Depression Mirror

In America, approximately 19 million people are affected by depression. A major question raised by depression itself is whether depression is a pain-stricken illness or not. Is depression capable of confiscating day-to-day functioning? People who have not suffered directly from depression tend to feel as if depression is controllable, as if a person can just get rid of depression. I have chosen two pictures that accurately represent the way in which society treats a depressed individual. In the first image, It’s an Illness, illustrated by the Depression Comix crew, we will see a girl debating back and forth with herself in a mirror. The reflection of herself in the mirror is stating that depression is just a mind game, that nothing is truly …show more content…
The lady seems beat, distressed, uncomfortable, and hopeless. Her mirrored self is breaking down her actual identity. The mirror ensures the lady it is all her fault, that there is no illness involved. The lady repeatedly refutes back “It is an illness” she is suffering from. In the last section of this comic, the mirror’s response is “Yeah. And one day you might believe that”. With the mirror’s last response, we see that the lady herself does not consider her depression an illness. She doesn’t want to wallow in self-pity. This image clearly represents the feelings society wants us to suppress. Unaffected individuals tend to undermine the fact that depression victims do indeed suffer from physical symptoms. Some symptoms include: appetite loss, fatigue, joint pain, and insomnia. While these are a few commonly experienced symptoms, the potential symptoms are not limited to the ones listed above. To support this image with personal experience, my cousin Ben suffered from depression but nobody knew. He hid his depression from his friends, family, and closest loved ones. Ben valued the public’s opinion and he didn’t want to be rejected by society. He didn’t want society telling him to suck-it-up. With no proper outlet of emotions, Ben became overwhelmed with all the outside forces telling him he was fine. Push came to shove and Ben committed suicide on January 22nd, 2016. We will never be able to understand the true effects of depression unless we suffer first hand. Until then, we should allow for proper catharsis without prior judgment or criticism. Similarly, image number two, Sickness & Depression, also supports the idea that society underestimates the exact effects of