It is frustrating to erase advice that was certain to change lives

Yesterday, along with the mundane post about living in the wildnerness, I also wrote a dictionary-length commentary about the bouts of depression that seem to be spreading like wildfire (pun intended). Both Sylvie and Rodion spoke at length recently on their blogs about this very subject. Unfortunately, I boneheadedly erased all the words that were dedicated to this more intriguing subject, so you readers received only a post about some trees.

Basically, in 10,000 words or less, I attempted to say something straddling the border between sympathetic and insightful. You might think it is suspiciously convenient that such an uncharacteristic post was lost before you could scrutinize it, but I swear the explanation I've offered is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

The post -- a truly remarkable achievement in internet publishing -- went something like this: everyone gets depressed at some point or another, and, when that happens, we tend to isolate ourselves from those who care to help. Usually, we think that it's impossible for anyone else understand our mental anguish; we think that no one else has ever felt pain of such magnitude; and we convince ourselves that everyone we know is living a rosey existence which only on a rare occassion dips to a level of "moderately unhappy".

Then, when other people can describe with precision the depression and sorrow that we are feeling at the moment, we react with astonishment. We think, "How could this other individual possibly know what I'm faced with? How could they see inside me with such clarity?" But the truth is, we shouldn't be amazed when this happens because even though the emotional low is the byproduct of a situation that is both personal and unique, we, as human beings, are only equipped to experience our emotions in a limited set of ways. In other words, there are only so many mental configurations that can come to fruition in the average person's mind (psychopaths and vegans are an exception to this proposition). Also, the scenarios that cause depression -- e.g., cheating, break-ups, periods of uncertainty as to what life holds in the future -- tend to play themselves out with regularity throughout all of our lives.

So, often the best thing to do when you are feeling down is to seek refuge amongst friends -- friends who in all likelihood have experienced something similar or downright identical to what is ailing you and who can offer support when it's needed. Those friends can help you realize that the pain is but a temporary glimpse of the frailty of the human condition that every human being goes through at one time or another. What I mean to say with all this blathering (I swear the original version read like a self-help masterpiece) is that, despite what you may think, you are definitely not alone.

This message has been brought to you by the Coalition for Sappy Positive Reinforcement.

PS - I'm feeling great.