This comedian had the perfect response to someone who said ‘depression is a choice’
Comedian Andy Richter was going about his own business when he spotted something someone said about depression on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/_asiastabler/status/929813622943109120
And it prompted just a brilliant thread that should be required reading for anyone who ever again suggests depression is a choice.
1.
Oh really? Well “go fuck yourself” is a directive. https://t.co/7W9WOSdnsT
— Andy Richter (@AndyRichter) November 17, 2017
2.
Quote-responding to this tweet may seem like shooting fish in a barrel, & yet it is 30 mins later & I have pulled over after school drop-off to respond further because I am angry.
— Andy Richter (@AndyRichter) November 17, 2017
3.
I have been followed by an ever-present amorphous sadness for almost my entire life. I am 51 yrs old. It varies in strength from a casual unresolvable suspicion that I will never find the joy that others do in a sunset, to the feeling that being dead might a respite & a kindness
— Andy Richter (@AndyRichter) November 17, 2017
4.
I’ve been on meds for decades. I’m a devout believer in the talking cure of therapy & it’s structure & hope & absolutely life-saving sense of progress. I have a successful career. I’m in love w my wife of 27 yrs, & my 2 kids are the best ppl I know. My life is full. I am lucky
— Andy Richter (@AndyRichter) November 17, 2017
5.
And I will still reach the end of my life having walked through most of it with an emotional limp. I do not wallow in self-pity. No one did this to me. It is just how it is. I am just unlucky.
— Andy Richter (@AndyRichter) November 17, 2017
6.
“Depression is a choice” = “your pain is your fault”
“You can overcome this if you just try hard enough” = “Your pain is making me uncomfortable. Please shut up.”— Andy Richter (@AndyRichter) November 17, 2017
7.
If you are unburdened by depression, real true depression, count yourself lucky. Keep your quick fixes to yourself. This is the kind of bullshit that kills people. Learn, then speak. Or just be lucky and quiet.
— Andy Richter (@AndyRichter) November 17, 2017
8.
The kindness you are showing me in this thread is why I’m still on this dumb website. Thank you all.
— Andy Richter (@AndyRichter) November 17, 2017
9.
I just realized I added 4 yrs to my marriage. It’s 23 yrs. Math is hard.
— Andy Richter (@AndyRichter) November 17, 2017
And here are just a few of the people who responded.
Always been a fan, Andy. And can sadly relate. Your articulation of what it’s like is perhaps the best I’ve ever heard. I wish you strength in the fight. ✌️
— Richard Marx (@richardmarx) November 18, 2017
This is an INCREDIBLE thread
— Michael Grant Terry (@LLMGT) November 18, 2017
Thank you so much. My dad should have turned 70 a week ago. Instead I lost him to depression in 1980, in a society that didn't know what to make of that brilliant, unhappy man. Today we know better, but ignorance is still abundant. pic.twitter.com/BbtIQ7jMqS
— Mikael Pawlo (@mpawlo) November 18, 2017
Depression is not a choice. Who would ever chose to be unhappy, overwhelmed, disconected from friends and family. It is a clinical diagnosis. So ya if you don't understand, Andy's directive will work nicely for you.
— Suzanne (@Castlesuzanne) November 18, 2017