Any time I’m having strong feelings, simply turn off my emotions and become an automaton that exists to serve others.
My bosses love it. I’m going straight to the top. And once I’m finally in charge, I’ll be free to dump all my emotional baggage on my underlings while insisting they need to toughen up.
The others would probably take his problem a lot more seriously if he had at least tried to get it fixed. If you are going to walk around with a mangled blood gushing hand for a prolonged period of time, without seeking help, then you should probably stop whining about it, because I can’t do anything for you. I can’t force you to go to a doctor.
A lot of these comments are really proving the point of the comic. Nowhere does it say that anybody took his ailment seriously, yet it’s the victim who’s at fault.
Correct. And many of the comments immediately jump to (probably personal) experiences where a friend or loved one had depression and despite their best efforts to help, they were unable to. That’s not what this comic is about.
The victim isn’t at fault for being depressed, or having a mangled hand, or whatever analogy we want to use. However, if they go out with friends and expect them to take the problem more seriously than they, themselves, are taking it, then they have some measure of fault for imposing their problem on the friend. If they are seeking treatment that just isn’t working, or they are unable to get proper treatment for other reasons, that’s a different story and I’ll have a lot more sympathy.
It all boils down to not expecting someone to take your problem seriously for long if you are not taking it seriously yourself.
“You don’t take your depression seriously enough for me” helps me to understand where some people who don’t understand (or don’t care to understand) depression at all are coming from.
If the comic suggested that he sought help in the past and it wasn’t working, it would be a much better analogy. Unfortunately, we only know what’s actually shown.
Dude should maybe consider seeing a doctor about his “hand”.
This would be the correct response when you met them.
Which shows you have the right idea.
Instead of this comment, which is victim blaming.
You are presenting yourself as the same as all the other characters in the comic.
The correct response would be “none of the other characters told them to get help, or tried to help them”.
This is about others not taking depression seriously. The difficulty in getting treatment is another matter.
Thats why they put hand in quotes… it was sarcasm implying that the character needs to see a doctor about his depression
Yes, I know. As I said, not the point of the comic.
I was sad once and then I realized that I can control my emotions and decided not to be sad.
That’s great that you didn’t have chronic depression! Millions of others do.
Glad that worked for you…now try living a few billion other people’s lives and tell me it works.
That’s impossible, I can only experience me
Any time I’m having strong feelings, simply turn off my emotions and become an automaton that exists to serve others.
My bosses love it. I’m going straight to the top. And once I’m finally in charge, I’ll be free to dump all my emotional baggage on my underlings while insisting they need to toughen up.
I was sad once and then I realized that I cannot control my emotions and was forced to remain sad
A lot of children never learned how to regulate their emotions and are now adults
The others would probably take his problem a lot more seriously if he had at least tried to get it fixed. If you are going to walk around with a mangled blood gushing hand for a prolonged period of time, without seeking help, then you should probably stop whining about it, because I can’t do anything for you. I can’t force you to go to a doctor.
A lot of these comments are really proving the point of the comic. Nowhere does it say that anybody took his ailment seriously, yet it’s the victim who’s at fault.
To wit: everyone in the comic is dismissive of the ailment; none offers any real help or empathy.
Correct. And many of the comments immediately jump to (probably personal) experiences where a friend or loved one had depression and despite their best efforts to help, they were unable to. That’s not what this comic is about.
The victim isn’t at fault for being depressed, or having a mangled hand, or whatever analogy we want to use. However, if they go out with friends and expect them to take the problem more seriously than they, themselves, are taking it, then they have some measure of fault for imposing their problem on the friend. If they are seeking treatment that just isn’t working, or they are unable to get proper treatment for other reasons, that’s a different story and I’ll have a lot more sympathy.
It all boils down to not expecting someone to take your problem seriously for long if you are not taking it seriously yourself.
“You don’t take your depression seriously enough for me” helps me to understand where some people who don’t understand (or don’t care to understand) depression at all are coming from.
Maybe the real lesson is that a mangled hand actively gushing blood isn’t really a great analogy for depression.
It’s a very imperfect one, yes. But the comic is trusting that the reader will understand the metaphor. A big ask for some, it seems.
Some wounds don’t heal.
If the comic suggested that he sought help in the past and it wasn’t working, it would be a much better analogy. Unfortunately, we only know what’s actually shown.