Jun
As always tonight I watched Doctor Who and as always it was a cracking episode. Also as always I went to read the comments on the internet and not as always I found myself incensed by what I read. Not because I disagreed with what people thought of the episode or whether it was good or bad. No I was disgusted by people who complained because the BBC aired one of those “If you have been affected by the events of this show” pieces at the end. People are actually complaining that the BBC took the opportunity to reach out to people who might be suffering with depression.
It is not something I generally broadcast but in my 20s I was diagnosed with depression and had chats with head doctors and a period of time on anti-depressants. It wasn’t the best time of my life but I got better. I’ve been a might too cheerful for my own good for a while now. 
Having suffered like Van Gogh (though certainly not to the same extent) I can say what the BBC did was actually very important and incredibly sensitive. Anyone who has been or is depressed (diagnosed or otherwise) will have seen bits of themselves in that portrayal of Van Gogh. People with depression often don’t realise they need help or those that do often don’t believe they deserve it. Depression is an illness that sabotages a person ability to get help. Indeed had my mother had not told me I need to go see a doctor I wouldn’t have sort out treatment. Those not being treated might be prompted by that message to see a doctor.
Those who have been depressed will have found that ending will have affected them a great deal. Fuck, it made me cry. Unless you have been there and felt so utterly worthless and have been unable to see any future that is not pure misery you cannot begin to understand being shown you are not in such a definitive way would mean. Unless suicide has felt like an (or even the only) option you won’t understand. Airing that message might help those who have been depressed deal with their emotions. Indeed it might also have prevented some from having a relapse.
However not every one is Van Gogh. Not everyone gets to be great some of us are just normal. So while this episode would have resonated in a good way to people who have recovered from depression it would have an entirely the opposite effect on people who are depressed. Especially if they are undiagnosed or untreated. The message someone who is depressed could take from watching that episode is “You are actually worthless because you are not awesome like Van Gogh. There is no hope for you”. You don’t need to be a psychiatrist to understand that kind of thinking isn’t a good thing to reinforce in the minds of people who are depressed. Indeed for someone who is already far gone that could be the straw that break the camels back. That message by the BBC at the end could have saved lives.
So that simple little message that didn’t affect your lives at all, took you 10 seconds to hear and that you are now bitching about on the internet could have changed or saved someone’s life. Think about that. It seems to be the general public’s attitude to mental illness hasn’t moved on a great deal since Van Gogh’s time. Why not think for a moment instead of being so petulant and selfish.
20 Responses to “Vincent and The Doctor”
Well said! However, those same people who are being ‘petulant and selfish’ don’t understand depression and also think that suicide, or even thinking of suicide, is just the person suffering from depression being selfish. They don’t realise that you’re also worried that you’re moods are hurting everyone around you (and we know that the moods do and that sends us deeper into depression) and that you feel that suicide is a means to an end of stopping that hurt. I know. I’ve been there too. Luckily, I found my way back.
And yeah, I blubbed at the end of the episode. But the truth of the matter is that those re-affirming words can only hold a person up so long before they tumble down again. It is hard to break that cycle, and I still fight it daily. So thank you for posting this. A very good post.
See below for Ann’s posts. I deleted them while trying to do something with a wordpress plugin.
Ann you are so right. People are different. Some people use phrases like ‘deary’, ‘lulzy’ and ‘butthurt’ and use inappropriate capitalisation while others aren’t 14 years old and posting on Fark. Also there is a difference between being a ‘natural cynic’ and a ‘grade-a douche-nozzle’. You see I’m a cynic because I doubt the motivations and sincerity of people in general. While you are a douche-nozzle because you took the time to go to someone else’s blog and act out. It is a shame that you disagreed with me but could only articulate yourself like slightly better than average teenager.
I didn’t address you counter argument in my response and instead just attacked you as a person. That is logical fallacy called ‘argumentum ad hominem’ and it generally frowned upon. You see your post indicated to me you aren’t high enough up on any known humanoid intelligence scale for me to consider your comments worth addressing. I’m guessing you are somewhere between Peter Griffin and a creationist.
You see while you think you are all smart with your believed cynicism and attempts at being condescending I just have a tendency to be really unpleasant to people who disagree with me on the internet. Terrible character flaw I know but hey everyone is different.
Hope you learn’t something here tonight. Now isn’t past your bedtime?
Thanks for the reply Ally. Nice to see some of the people I attract to my blog can post without trying to be smart arses. I only allow one smart arse here.
Like you said and the show tried to illustrate their is no short cut for getting over depression. It requires work and time. No amount of good news makes the dark shadow go away. Which I think is what separates a period of being low from actual depression. A differentiation many people can’t make.
