Reply to comment

Let me preface my comments by mentioning that I understand, qualitatively, that sadness and depression cannot be conflated, as they are very different experiences. On the other hand, it is intriguing that there is something more superficially relatable to people about depression than there is schizophrenia. The manifestations of the “schizophrenic mind” are not necessarily so transferable to the experiences of many. Many people experience times of grief, sadness, and self-doubt that do not become all-encompassing and paralyzing like depression might, but that along a continuum of human experience are more akin to some features of depression than, say, to schizophrenia. On the other hand, I think we have learned to be scared of schizophrenia because the machinations of the mind, thus what the schizophrenic person exhibits to the world, are not so very relatable; we equate it with erratic behavior, violence and multiple voices. Most of us who do not have schizophrenia do not hear voices, behave in violent ways for no apparent reason, fear the mundane, etc. It is the focus on the behavioral manifestations of mental illness and not the experience of the individual that gives us, as observers, the illusion that schizophrenia and depression are different, very different. Being stuck and feeling like one cannot emerge from the tangle of one’s mind seems a common experience to both and one that is not trivial. Yes, there are obvious differences between the depression and schizophrenia and obvious differences in any one person’s experience of either. However, I think we are overlooking the forest for the trees (man, clichés make me cringe, sorry). How can we incorporate stories into treatment? Does treating the symptoms mean we are treating the “problem?”

The notion of agency is a complex one in that, if the mind reconciles information in such a way as to create stories that may lead to depression, or a host of other “problems,” often an associated feeling is one of being stuck and lacking the tools, the will, the whatever, to become unstuck. Could therapy help to restore agency (medication, too?)? Of course, agency is not something someone else can hand one, like a flashlight in the deep, dark woods, but if the story-teller and tacit knowledge are communicating freely, there’s no reason that a story cannot be edited, refined, right? I think everyone has agency to varying extents, but at certain points, not everyone can actualize. Perhaps, therapy (talk, medications…) is one way to restore agency or bring it to the fore…