Posted by Fi on November 9, 2004, at 16:16:17
Just general thoughts on this theme after I had a quick look at the results of a search in Google images for ‘depression’. I found it a lot more thought provoking than I expected. I'm not expecting any responses to this. The things that are written as questions are ones I was asking myself.
Of course, there are images relevant to all meanings of the word, including ones relevant to geography and engineering, and those about the Great Depression.
There are some that just look like diagrams from teaching notes:
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/lexcie/psych/psych-depression-wallchart16.gif
http://blogs.salon.com/0002007/images/depression.gifAnd ones making jokes- the one below doesn’t seem funny to me, but maybe I just don’t have the right sense of humour!)
http://psych.wisc.edu/henriques/resources/Chicken%20of%20Depression.GIFBut down to the ‘Classic’ images
The kind of image that I was expecting was the sort that has an image of a figure curled up with their head down, as in
http://www.orakul.ru/sonnik/image/depression.jpgOr the ones of someone with their hands up to their face, in the way you also see in adverts of headache tablets. Particularly ridiculous in the depression context as she has immaculate make-up..:
http://www.healingdaily.com/sam-e-to-relieve-depression.jpgPerhaps these images are used a lot for depression as a general indication of some distress, as seen by someone external? And of course once these sort of images are used frequently, they are more likely to become quickly recognisable as symbolising depression, so they get used even more often..
One image that I initially misunderstood is at
http://www.ltl.appstate.edu/litcircleunits/litcirunits_Fall00/depression/title1.jpg
In fact, it’s a (well known) picture of a woman during the Great Depression. I think it has been seen by some people as expressing the strength of people in their ability to cope with dire poverty. Do you think that is what she is like, or is she also depressed?Its more of a challenge but maybe more meaningful to represent some aspect(s) of the internal experience of having depression. Harder to put into an image, and our experiences of depression vary such a lot too.
An interesting one which uses a warning sign by water which is also very relevant to how it can feel:
http://www.rettet-die-depression.de/images/rettet-die-depression.jpg
Then there is expressing the experience by using images of clear physical barriers/problems:
http://www.stanfordalumni.org/images/news_magazine/magazine/janfeb00/articles/depression/depression.jpghttp://www.alternativeapproaches.com/graphics/magick/depression/depression.jpg
Or a suitably generally challenging environment:
http://www.user.cityline.ru/~stryker/graphics/dark/depression.jpgOr by how it can feel expressed in relation to our body:
http://www.why-me.org.uk/streetscene/resourcezone/galleryimages/depression.jpg
Maybe not surprising that ‘The Scream’ has been linked to depression by someone- but why is it on a chemistry website?!http://www.wellesley.edu/Chemistry/Chem101/depression/scream.jpg
Then the image may not include a figure at all. There is a striking image that could represent the implosion of depression- or the release from it:
http://vcl.ctrl-c.liu.se/vcl/Artists/Erin-Lynn/depression.JPGSome of the images are clearly by people who have experienced depression, and others who obviously havent! Intriguing re some of the others- have they experienced it? Or have good empathy about it, tho they havent had it themselves?
And finally, a beautiful and unexpected image as there is apparently there is a range of ‘antique depression glass’
http://www.depression-glass-antiques.com/depression-glass.jpgFi
poster:Fi
thread:413941
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20041105/msgs/413941.html