I was probably being a little harsh (I kinda like harsh though) with the whole ‘petulant and selfish’ comment but the utter self-obsession of someone who would complain about an amazingly brief offer of help that didn’t influence their life one iota just blows my mind. I mean I am deeply self-involved person but that is beyond even me.
You clearly have a grasp of the English language Ann, so where is the link to your blog? Or do you just spend your time trawling and trolling and picking faults instead? There is a difference between typing errors and the misuse of grammar, you know.
Nice post mate – I wasn’t sure about the episode at first but the “depression as invisible monster” metaphor is quite clearly what they were aiming for. I don’t normally have a lot of time for Richard Curtis but I think he did ok here.
That button deletes comments. Who knew? Just in case I am accused of being a hypocrite again, below is what Ann posted. It wounds me terribly we people say such true things about me. Anyway here are Ann’s gibberings:
“Ahahaha, what? Look, deary, I’ve suffered from depression for years, and I always find those messages ridiculous. BUT THEN I’m a natural cynic, and see comic potential in most things. Personally, I thought the ep trivialised depression and made it lulzy, and the message at the end only compounded that. On the other hand, that’s not something to get butthurt about. In other words, stop speaking for everyone who’s depressed- some people found the message daft, some found it helpful; people are different.”
And later in response to my goading:
“Aww, your hypocrisy warms my heart. Your lack of knowledge of basic grammar, on the other hand, makes me weep. There is a difference, my friend, between using slang in an informal context, and lacking important communication skills. I think the best phrases were “articulate yourself like slightly better than average teenager” (ah, irony) and “learn’t”. Your second paragraph is a mess, and indicates to me that you shouldn’t be posting a blog when you have no grasp of the English language.”
Attacking my grammar? Wow! You really are from Fark.com aren’t you? Clearly my comment was grammatically correct enough for you to understand it. The quick use of a grammar checker shows it wasn’t all that bad really. I missed an ‘a’ out (and that is a typo) that kind of ruined the flow of that second paragraph but overall it wasn’t too bad. Indeed by my standards it was a grammatical tour de force.
You used ‘lulzy’ and ‘butthurt’. No one with a mental age of over 14 would use those. Not even ironically. Me slipping in a ‘ into learnt does not even come close to that.
“some people found the message daft, some found it helpful”
In that case… what’s your problem? The article was about how helpful the message was, which you pointed out it could have been. What you wrote appears to be saying ‘People are welcome to their own opinions. Your opinion however, is wrong.’
That seems a little hypocritial to me.
I’m also confused as to why you find hypocrisy oddly heartwarming but find bad grammar as sinful as murder. But perhaps I’m wrong and placing the odd apostrophe out of place really is worse than being a hypocrite. Everyone’s welcome to their own opinion.
I love the fact that I had to google both Peter Griffin and Fark; how deliciously lowbrow of you. Grammar checkers are practically useless; almost every single sentence you write needs fixing.
@ Rob- It’s called sarcasm.
Let’s get things straight. My problem with this post stems from the blogger’s overgeneralisation and the implication that anyone who saw bathos rather than pathos in the ep (‘depression is a giant parrot with four legs’), and therefore found the message at the end misjudged, is selfish.
You had to Google both Peter Griffin and Fark? Really? Trying to play the ‘I don’t know those lowbrow references you made so I must be highbrow’ card are we? Crikey, you are like some living internet caricature. Accusing others of being lowbrow when you use a words whose only definitions are found on ‘The Urban Dictionary’, ‘Encyclopaedia Dramatica’ and ‘Wictionary’ is most amusing.
I never claimed to speak for everyone who has been depressed. Though the feedback I am getting leads me to believe I might speak for good number of them. This is my blog where I write what I think. Sometimes I spread them around other sites for people to read if I think they might resonate with someone. Some people like to read what I write other don’t. Though many come here because I occasionally post pictures of women in bikinis and lingerie. Lowbrow all the way baby.
I know what your real problem is. I know what bothers you really. What really grinds your gears. You don’t care about bathos, pathos or d’Artagnan. Grammar doesn’t really bother you either, that is just your retaliation for me calling you a child. You feel aggrieved because someone dared to write post a blog entry about something close to you and held a different opinion. Worse still is that the guy that posted it didn’t even acknowledge the points you made he just mocked you.
So I’ve been messing with you, and I still am. I labelled you immature, doubted your intellectual capacity and put you in the same basket of some of the internet’s great idiots. Your response was that last bastion of the internet pseudo-intellectual (grammar and spelling) and further attempts to prove your superiority.
