I like the Peanuts styling in this. It captures the motif without looking like a copy.
My depression started when I was about 7 years old. My mother described the change as being like one day somebody flipped a switch and I became a completely different person. I had to listen to a lot of the same crap growing up as the child in this strip. All it did was make me feel guilty for having mental illness when I was just a kid growing up in rather privileged circumstances. I learned to really hate having to listen to other people telling me how I was supposed to feel.
I was trying to go for a melding of Calvin & Hobbes and Peanuts. It was a lot of fun to draw with a big brush pen again.
I know exactly how you feel. It seems to be a thing where the older generation points fingers at the younger for not having the same environment for growth that they did. As I grow older, I don’t ever want to lose empathy for the struggles of the young, especially since their struggles are primarily the fault of older generations.
I am fortunate that my son feels comfortable talking with my wife and I about almost anything. I have never assumed he is happy and I would never tell him his feelings are not valid.
I can say he is much more well adjusted than his parents. I am always grateful that he doesn’t understand how I feel or why. He is never critical of it, he just doesn’t understand it. I have told him to be thankful that he can’t understand and if he starts to then he should let me know right away so we can get him into treatment.
I am glad you enjoyed drawing in a different style. It is a great look that really fits the character.
I totally got the Calvin & Hobbes vibe from this artwork, nice job!
This one really hits home as my daughter is almost 7 and very sensitive emotionally to things that she sees as mean or unkind (not specifically directed at herself, bad behavior towards anyone hurts and saddens her). I always worry about not being supportive enough for her while also not wanting to coddle her too much. It’s a hard line to straddle…
Some of these strips have provided incredibly insightful comments on what is a tough and prevalent condition. I came here from your other dormant comic and while I miss those wicked off-color strips I can really see why you’ve chosen to concentrate your efforts here. Thanks for the education on how this feels from the inside.
I remember media going out of its way to show us how horrible nuclear war would be. Movies like “The Day After” and “When the Wind Blows”. We need those movies now. We aren’t taking this seriously enough.
I’ve already had to at least once lay it out for grown-a** people that they were not yet born when the Soviet Union fell. I was. In high school. I remember. My entire childhood was this mess. We at least had Gorbachev come along and be rational after decades of us having to be terrified but it was still a scary time. Especially with me being a Navy brat and so I was always living near Soviet nuclear missile targets. I hate all these smarmy little right-wing douchebags who think this is all funny.
Navy kid here, too, but a half-generation earlier. In the early ’70s our Pacific bases were under threat from the USSR as well as repercussions from the Vietnam War. With bomb drills every month, we got used to being scared. Today, this whole thing with NK has me sick with worry.
My childhood depressive episode went a little differently. Instead of hiding my emotions, I got very good at supressing them. As cruelty is not in my nature I never bullied anyone, but I did stop doing homework because I didn’t see the point. Eventually my teacher noticed, I got sent to the principal’s office (there was no guidance counsellor), and they figured that I must simply be bored. Pretty soon I and about 5 other bright kids were in advanced classes for a couple of hours every Friday.
While it didn’t directly address the problem, it mostly worked. I had something interesting to look forward to each week, and I started getting to know a couple of my classmates better.
I had my bad moments in childhood. I was sensitive and got depressed. I had my journal and that helped. I faced issues of abuse and an uncertain future. I also dealt with anxiety. Don’t underestimate children’s depression. Talk and don’t be judgemental. Thanks for this.
It’s called “climate change” because fucking idiots would look at a heavy snowfall and go “where’s the global warming?”. Mean global temperature is on the rise, but the effects on climate in the short to medium term will vary. Some parts will get arid and hot, other parts may get colder as the various mechanisms for keeping climate in equilibrium start to break down/change. You’ll notice that the Arctic is disappearing while the Antarctic is relatively unaffected (for the moment) because the *climate* will *change* at different rates/in different ways based *global warming*.
tl;dr Scientists changed the name from global warming to climate change because stupid idiots couldn’t understand the complexity of the process.
I don’t agree with your points (there’s no science in there, just justifications based on greed and selfishness), but I certainly disagree with your backhanded way of using ad hominem for people who don’t agree with you. That attitude is not welcome here. It is certainly possible to conduct yourself on a forum without having to resort to schoolyard tactics.
Hey there! Just discovered your comic and binged the entire thing in one sitting. I know you’ve hear it many times, but I relate so much to some (most?) of them. They, and the comments from your readers, help in not feeling alone. Empathy is a powerful thing.
