By “normal”, I mean the ability to look in a mirror and recognize positive self-worth and beauty. Along with, the strength to get out of bed each morning in a confident mood about how well the day will go. I think this is what he meant when Whitehead used the words “self-hate”, “prisoners fate” and “stabs and jabs”. Depression literally controls your life in regards to how you act and react. It tears the person apart internally just because it can.
Later on in the stanza, Whitehead states that depression locks you in one state of mind and will never let you free until you have suffered to the extent of death. He used the line “destruction is its mother and death its wife”. Which here is true, depression is almost never irreversible and ultimately goes with you until you have died inside completely or a literal death. However, not only that but along the journey of depression it affects those around whomever too. It completely destroys a marriage and relationships/friendships with others and makes it hard to create new connections with new