The Depression Analysis

Today, I've decided my first real article in a very long while will deal with one of human societies greatest plagues: depression.
In the same style as The Facebook Analysis, I am going to analyze how true popular cultures representation of depression is, both in my immediate environment, as well as throughout the entire world via crosschecked sources, and how much of a plague it still is, despite this seeming awakening of a new Renaissance vibe I've felt since the beginning of my Grade 10 year, both here in my home town, as well as throughout my (not-so extensive, to be honest) travels.

INTRODUCTION: THE RENAISSANCE VIBE
The 2000's in general have really held a strange atmosphere to me; one of many deluded, mixed messages sent forth by the ever-expanding horizons of corporate media, as well as the slowly growing authoritarianism of governments in first-world countries, in which it's easy to come to the conclusion that fascism may very well make a comeback in the near future.
Yet beneath the growing superficiality of consumerism, the growing denial of democratic rights in parliaments the world over, and the near-deafening screams of corporate media mavens which make the slow bureaucratization of North America remain hidden in plain sight, something strange is happening under the surface. Something different. Something incredible.

People are no longer listening to the belittling words of their televisions, which tell them day-in and day-out that they won't remain good enough if they don't keep up with the current styles.
In fact, people are standing up in alarming numbers which seem to present the ideals of the majority, as opposed to the shrinking conservative minority. A show of compassion to others is now considered the norm, and not only is it socially acceptable, it's encouraged among the entire population, with it growing into a very serious endeavor throughout human society as a whole.
No longer is war accepted as 'necessary,' but is instead questioned to the point where it makes little to no sense at all as to why it is required. Basically, people are standing up to the negatives of this world.
Using words, art, and the internet, this world is changing for the better, and at an incredibly rapid pace that is sure to be noticed by everyone sooner or later, even in areas of the world where internet is generally unavailable. You're probably wondering: what exactly does this all have to do with depression? Well, once you're done reading this post in it's entirety, you'll understand exactly what I was getting at with this introduction, and that is that happiness is slowly becoming much more common than depression ever was through the close interweaving of humanity via technology and enhanced social interaction.

It's very likely that any constant underlying sense of pessimism the majority of the world once held, is about to be replaced by a constant underlying sense of optimism.

PART 1: MY RELATIONS TO, AND OPINION ON, DEPRESSION
Everyone has been depressed at some point in their lives; sadness is part of human nature.
What isn't an original part of human nature is a sense of prolonged sadness. Prolonged sadness, better known as chronic depression, came as a result of increased societal pressures as humanity grew larger and larger. It is very unlikely that you will find anyone who is chronically depressed, in which the direct cause of their depression doesn't stem directly from other human beings; whether it's the fault of an individual, a collective, or both depends on the situation itself.
Personally, I have indeed been depressed, at least in an underlying sense, for prolonged periods of time; the first time I can clearly remember being when my parents got divorced.
Of course I was upset about them getting divorced, but that wasn't what caused the prolonging of sadness. What caused it was both of my parents assumption that I was chronically depressed about it, and always bringing it up with me, and then sending me to councilors and therapists which made me feel upset because it seemed to me as if my parents believed I had an obligation to be. It carried on past that point because of the women my father got involved with, in which she belittled me by favoring my brother with extra rights, privileges, and gifts, as well as always accentuating the mistakes or bad moves I made, with my dad supporting her every thought and feeling as to appeal to her. Or it's possible he truly believed all of it, I'm not sure; but from where I was standing he seemed like her puppet.
Finally, I combated the situation, which had caused me to become very insecure with myself, by making the decision to live with my mother full-time, save for every second weekend when I would go visit my dad. Ironically, it wasn't long after I had made that decision, that his relationship ended. Sadly, in his anger, he blamed it partially on me, which caused me to become that much more insecure with myself, as if every move I made was somehow a mistake.

Now, before you get the wrong idea, my father is by no means a bad person, and this representation is very true, but it's very true to the time, and not to who he is essentially as a person, or to who he is now, as I love my father. He's an incredible person, but as I see it, this was a very confusing and hard time for him in his life. No, he's never apologized for any of this, but that's because neither of us have ever brought it up again; maybe out of fear of reprisal, or just seeing no real necessity in doing so. For whatever reason, it doesn't really matter at this point. There are no existing hard feelings between us, and this has only been mentioned as it is relevant to this article. After moving to live with my mom, I became generally abit more uplifted, but inside, essentially nothing had changed.