Funny thing: I’ve long pictured myself with that “masquerade-like smile” thing and it was in one of your first comics (#5) and frequently returns! I guess I’m not alone in that as well.
greetings. long time reader. forgive me if this comes out a mess.
thank you for continuing with this comic its been something I have come to for a visual aid on how to understand with depression and I have shared it with friends and family on how depression is for people who suffer/endure/have etc or in my case have lived with since forever. its been a very visual and detailed example to help understand. i have also shared it with my WRAP group (Wellness Recover Action Plan) which is a group that gives people tools on how to continue dealing with and cope etc with their depression and what to do when breakdowns come and how to be prepared
this has been very helpful…. finally I have one suggestion if I may. you have gone on just about as many depression examples in life, but what about someone who battles depression or any mental disease (whatever it is called now because there are so many terms and labels) who is hit with loss and now has the double weights of depression and grief. or generally dealing with grief?
i ask because i’m dealing with that now and I have no way to describe it beyond its a gaping void that wants to drag me to bed and the bliss of calm sleep so i don’t have to deal with anything…. Its different for everyone but for me it feels all encompassing in where I don’t want to do things I enjoy even. nothing. everyone has been abandoned and i’m burning both ends typing this – worth it-…if nothing else thank you for reading this….
Thank you for your reply. Grief is a very real thing and is a natural emotion that comes with dealing with loss, and it can be just as emotionally crippling. In fact, many of the symptoms expressed in grief are surprisingly similar to that of depression. However, they are different in that grief is an emotional response and depression is an illness. This doesn’t make it better or any worse in how you feel it of course, and if the negative feelings don’t disappear in due time, it might be time to see a doctor. Latent or existing depression can be worsened with grief and it’s this that is dangerous, not the grief itself.
Thank you for that link. I had never read anything about the difference between grief and depression. It also gave be room to remember that we can experience grief and other emotions on top of depression; it’s often not a simple either-or decision tree.
depression comix understood. it was mostly a thought. i didn’t express it in the first post. could there be a comic about someone with depression having to deal with grief as well? however you answered that so it is ok. thank you for your response 🙂
When I get requests to draw comics, it’s usually of the “draw depression in this condition” and it’s these kinds of requests I have to decline. The reason is that the main point of the comic as a whole is to feature depression, but each individual strip must have a point. Sure, I could draw four panels of people being depressed, that would be easy enough, but every strip has to have something more. It has to have some kind of punch that makes it like a comic strip. In the latest comic for example, I could have drawn the child moping around around for four panels but instead I wanted to make a statement about the irony of adults complaining about children not appreciating the horrible future that they made for them. Adding irony or some kind of pointed commentary makes the comic feel more like a complete strip, and it’s really this bit that I fuss over the most rather than what flavor of depression I want to depict. Things like not enjoying things and feeling isolated I have done many strips on, but every time I make one of these I have to find a way to make it interesting enough to warrant being a complete comic strip.
greetings. long time reader. forgive me if this comes out a mess.
thank you for continuing with this comic its been something I have come to for a visual aid on how to understand with depression and I have shared it with friends and family on how depression is for people who suffer/endure/have etc or in my case have lived with since forever. its been a very visual and detailed example to help understand. i have also shared it with my WRAP group (Wellness Recover Action Plan) which is a group that gives people tools on how to continue dealing with and cope etc with their depression and what to do when breakdowns come and how to be prepared
this has been very helpful…. finally I have one suggestion if I may. you have gone on just about as many depression examples in life, but what about someone who battles depression or any mental disease (whatever it is called now because there are so many terms and labels) who is hit with loss and now has the double weights of depression and grief. or generally dealing with grief?
i ask because i’m dealing with that now and I have no way to describe it beyond its a gaping void that wants to drag me to bed and the bliss of calm sleep so i don’t have to deal with anything…. Its different for everyone but for me it feels all encompassing in where I don’t want to do things I enjoy even. nothing. everyone has been abandoned and i’m burning both ends typing this – worth it-…if nothing else thank you for reading this….
Oooooooh dear.
I like the Peanuts styling in this. It captures the motif without looking like a copy.
My depression started when I was about 7 years old. My mother described the change as being like one day somebody flipped a switch and I became a completely different person. I had to listen to a lot of the same crap growing up as the child in this strip. All it did was make me feel guilty for having mental illness when I was just a kid growing up in rather privileged circumstances. I learned to really hate having to listen to other people telling me how I was supposed to feel.
