depression comix

Story/Art © 2017 Clay

204 "Society Cares"

Published 28 Comments

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  7. Scott Collingwood, the woman here is the personification of “Society” in general, and the strip is about how mental illness tends to ostracize one in society, in the workplace, in relationships with other people, etc. But it still says, “we care”.

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  9. what resonates for me is the experience of being told one thing, but then actions saying something else which makes it harder to trust. harder to reach out for help, because I’ve been told “I accept you as you are.” but when I show up as I am, I’ve been told that it’s too much to handle. thankfully, that hasn’t been my only experience, but it’s been significant.

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  13. Oh, don’t get me started about mental health professionals. And no matter if they help you or not, you still have to pay them. Frequently out of pocket. Depression is impoverishing on top of everything else.

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  14. @Juliet: Where did you get that icon?! Those signs are all over my home town.

    Back on topic: Yeahhhh, and then the mental health professional who is there to help you get all better listens to you report symptoms of depression, leans over the desk, and bellows, “SNAP OUT OF IT!!!”

    On a less crappy note, she was let go from her position within a year.

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  15. Also getting into relationships: “Aww you poor beautiful thing, suffering like that… I will save you!
    Wait… Your mental illness is HARD to deal with!? How can I be in a relationship with you when loving you can be so DIFFICULT??”
    I don’t super blame people for being like this when the media constantly misrepresents mental illness and romanticises depression, but it’s still kinda like… What did you think our relationship was gonna be, a rom-com?

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    • Rom-coms should be considered controlled substances for the infuriating ideas that they perpetuate in society. “Okay – let me see your ID? I’m sorry, the Federal Rom-Com Dosage Database says you’ve already exceeded the allowed amount for this month.” /rant

      On the topic of the strip – yep. Society cares. Up until Society knows what’s wrong with you, misinterprets it, and runs screaming from the room.

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    • Just lost a relationship to this bull****. Don’t know exactly what he thought I meant when I told him repeatedly it was Depression… and described Introversion in detail with a freaking INFOGRAPHIC, in no uncertain terms.

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  16. @Dido: I think that was when shit got real for my husband: realizing that no matter how much he loves me, there are things he cannot love all better.

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  19. Aah… So true!! I think it hurts most when it is from somebody who genuinely cares for you but does not understand how they can support and strongly believe that what the depressed person needs is a strong “PULL UP YOUR PANTS” message and is extremely hurt when that doesn’t work! 🙁

    And yes, a very special thanks to Clay for putting in this kind of effort to create a comic which lets us understand that we are not alone! 🙂

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  21. Here is the bullshite they feed us, I recall listening to NPR radio’s ” expert” the day after RIP Robin Williams occurred, taking care of all my personal grooming needs in the SUV after camping in car at a Cape Cod rest area near Dennis, MA, she saying something to the effect of ” Reach out! Talk to someone. People care!” YEAH RIGHT. Having spent 10 years going weekly to Mattituck UU Society, a supposedly liberal church where several well-meaning and ” caring” progressives stigmatized me for being ” mentally ill” , chronically unemployed and bouncing in and out of community college, and living with my poor mother in Heritage Village, I soon realized that the term ” sense of community” only applies to those who say the right things, pretend-act as if they are so ” caring” and constantly stress themselves out on community/human concerns, and yes, are worthwhile taxpaying citizens who often have children. ” WTF? But he had it all!” I told myself. ” What the f**k do I have? to go back to a goddamn community college called NMSU-Dona Ana in lame Southern New Mexico that’s nothing but a career-prep academy for the corporate world, in an equally sucky place called Las Crucifixion [ Cruces]. A cowboy garbage pit of a city dominated by Christofascist Evangelical imbeciles for Jesus, impoverished rednecks and Mexicans brainwashed into being stupid and ignorant by those same Evangelical and Catholic churches. What do I have? Going back to crummy NM to an ” education factory” called Dona Ana in a crap town, after discovering that America is the Land of No Opportunity for those existing on a disability income; having been accepted for creative writing at two SUNY Schools but unable to afford the total costs of campus housing, the financial aid being $10,500 less than was needed for SUNY Potsdam and $6,000 less than what was needed for SUNY TC3 [Tompkins-Cortland CC]. robin Williams had it all, the house in So-Cal, fame, everything! What will I ever have? Three unfinished manuscripts packed in this SUV, a credit score so bad I was denied HUD-funded housing several times and spent 2 years homeless? A $741 SSDI + SSI income that’s not even enough to live on even in garbage-hole Las Cruces, NM unless one gives up their car and depends on the Dial-a-Tard bus to go to their stupid psychiatrists, who then strongly encourage them to get ” job training” at the DVR so they can become successful, obedient employees working at McGarbage; and yes- obedient Christians overcoming their problems with the help of those ” loving & caring Christians” [ puke] at the Heart of the World Jesus factory they call a goddamn church. NO THANKS.” Nope, this comic says it all.

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  22. No, when it comes to psychology and all their bullshit, I think my 19 year old suitemate at college has a point when she self-medicates on pot. Too bad it’s so expensive and, even in states with medical marijuana laws-not covered by either Medicare or Medicaid; unlike the dogshite pills forced upon us by the system.

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