Originally posted by photoshop-and-chocolate
The third week of January is considered to be the most depressing week of the year. Why is this? What I have gathered from my own personal experience is that this is a result of failed New Year resolutions, draining away of the “new year, new me” festive mood and the realisation that the new year will be just as bad as the last one dawning in. A deadly mob of the worst kind of thoughts ganging up against you to put you down.
The third Monday of this year was considered the most depressing Blue Monday ever, with Donald Trump’s election, Brexit and the unusually large number of celebrity deaths in 2016 adding to the depressing gloom caused by the factors already mentioned above. But that’s not my point. What I don’t understand is why do we even have such a concept such as this?
This “Blue Monday” stuff, it wasn’t even a thing a decade ago. What changed? And why is this concept only limited to the first world countries, and the elite cities of the third-world countries? In my opinion, it is a result of a culture which fetishizes depression. It has become a cool thing to appear depressed and share depressing stuff on social media. People, seeking attention, are, in the process, trivialising a very serious disease. Just to appear cool. I have met many people in my University who constantly whine about their “condition”, and when I ask them, with genuine concern, if they’ve considered getting any help, all I get from them is a blank, dumb stare. This just shows how ignorant people are about the actual condition. Also, it has become a fad to seem cold, dead and distant; to appear mysterious and say weird stuff just to garner attention. I have heard of people asking questions like, “What would be the perfect way to murder someone?” as a conversation-starter. (No, I’m not making this up). It is not cool to creep people out like that and such questions do not fetch you friends.
Also, this desire to appear depressed to gain attention is a sign of a victim mentality. People do not want to take responsibility for their actions, nor do they want to acknowledge their feelings. They act all rude, desperately trying to gain sympathy from the people around them by acting like a 5-year-old kid. They feel insecure and lonely (maybe because they act all whacky and have no friends as a result), and blame their feelings on a condition which they do not actually have. This is just a blatant attempt at escaping responsibility.
But is there a way for these people to get rid of such malevolent thoughts and move on with their lives? Yes. By being likable. Recent research has shown us that our body language can influence how we feel; we can make ourselves feel happy by merely forcing a smile. More than our brain effecting our body, it is our body which influences our brain. We can actually change our mind-set by simply changing our body language. Most of these people who claim to be depressed, just need to go out and do stuff which although may make them uncomfortable and fake, will eventually make them happy. Act happy till you actually become happy. Fake it till you make it. Don’t blame a medical condition about which you know absolutely nothing for your troubles. You aren’t a victim of any external force. Just your mind-set.
So for the rest of the year, don’t be a victim. Flash a smile.