I was trying to go for a melding of Calvin & Hobbes and Peanuts. It was a lot of fun to draw with a big brush pen again.
I know exactly how you feel. It seems to be a thing where the older generation points fingers at the younger for not having the same environment for growth that they did. As I grow older, I don’t ever want to lose empathy for the struggles of the young, especially since their struggles are primarily the fault of older generations.
I am fortunate that my son feels comfortable talking with my wife and I about almost anything. I have never assumed he is happy and I would never tell him his feelings are not valid.
I can say he is much more well adjusted than his parents. I am always grateful that he doesn’t understand how I feel or why. He is never critical of it, he just doesn’t understand it. I have told him to be thankful that he can’t understand and if he starts to then he should let me know right away so we can get him into treatment.
I am glad you enjoyed drawing in a different style. It is a great look that really fits the character.
I totally got the Calvin & Hobbes vibe from this artwork, nice job!
This one really hits home as my daughter is almost 7 and very sensitive emotionally to things that she sees as mean or unkind (not specifically directed at herself, bad behavior towards anyone hurts and saddens her). I always worry about not being supportive enough for her while also not wanting to coddle her too much. It’s a hard line to straddle…
Some of these strips have provided incredibly insightful comments on what is a tough and prevalent condition. I came here from your other dormant comic and while I miss those wicked off-color strips I can really see why you’ve chosen to concentrate your efforts here. Thanks for the education on how this feels from the inside.
As a child of the 80s, the “Threat of nuclear war” have a bitter taste…
I remember media going out of its way to show us how horrible nuclear war would be. Movies like “The Day After” and “When the Wind Blows”. We need those movies now. We aren’t taking this seriously enough.
I’ve already had to at least once lay it out for grown-a** people that they were not yet born when the Soviet Union fell. I was. In high school. I remember. My entire childhood was this mess. We at least had Gorbachev come along and be rational after decades of us having to be terrified but it was still a scary time. Especially with me being a Navy brat and so I was always living near Soviet nuclear missile targets. I hate all these smarmy little right-wing douchebags who think this is all funny.
Navy kid here, too, but a half-generation earlier. In the early ’70s our Pacific bases were under threat from the USSR as well as repercussions from the Vietnam War. With bomb drills every month, we got used to being scared. Today, this whole thing with NK has me sick with worry.
I love the Charlie Brown style
Lol
So very true… Coincidentally, I was reading a Cracked article by a guy who suffered from childhood depression. I found it am interesting read.
http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-ways-life-changes-when-you-suffer-depression-as-child/
My childhood depressive episode went a little differently. Instead of hiding my emotions, I got very good at supressing them. As cruelty is not in my nature I never bullied anyone, but I did stop doing homework because I didn’t see the point. Eventually my teacher noticed, I got sent to the principal’s office (there was no guidance counsellor), and they figured that I must simply be bored. Pretty soon I and about 5 other bright kids were in advanced classes for a couple of hours every Friday.
While it didn’t directly address the problem, it mostly worked. I had something interesting to look forward to each week, and I started getting to know a couple of my classmates better.
Sort of my happy though is that I’m old enough that I’ll be dead by the time its all REALLY horrible. (I hope)
I had my bad moments in childhood. I was sensitive and got depressed. I had my journal and that helped. I faced issues of abuse and an uncertain future. I also dealt with anxiety. Don’t underestimate children’s depression. Talk and don’t be judgemental. Thanks for this.
Global warming is made up though. Now it’s called “climate change” and that doesn’t mean barely anything.
Practically every credible scientist in the world says you’re wrong. I prefer to believe science.
It’s called “climate change” because fucking idiots would look at a heavy snowfall and go “where’s the global warming?”. Mean global temperature is on the rise, but the effects on climate in the short to medium term will vary. Some parts will get arid and hot, other parts may get colder as the various mechanisms for keeping climate in equilibrium start to break down/change. You’ll notice that the Arctic is disappearing while the Antarctic is relatively unaffected (for the moment) because the *climate* will *change* at different rates/in different ways based *global warming*.
tl;dr Scientists changed the name from global warming to climate change because stupid idiots couldn’t understand the complexity of the process.
I don’t agree with your points (there’s no science in there, just justifications based on greed and selfishness), but I certainly disagree with your backhanded way of using ad hominem for people who don’t agree with you. That attitude is not welcome here. It is certainly possible to conduct yourself on a forum without having to resort to schoolyard tactics.
