tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post9198432701097766475..comments2023-10-03T11:41:21.191+01:00Comments on The Truth About Lies: Reasons to Stay AliveJim Murdochhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-62101972634354033092015-04-15T12:07:37.932+01:002015-04-15T12:07:37.932+01:00You’re partly right, Kass. I do have a stockpile o...You’re partly right, <b>Kass</b>. I do have a stockpile of posts (mainly book reviews) which I will get to but I’d also committed to review three books which I’ve now done and then I took on a fourth which I’m currently reading and will review next month. After that we’ll see. A break every few weeks isn’t such a bad thing. I have to say I’m getting a bit skelly-eyed (that would be cross-eyed to you) jumping up and down the text and in and out of dictionaries and thesauri. But it needs to be done.<br /><br />“Wired differently” sounds like one of those new-fangled politically correct expressions like “differently abled”. It’s not wrong to be ill. If someone’s got asthma we call him an asthmatic and not “breathing challenged”. The problem with mental illness and deficiencies is that there are far too many to comfortably classify. How many types of chest problems can you think of? There’s no stigma with asthma or bronchitis and so we’re comfortable using these terms. With mental issues a whole other set of “rules” seem to apply. We use generic terms like “damaged” to describe people and “broken” but they’re a little vague and come with connotations. When I suffered from depression people kind of understood what that meant. Depression has become so commonplace that it’s got its name now. We no longer say that someone’s troubled with their nerves or some euphemism like that. One thing I noticed about Matt’s book was his use of the word “depression” to cover a multitude of symptoms because even once he’d explained G.A.D. that doesn’t mean anything to people and, as I pointed out, my G.A.D. and his G.A.D. manifested in very different ways. Now I don’t know what I have other than a list of symptoms and I find that a bit embarrassing actually.Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-36421206727745810522015-04-13T14:38:06.092+01:002015-04-13T14:38:06.092+01:00Jim, my aging, failing mind recollects you posted ...Jim, my aging, failing mind recollects you posted a while ago that the reviews you were posting were a collection of old ones, but the poetry was posted as new posts. I guess I didn't realize when you would be returning to 'real time.' I'm glad your work on <i>The More Things Change</i> has allowed you to review new books.<br /><br />Art as a symptom of mental illness is a sobering thought. I've been doing a lot of reading about Asperger's Syndrome and other Autism Spectrum disorders and since a considerable number of my friends fall along this spectrum, I'm more comfortable identifying people as being 'wired differently.' Couldn't we say this about artists?Kasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05233330248952156754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-68081783279543430282015-04-13T02:03:17.536+01:002015-04-13T02:03:17.536+01:00What makes you think this is a reprint, Kass? This...What makes you think this is a reprint, <b>Kass</b>? This is a new book (published on March 5th of this year) and I only read it a couple of weeks ago. Had I not been tied up with editing I would’ve got it out sooner but I’m committed to getting <i>The More Things Change</i> finished however long it takes. I have talked about my depression on and off over the years. It’s a part of who I am and I’ve come to accept that especially in recent years. Of course as a blanket term it’s not especially helpful but that’s the problem with trying to label mental illnesses. What Matt went through (and thought was Generalised Anxiety Disorder) and what I went through (and thought was Generalised Anxiety Disorder) were very different things. Maybe we were both doing it wrong. Who’s to say? They way out though was pretty much the same. Only when I came out this last time—as opposed to my three previous major depressive bouts—I wasn’t back to being the me I recognised. I’m someone else, someone old (not just older), someone fragile, someone who gets confused very easily. I broke me. Kids bounce back. Drop a kid and he might cry but he’ll get up and get on with his life. Drop an old man and he’ll probably break something. I guess it’s the same mentally. I was used to overworking and I did for years. I worked until my body threw its hands up and forced me to take a break. So I took a break, took some pills, got my act back together and seven or eight years later did it all over again. It had become a routine. I fully expected to be back at work within six weeks the last time, a bit delicate but ready to climb that hill again. That’s what you get when you’re cocky about these things.<br /><br />I have a theory. My theory is that art is a symptom of mental illness. There are, of course, plenty of people who manage to become depressed or anxious without suddenly feeling the need to pick up a paintbrush or choreograph a ballet but then we’re all different. But when you do look into the lives of the great artists so many are deeply troubled individuals. I think of Asimov’s robot, the one who made clocks but wasn’t supposed to make clocks. He made clocks because he was broken and the manufacturer offered to fix him. Imagine having to choose between a happy life and a creative one. <br /><br />And, <b>Gwilliam</b>, I was wondering about depression and suicide. Why have I never felt suicidal? The answer I came up with is the same as you: irrepressible curiosity. Not believing in an afterlife was a help. If we knew for certain that this life was not all there is why wouldn’t we all just accept this life was a trial run, slit or wrists and get on with the next one? No matter how bad my life has got I’ve always wanted to be there in the morning to see what happens next. No one likes it when a book ends which is why there’re so many sequels and when they dry up the fans get their pens out and try to keep the story going. What is a life but a story, a life story, and no one in their right mind wants it to end.Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-69282924444224660682015-04-12T21:50:40.151+01:002015-04-12T21:50:40.151+01:00I think my main reason for wanting to stay alive i...I think my main reason for wanting to stay alive is my unbridled curiosity. Mind you, it killed the cat they say, so maybe not such a good reason after all. Gwil Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03305768121713053837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-36456622676333276992015-04-12T21:32:52.533+01:002015-04-12T21:32:52.533+01:00Very interesting. I'm assuming this is a repri...Very interesting. I'm assuming this is a reprint of an earlier review. I know a lot of people who suffer from depression and I find as I get older, I might be termed 'depressed.' I was once part of a study at the University of Utah years ago, trying to determine if depression was a normal part of aging. I'm not sure of the graduate student's findings or even if his dissertation was published. It seemed from the interviews I conducted that it was prevalent in senior citizens, but I just googled it and one article I read said it was not part of aging and that only 20% of the elderly are depressed. Where do people get their figures? <br /><br />Life is sad, but I think troubled people are the best artists. You said you were funnier when depressed. Isn't tragedy always lurking behind most humor?Kasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05233330248952156754noreply@blogger.com