I like to tell people—uncomfortably early in the conversation—how I’ve had three times more therapists than lovers. When someone asks me why I stopped responding to email communication for two weeks, or why I disappeared from Facebook for three months, I might say that I was busy weeping under my desk while curled up in the fetal position. I tell people that I can’t go out on Wednesday because I’m scheduling that night to bathe in a tub full of gin and self-loathing. Or that I can’t go out to lunch because I’d like to dwell on the accumulation of my failures. I can’t make it to the party on Friday night because I am too upset about being unable to masturbate due to an overwhelming sensation of self-disgust.
There are some exaggerations here. I occasionally just go for a cheap laugh at my pathetic persona’s expense. But every one of those excuses stems from a truth about an emotion that I know well…
To read the rest of my essay, check it out at lunchticket.org/my-hilarious-depression.
This issue has some stunning poems by Gayle Brandeis, an interview with Susan Orlean, a great piece of nonfiction from Lisa Romeo, and much more. Particular thanks to Lise Quintana, who is the fabulous editor for that site.