Hey there! Just discovered your comic and binged the entire thing in one sitting. I know you’ve hear it many times, but I relate so much to some (most?) of them. They, and the comments from your readers, help in not feeling alone. Empathy is a powerful thing.
Funny thing: I’ve long pictured myself with that “masquerade-like smile” thing and it was in one of your first comics (#5) and frequently returns! I guess I’m not alone in that as well.
greetings. long time reader. forgive me if this comes out a mess.
thank you for continuing with this comic its been something I have come to for a visual aid on how to understand with depression and I have shared it with friends and family on how depression is for people who suffer/endure/have etc or in my case have lived with since forever. its been a very visual and detailed example to help understand. i have also shared it with my WRAP group (Wellness Recover Action Plan) which is a group that gives people tools on how to continue dealing with and cope etc with their depression and what to do when breakdowns come and how to be prepared
this has been very helpful…. finally I have one suggestion if I may.
you have gone on just about as many depression examples in life, but what about someone who battles depression or any mental disease (whatever it is called now because there are so many terms and labels) who is hit with loss and now has the double weights of depression and grief. or generally dealing with grief?
i ask because i’m dealing with that now and I have no way to describe it beyond its a gaping void that wants to drag me to bed and the bliss of calm sleep so i don’t have to deal with anything….
Its different for everyone but for me it feels all encompassing in where I don’t want to do things I enjoy even. nothing. everyone has been abandoned and i’m burning both ends typing this – worth it-…if nothing else thank you for reading this….
Thank you for your reply. Grief is a very real thing and is a natural emotion that comes with dealing with loss, and it can be just as emotionally crippling. In fact, many of the symptoms expressed in grief are surprisingly similar to that of depression. However, they are different in that grief is an emotional response and depression is an illness. This doesn’t make it better or any worse in how you feel it of course, and if the negative feelings don’t disappear in due time, it might be time to see a doctor. Latent or existing depression can be worsened with grief and it’s this that is dangerous, not the grief itself.
Here is a link to an article about the differences between depression, grief, and complicated grief, and some suggestions for self-care. https://www.healthline.com/health/depression/death-loved-one#complicated-grief
Thank you for that link. I had never read anything about the difference between grief and depression. It also gave be room to remember that we can experience grief and other emotions on top of depression; it’s often not a simple either-or decision tree.
depression comix understood. it was mostly a thought.
i didn’t express it in the first post. could there be a comic about someone with depression having to deal with grief as well? however you answered that so it is ok. thank you for your response 🙂
When I get requests to draw comics, it’s usually of the “draw depression in this condition” and it’s these kinds of requests I have to decline. The reason is that the main point of the comic as a whole is to feature depression, but each individual strip must have a point. Sure, I could draw four panels of people being depressed, that would be easy enough, but every strip has to have something more. It has to have some kind of punch that makes it like a comic strip. In the latest comic for example, I could have drawn the child moping around around for four panels but instead I wanted to make a statement about the irony of adults complaining about children not appreciating the horrible future that they made for them. Adding irony or some kind of pointed commentary makes the comic feel more like a complete strip, and it’s really this bit that I fuss over the most rather than what flavor of depression I want to depict. Things like not enjoying things and feeling isolated I have done many strips on, but every time I make one of these I have to find a way to make it interesting enough to warrant being a complete comic strip.
greetings. long time reader. forgive me if this comes out a mess.
thank you for continuing with this comic its been something I have come to for a visual aid on how to understand with depression and I have shared it with friends and family on how depression is for people who suffer/endure/have etc or in my case have lived with since forever. its been a very visual and detailed example to help understand. i have also shared it with my WRAP group (Wellness Recover Action Plan) which is a group that gives people tools on how to continue dealing with and cope etc with their depression and what to do when breakdowns come and how to be prepared
this has been very helpful…. finally I have one suggestion if I may.
you have gone on just about as many depression examples in life, but what about someone who battles depression or any mental disease (whatever it is called now because there are so many terms and labels) who is hit with loss and now has the double weights of depression and grief. or generally dealing with grief?
i ask because i’m dealing with that now and I have no way to describe it beyond its a gaping void that wants to drag me to bed and the bliss of calm sleep so i don’t have to deal with anything….
Its different for everyone but for me it feels all encompassing in where I don’t want to do things I enjoy even. nothing. everyone has been abandoned and i’m burning both ends typing this – worth it-…if nothing else thank you for reading this….
They forgot school shootings
Most of the world doesn’t live in the USA.