depression warriors

[firecat]

eeyore_grrl made a friends-locked post about "fighting depression," which inspired me to make this comment about my depression issues:

You wrote "fighting depression," and I suddenly had a flash of understanding of why I identify with warrior characters/archetypes, even though I am not particularly warlike in any standard sense. I frequently feel like I'm wrestling with a motivation- and appreciation-suppressing force that lives in my brain but isn't really me. And I really do need to use a lot of warrior-type tools to deal with it (the tools that are about keeping going even when you are scared or hurting, the tools about conserving your energy when you can, the tools about waiting for the right moment...)

It's a bit more melodramatic than usual for me, but somewhat apropos.

Hm, maybe it belongs on my interest list.

Comments

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

While it can be a melodramatic way to talk about it, I think that it's a useful, and accurate, way of looking at it... it just takes a broad definition of 'warrior'.

If a writer is able to sway public opinion on a matter, simply through words, can the satirist be said to have fought a battle (or a war), and won it?

I'd call a writer who was determined to sway public opinion, and who tried to do so, a warrior... a person who was struggling to accomplish something, and fought it with the tools s/he had available.

Maybe "warrior" isn't the best word, but I can't think of a better one. (Admittedly, I haven't tried very hard, because I *like* a broad definition of what it means to be a warrior.)

But even if it's not the right word, there are a lot of similarities between fighting depression (an internal battle) and fighting an external battle.

[firecat]

I'm ambivalent about "warrior" because I think even broad definitions of it perpetuate the worship of systemic violence, which I don't approve of. But I am drawn to warrior archetypes/stories.

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

Nod. I understand that, and respect that... to me, "warrior" just doesn't quite bring up the notion of violence as a primary characteristic, which I suppose is why it's easier for me to like viewing it more broadly.