h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Depression Of A Teenage Mind : An Open Letter - A13260052
Author: Nirvanite - U655167

This is my first attempt so be gentle, i just thought my experiences could help someone.

Best me saying this first. It's not proper EG material, but it's brilliant regardless and fit for the post.

Psyc.

Hello Nirvanite

We already have an Edited Guide Entry on Teenage Depression: A270109
but your excellent letter would be perfect for The Post, as Psycorp has suggested.

You can leave a message for them here: <./>thepost</.>

Do you need any assistance in removing this from Peer Review?

Galaxy Babe
Scout

Is there no way this might be added to the existing EG entry?

Exceptions are occasionally made for 1st person material, and this letter is well written, succinct, not self pitying - I think teenagers might relate to it well, perhaps better than to the existing entry as it is.

It also shows how depression might creep up almost unnoticed, which the existing entry doesn't.

Nirvanite, it's well put, not long winded and positive. All the best to you and to this letter, wherever it finishes up.
Waz

I should say, 'well put, not long-winded and is positive,' just to be clear.

It can be added to the existing entry through the Update forum, under a Header "A Personal Perspective", I guess. What a good idea, LLLWaz

<./>Update</.>

Great idea!

Needs an italic's opinion before going much further, mind.

I think the implied suggestion that coming off the anti-depressants is something the BBC couldn't be seen to endorse, but that could easily be edited if Nirvanite was ok with the idea.

Did you mean to imply that, Nirvanite? Reading again, it could just be comment, just part of your history with this.
Waz

And there it is! Hopefully the author will be back soon

, err yeah. It is.

But it looks like I'm discounting Jimster as an italic - I didn't realise I'd taken that long over that post but I did get distracted... I promise.

Discount Italics? 20% off? Are you insinutaing the're a bit 'heavy' round the middle? All those cookies and tea...

Anyway, with the authors okay, is it a simple process of cut and paste? I do hope so. This is really well written

>>
I think the implied suggestion that coming off the anti-depressants is something the BBC couldn't be seen to endorse, but that could easily be edited if Nirvanite was ok with the idea.
<<

Many people do come off meds and do well so I can't see what is wrong with it being in a personal account. If it was a problem for the bbc perhaps a footnote could be added that withdrawal from anti-depressants is best done with care and over time.

I'll second that, and the cut & paste submission into the existing entry, as it's not really an update, more of an *addition*

Thank you all for your excellent input.Any ideas or editing is more than welcome.

I just love this place!


Wilma

Nirvanite, this is very well-written and, I think, evocative of just the right sentiments.

There are some minor grammatical points that should be straightened out - missing apostrophes, correct capitalisation, that sort of thing. If you like, I can go through and point them out one by one, or I can post here a version of your letter with my edits in. Would either of these be good ways for you to see what should be fixed?

Posting the edited letter would be more helpful and easier than the other way.

cheers.

Sure. This is what I did:

I don't know about you, but to me depression sums up varied images. To me it could be the goth, clad in monotonous black, the mascara and face powder bringing an eerie chill to the clown without a smile. It could be the fat kid or the kid with glasses that we have all made fun of or laughed at in some way. It could be the people standing in a graveyard, mourning the passing of a loved one. It could be the single mother without enough money for clothes or food to feed her baby.

But I never thought it would be an 18- to 19-year-old lad, with a steady if poorly-paid and boring job, a roof over his head, a girlfriend who loved him, and a supportive family. I never thought the picture of depression would be me.

It started off with what I thought was just plain laziness. I couldn't be bothered doing the simple things like tidying up, washing the dishes and going to the shop. Then I started phoning in sick for work because I couldn't be bothered dragging my backside out of bed. I didn't want to see or talk to anyone. All I wanted to do was sit at home in the dark and play Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. I ate and gained weight. I stopped talking to my friends. In the space of about three months, I'd gone from being an outgoing, confident, guitar-playing hellraiser to a virtual hermit.

So along to the doctor I went. I told him what was going on and he said, 'I think you're suffering from depression'. So the first thing that went through my head was, what do I have to be depressed about?

Four different anti-depressants later, I still hadn't figured it out. So I stopped taking them, though this may not be the best course for everyone.

Now some of you may be asking yourselves, what the point is to this long-winded little story. My point is that now I'm well on the road to recovery and this is all thanks to the support I've had. From my doctor and, most importantly, my friends and family. Depression is not something to be scared of, or hid away from. Depression is a battle, and if you go it alone you're gonna be on the losing side. Talk to someone. A friend, your doctor, a co-worker, a stranger on the end of the phone or in an email to the Samaritans. But just talk to someone. Because realising you are not alone is the first step to recovery.

That's what I thought, but please feel free to change or dispute what you see fit.

Corrected and updated. Thanks very much

No problem.

It looks like all we need is an official-type person to add this to the EG entry - and for that, we have to wait till Monday.

*waits*