The second prominent time of prolonged sadness I experienced was throughout my 8th grade year, in which the shock of such a drastic change in social situation as well as educational structure caused me to remain incredibly insecure. Why, exactly?
Well, in hindsight, it wasn't just the school environment that really intimidated me via new people, some of whom were less than kind, it was also the whole consumer society, in which I believed because my parents didn't buy me the right kind of clothes, I was inherently inferior to the rest of the school population.
Throughout the entirety of 8th grade, I only really had 2 friends, one of which was constantly belittling me (although he was always there when I was physically threatened by someone), and the other being my only true friend of the time, who I had met in 6th grade.
In the following year, I suddenly became much more sociable, and much happier because of it, gaining a legion of new friends. Despite this, I was still quite insecure with myself, but at that point, I just thought that was a natural part of being a teenager, which it very much is.
Upon starting Grade 10 the following year, it seemed like I was right back in the same place I had been in 8th grade (save for maybe the lack of friends), at least for the first 3 months, after which I got a sudden bolster in my self-image.

It wasn't until near the very end of 10th grade that I really tore the shackles of insecurity and that constantly underlying sense of depression off entirely, coming to the slightly apathetic conclusion of: 'Fuck it, I don't give a shit what other people think of me.'
This philosophy was altered to become less direct and crude, as well as much less apathetic, throughout the summer of 2009, and it was at this point that I truly realized how free I was as a human being on this planet Earth of ours.
Despite this, it wasn't until about a month into 11th grade that I ceased ignoring the belittling effect of our consumer society, and instead began to fight it quite passionately. Along with this change in mental direction, I began to grow a sense of disrespect for how structured our lives are, and began fighting that with more of 'living within a moments notice.'

I guess I'll never be entirely sure when I did truly break that underlying sense of pessimism, replacing it with a constant underlying sense of optimism, but I hardly think the date or time matters; all that really matters is that it occurred at all. Now that's not to say I haven't been, or don't get upset, that's just to say that instead of being happy and then quickly swinging back to that first base of depression, I get sad, and end up swinging back to the first base which is, at least for me, happiness. The same concept applies to my insecurities.

PART 2: THE POP-CULTURE ILLUSION
It's ridiculous to think that you need money to be happy, or to live a comfortable life.
Sure, money can certainly make life that much easier, but only because the possession of such a symbol is exactly what the system wants, and as such, the system will suck-up to you as to get a piece of your profit. Now I certainly wouldn't be against it if I won the lottery, but I would be slow to do anything with the money. What I would most likely dedicate most of it to would be traveling the world, not buying some fancy mansion in Beverly Hills, and maybe a few nice sports-cars to go with it. I don't even want a mansion or a sports car; I'm always happy with something nice, yet basic.

Pop-culture, especially via television, wants you to believe that you won't be happy unless you stay in style with the newest clothes, and that the only way to obtain true inner peace is to become filthy rich and live it up in first class. Sure, first class would be a neat thing to experience, but I would be just as satisfied with coach, and like marijuana, I wouldn't seek it out by any means, but I would certainly give it a try if offered. All I know is that I could live on the streets and still find many things to keep me entertained, as well as many ways to remain happy, as it seems shallow to me to chase ridiculous, largely counterproductive dreams of being rich and famous, as it doesn't really contribute to society as a whole.

One obvious reason people quickly become depressed and disillusioned when following pop-cultures say-so, as well as chasing practically pointless goals as the ones listed above, is because they realize that despite their brand-new clothing, they feel no different inside, and any positive feedback they may obtain as a result of new clothing and hair is largely superficial, as they quickly realize the comment wasn't meant for them, but instead for how they look as a result of someone elses work. This, in turn, strengthens their outer image, but weakens their inner self, as they become more and more dependent on what consumer society tells them to look like as to continue to receive such positive feedback.

So basically, the bottom line is, it's true what they say: the best things in life are free.
Personally, I don't believe anyone should chase anything; just do what you wish to do, live in the moment, and things will come to you; although, not without some effort on your part.

CONCLUSION: THERE ISN'T ANYTHING TO WIN OR LOSE
Basically, life isn't a game, unless you make it a game; and there is no finish line you're going to need to cross at the end, and no competition you should be worried about.
I find it's also quite arbitrary to dwell on money matters; money is only the life-force of modern society because we allow it to remain as such a symbol, and even if it continues to be blood in societies veins, it doesn't mean it needs to be of any concern to you, because trust me, if you work to gain money in the same way you brush your teeth at night, enough will roll-in for you to work with, as opposed to it occupying the forefront of your thoughts, in which you give 110% to make sure you have enough flowing in to meet demand, only to realize all your doing is making ends-meet.

In conclusion, all I can really say is that to avoid depression, all you need to avoid is taking life so seriously because honestly, life is a sandbox, and you're only trapped if you want to be trapped.

So break out of that cage, and let it go both ways.

Let life live you, so you can, in turn, live life.