Down The Rabbit Hole
I was talking to a client the other day, he is a big strapping guy, a real man’s man. Our conversation turned to hos going down the rabbit hole, the analogy he uses for his depression. We discussed how it was so unfair that people still see depression as a weakness rather than what it is, a health issue. Is asthma a weakness, of course not, so why do we still see things like depression as a weakness.
Millions of people carry on in the best way they can with this horrible affliction. Many do so in silence, which is truly unacceptable. We must drag depression out of the rabbit hole and let the black dogs (Churchill’s metaphor for his depression) loose. It is only by keeping depression in darkness do we make it dark.
I will close on a little story I have always been partial to: A guy falls down a hole, he can’t get out of it, a doctor walks past he calls up “hey doc, I have fallen down this hole, can you help me?” The doctor looks down writes a prescription and moves on. Then a priest comes by the guy shouts up, “Father I have fallen down this hole can you help me out?” The priest looks says a prayer and moves on. Finally a friend walks by, the guy shouts up, “Joe, I have fallen down this hole can you help me out?”. Without hesitation, Joe jumps in the hole. The guy says, “Joe you idiot now we are both in this hole”. Joe says, “Yeah but I have been in this hole before, I know the way out”. Try being Joe to someone today.
