I follow a lot of self-improvement and mental health issue twitter accounts and the main thing I see is an absolute desperation to be understood from the troubled party. There is a huge and crippling stigma but the thing is people are talking about it now. Scott Hutchison (of Frightened Rabbit) is one who has really articulated his dealings with depression. When Crumbler observed "In America we often think of depression as something that can be overcome by swallowing a pill or just snapping out of it and moving on from whatever made you sad. But you tend to write about it as a chronic, even dangerous problem. Like in “Not Miserable,” where you sing that “The dark can return with the flick of a switch.” Does depression still feel that close to the surface for you?" Hutchison spoke true for all of us who wear the badge of depression saying "It is that way. It’s always around the corner. But that’s not a negative thing. I think it’s more of a case that I’m aware of it, and I’m aware of where it can rear its head. Before I would just give in to it. I think I’m conscious of trying to keep it at bay. Everyone gets it from time to time. I’m just better at dealing with it now." To state the obvious, the wonderful Scott Hutchison is a total hero of mine. There are a multitude of days where I have picked myself up with the words 'I think I'll save suicide for another year' (Floating in the Forth - Frightened Rabbit) and it wasn't just the importance of those words but the tone that accompanied them, as if the waves washed over me and I was permitted to float, too. The songs of Frightened Rabbit, to me, hold a lot of power. I'm not sure I've ever felt as understood as the first time I heard Modern Leper.
That's the strange thing about a band like Frightened Rabbit, everybody develops such a personal attachment without even knowing the guys who make up the group. People feel the need to stand by their beloved band for better or for worse. Twentyfourbit.com rebukes a poor review spouting "I have to believe that had she listened a few more times, perhaps following along with a lyric sheet, she would have been struck by the inspirational story at the heart of Frightened Rabbit — the idea that you can transmute your despair into anthems, heal your pain through art, and connect with the thousands and millions who know just how you feel." I've seen people write of how fans are pulling for Hutchison to get better. The world sees that here is a fully functional individual, unapologetic for his dealings with depression and unafraid of the stigma. It seems that his struggle helps his career. That's just the thing about a band with true honesty, you have the ability to bring us hope and we thank you for it. Frightened Rabbit, you're the kinda guys I wanna be like.
So what about the rest of the media? Stephen Fry is an outspoken sufferer of bi-polar disorder. Diagnosed at 37 and already in the public eye, Fry made a documentary called 'The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive' discovering there were hundreds of thousands of sufferers in the UK alone. When facing the stigma that mental health receives he said "I want to speak out, to fight the public stigma and to give a clearer picture of mental illness that most people know little about." He is also quoted saying "Once the understanding is there, we can all stand up and not be ashamed of ourselves, then it makes the rest of the population realise that we are just like them but with something extra." Something extra? I love that. Guys, we're the special ones. It's gotta be true, Stephen Fry is a genius. He briefly speaks against stigma here.
Here's a kid who's speaking out with the fame and fortune she earned through the Disney Channel, Demi Lovato. I'm not a fan of her music or movies but I'm ecstatic that the kids who see Miley Cyrus twerking are also seeing Demi Lovato (and forgive me for this but...) shake things up in her own way.
We see from these three surviving in the public eye, outspoken and all as they are, that the key to getting through is knowledge and understanding. Once you have the diagnosis, you can make the world your oyster once more. I'm not so hot today but all I need is for you to fight along with me. Please?
Let's learn together,
depressivedetails@gmail.com
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