People reading this might think less of me but they certainly think less of you. Please continue I haven’t had this much fun since I ran a forum. Yeah I know, I need to get out more.
Nice straw man and projection you’ve got going there. Pity you completely failed to recognise that I’ve been parodying your own style of… argument… this whole time.
‘Anyone who is or has been depressed’- in my book, that’s an example of speaking for all depressed people. Since you appear to need help in understanding simple concepts, allow me to elaborate.
You found that message helpful. Good for you. You felt it helped others. Fine. I have no problem with this.
The problem is that you label anyone who found the message out of place as self-absorbed, etc. Both points of view are valid; what is not valid is a personal attack on all those who make a fair criticism, in the absence of a decent argument. You did this in the original post and effectively destroyed your credibility.
I find it amusing that you assume I have an emotional attachment to this and make a bunch of false assertions to smokescreen the fact that you know you don’t have a leg to stand on.
Strawman? I see you Googled my previous use of a logical fallacy and found some definitions of your own to use. Oh wait, maybe that was parody. Wow you are just too good for me.
Did you just try to use the “but I’m not left-handed either” counter? Seriously? How precious. I’ve not seen that one since 1997. I miss IRC and Usenet. Wait! Perhaps that was parody too? Clever girl. Though on 3rd thoughts that is probably giving you too much ‘credit’ but I’m sure you will claim it was anyway. Now that I have given you the idea.
Then of course you try again to convince, yet again, me you are right.
For someone who has no emotional investment in this you can’t seem to let it go. Posting twice to respond to my last comment no less. Did you just have an itchy trigger finger or was that attempt at a Columbo-esque “oh and just one more thing”? No doubt sometime in the future you will pick which ever option you think makes you look less idiotic.
It is almost as if you are determined to have the last word no matter what. No doubt that is some kind of ‘clever’ ironic trick too as, obviously, you don’t really care.
Nice post Captain. Vincent and The Doctor had me blubbing like a baby and I’m in agreement that if the BBC helpline does help just one person then it’s a worthwile thing to include. Actually, if they help ‘just one’ person, they’re helping a whole lot more (family and friends). My best friend killed herself 16 years ago, aged just 20, and I’m still wondering if there was anything else I could have done for her. To use the Doctor’s words – to make her pile of good things bigger, if nothing else. As an aside, one of her favourite songs was American Pie (which got me listening – and sobbing – to Starry Night as well) – for me February 19, 1994 was the ‘day the music died’.
Thanks, Jo. You are right what you say about one person getting help actual helps multiple people. We have a tendency to focus on the person with depression as they suffer the most but we shouldn’t forget the people who suffer with them. Sorry to hear about your friend. I’m sure you threw a quite a few items onto her pile of good things.
Nah, I hung around for a bit because I was just curious to see if you were physically capable of putting a coherent argument together. Apparently not. Ah well, I really can’t be bothered to have a flame war with someone whose own comments do the job for me. Keep on bloggin’; you’ll be providing unwitting entertainment for years to come.
Now you’ve made me cry again Captain – thank you (sincerely).
Oh Ann! Just when I was getting ready to actually address your point you up and quit. I dunno kids these days no staying power. I wasn’t really your bad attitude means you don’t deserve a proper conversation. And I know you are still reading.
Jo, you are quite welcome. I am by nature a spreader of discord (is that grammatically correct?) but I do occasionally like to be a nice.
Thank you for your post. I saw your message from denofgeek.com
(and, yes, it could have push some people to call help, so it was perfectly fine for me, thank you BBC. I don’t care about childish dispute.)
A well thought out piece and, although a generalisation a very valid point. As one who has been nursing a partner through a very severe period of depression it effected me strongly too – oddly the confidential almost had a stronger effect. It is a vital tool that the BBC has at its call that link to support services. Ann is quite clearly a deeply disturbed and at best first year A-level educated individual with teen angst coming out of her pop-psych fingertips – I would ignore her if I were you and, if your blog supports it, IP ban her.
It’s ages later, but I wanted to thank you for posting this blog entry. I couldn’t believe people reacted so badly to the help-line plug (which we didn’t get in the US, but hey, three-week delay, that’s how it works). It was a perfectly responsible thing for the BBC to do, and emphasized the fact that the episode had a POINT. From the way everybody was complaining about it…ugh, God forbid the folks controlling Doctor Who should try to do anything socially reponsible or relevant with their air-time. I’m just relieved that someone had the sense to write a rebuttal of all those complaints, and link it to choice review sites. This episode has become dear to me, and I’m glad I’m not the only one; it was hugely comforting to read this. Thank you.
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