ideas.

    Read More

  • Paganism In Greek, Roman And Greek/Roman Religions

    1263 Words  | 3 Pages

    Paganism had three main beliefs in the Greek/Roman time periods. First, is being the sense of piety. Piety meaning the natural religious instinct to respect something greater than yourself, and that humility plays a role in order to understand man's subordinate place in the great scheme of things. Moderation and temperance went along with this. In classical civilizations, some had mottos “Nothing too much” and “Know thy self”. To man, Pagan as well as Christian, moral rules were absolute. They were unyielding and unquestionable. This ...

    Read More

  • Fighting More Than the Blues: A Look into Depressive Disorders

    1114 Words  | 3 Pages

    A depressive disorder is an illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts. It affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way one feels about oneself, and the way one thinks about things. It is not a sign of personal weakness or a condition that can be willed or wished away. A depressive disorder is exactly that—a disorder; therefore, people with a depressive illness cannot will themselves to get better they can't just pull themselves together. A depressive disorder requires treatment. (1) ("Depression 1)

    Read More

  • Epic of Beowulf

    1716 Words  | 4 Pages

    There was a huge influence of both paganism and christianity that can be noticed in Old English Poetry. To better understand these two values, let us explain what paganism and christianity mean. Christianity is a monotheistic religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. As presented in New Thestament, Christians believe Jesus to be the Son of God and the Messiah prophesied in The Old Testament. Christianity began in the 1st century AD as a Jewish sect, and shares many religious texts with Judaism, specifically the Hebrew Bible, known to Christians as the Old Testament. The name Christian means belonging to Christ or partisan of Christ. As far as Paganism is concerned, the word comes from latin paganus and means a country dweller, rustic. It is a term which has come to connote a broad set of spiritual or cultic practises or beliefs of any folk religion a nd of historical and contemprorary polytheism religious in particular. (...) Characteristic of pagan traditions in the anscence of proselytisation and presence of a living mythology which explains religious practice. The term Pagan is a Christian adaptation of the goy of Judaism.

    Read More

  • Unveiling the Misunderstandings of Wicca and Witchcraft

    1942 Words  | 4 Pages

    Outdating Christianity and Judaism, Paganism and witchcraft are a few of the oldest religions known to man. Although many people use Paganism as an umbrella term for any other religions other than Christian or Judaic, witchcraft and Paganism are not the same thing (Lokken). Wicca and witchcraft has been practiced by many cultures in many different parts of the world. The people who practice some of the magick that Wicca has to offer may not define themselves as witches, but it has been practiced. Evidence of Africans using witchcraft has been found; however, it is not the witchcraft that follows the Wiccan Rede, or the Three-fold Law (“What). The Wiccan Rede is summed up in just a few words “an it harm none, do what ye will” (Zimmerman 63). Furthermore, the Thrice Fold Law is the law of karma; where whatever someone does, good or bad, it comes back to them thrice fold. Due to this Thrice Fold Law and the Wiccan Rede, most witches do not want to harm anyone because they know it will come back to them

    Read More

  • What´s Paganism?

    1462 Words  | 3 Pages

    Paganism is the oldest religion in human history, originating with Vikings and Celts. Monotheism is widely rejected in the followers of Paganism and while the use of magic is a stigma usually tied to Paganism and various other occult religions, not every pagan practices ritualistic magic. Through the various topics and examples, Pagan culture, different deities, and practices were shown and explained. Common misconceptions, deities, rituals, traditions, and influences on Christianity/modern America have all formed into one and brought the true nature of Paganism to light.

    Read More

  • Pagan History

    2520 Words  | 6 Pages

    Paganism is a loose word for the large variety of polytheistic, shamanistic, and mystical non-monotheistic religions. Paganism exists in all cultures, from paleolithic to technological, but has historically waxed and waned. The ancient Egyptians are an example of a highly pagan society; so are the ancient Romans; and all paleolithic cultures from the Old Stone Age to the present have strong pagan elements. An example of a less pagan culture would be the West for the last thousand years or so, since the centuries following the Fall of Rome. The domination of the Middle East by Christians and Moslems has also largely shut out paganism.

    Read More

  • Pop Culture and Paganism: A Mutation of Truth

    1082 Words  | 3 Pages

    Most people when they hear the word Pagan, they think of the old haggard Witch who stirs her dark caldron that contains some unknown malicious concoction. Unfortunately much like the old sailors stories about mermaids that turned out to be nothing more than manatees, the stories of evil witches are greatly exaggerated. Nowhere is this seen stronger than in Pop Culture, Pagans the world over fight to be understood and have paganism accepted for what it is and not what it isn’t. In fact many people who do buy into this media driven stereotype have little to no knowledge of what paganism actually is and where it comes from. Sue McCaskill an accomplished writer for Times Colonist (Victoria, British Columbia) explains this best in her article published October 5, 2013:

    Read More

  • The Hero Journey in Princess Bride

    975 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hutchinson, Tom “Illness and the hero’s journey: still ourselves and more”, CMAJ. 162.11 (2000):p.1597 web (date accessed).

    Read More

  • yoga

    906 Words  | 2 Pages

    This qualitative case study is an approach to research how yoga can affect the human mind in a positive way and lead to a healthy lifestyle using 2 sources one being a book called The Science Of Yoga: The Risks and the Rewards by William J. Broad 2012. And the other being a private interview with a 22 year old male Yogi. This ensures that the issue is not getting explored through one side, but rather a variety of sides which allows for different inputs to be reveled and understood. There are two key approaches that help determine if yoga helps affect the human mind in a positive way. One flourished by William J. Broad (2012) which explores different factors on how yoga contributes to a healthy lifestyle and interviews fellow yogis who give there insight on the matter. And the second being a personal webcam interview conducted by the researcher ...

    Read More

  • Opposing Viewpoints on Depression

    2443 Words  | 5 Pages

    Depression is much more common than most people think. Because it is essentially an invisible illness and is largely in the mind, it is difficult to correctly diagnose it and most people suffer for months, years, or even decades with depression. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines depression as “a mood disorder marked especially by sadness, inactivity, difficulty with thinking and concentration, a significant increase or decrease in appetite and time spent sleeping, feelings of dejection and hopelessness, and sometimes suicidal thoughts or an attempt to commit suicide.” Most medical definitions are able to explain what happens and why it does, but after carefully examining this one, we only notice that it explains what happens, but not why. Usually, the symptoms of an illness are...

    Read More

  • The Absorption of Religions

    579 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...after death. Note the contrasting between Christian holidays and Pagan ones. Note their wavering loyalty between Almighty God and ‘the old stone gods’ that they sacrificed to and made heathen vows to when things became desolate. In conclusion, Christianity is made up of more than its own traditions and, back then, the transition sometimes faltered. Sometimes, people would fall back to what they knew before: Paganism.

    Read More

  • Essay About Depression

    1628 Words  | 4 Pages

    The silent killer that takes lives without warning, punishment, or any sympathy; depression is truly one of the most prominent mental illnesses in the world. Depression is defined as a mental illness inducing a severe and staunch feeling of sadness. The term depressed is coined in English as a temporary sadness that everyone experiences in their life. Despite that depression is more active in women, it is still one of the most common mental illnesses in the world. It affects anybody, regardless of sex, race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic standing. Regardless of all these facts, surprisingly little is known about depression, however, scientists have been able to hypothesize major causes, effects, and treatments for the disability affecting over

    Read More

More about Embracing Depression

Open Document