In this old book, Kingsley Amis encourages people suffering from depression to instead just imagine that they are hung over.
When that ineffable compound of depression, sadness (these two are not the same), anxiety, self-hatred, sense of failure and fear for the future begins to steal over you, start telling yourself that what you have is a hangover. You are not sickening for anything, you have not suffered a minor brain lesion, you are not all that bad at your job, your family and friends are not leagued in a conspiracy of barely maintained silence about what a shit you are, you have not come at last to see life as it really is, and there is no use crying over spilt milk.
Clever advice, even for teetotalers.
Comment by Ardsgaine on 4/21 @ 12:35 pm #
That would be an implausible lie for a teetotaler, so to help maintain the illusion one should also drink copious amounts of liquor.
Cause that will help lots.
Comment by Pablo on 4/21 @ 12:46 pm #
The solution, of course, is the hair of the dog what bit you. So, Bloody Mary’s solve everything.
Comment by maggie katzen on 4/21 @ 12:48 pm #
except that then my family would be sending me to rehab.
sorry, sorry, bad timing on this one.
Comment by The Sanity Inspector on 4/21 @ 12:52 pm #
{{{maggie}}}
Comment by Mikey NTH on 4/21 @ 12:57 pm #
There’s no end to the amount of implausibility any one human being can handle, Ards.
Comment by Pablo on 4/21 @ 1:09 pm #
The family is just hung over, mags. Kingsley will explain.
Comment by McGehee on 4/21 @ 1:24 pm #
You know, the first time somebody told me they thought I might be suffering from chronic depression, it was right after I cut waaaaay back on my drinking.
Still, should I really take advice from a guy named “Kingsley”?
Comment by Jim in KC on 4/21 @ 1:34 pm #
More so than from a guy names “Pugsley,” I suspect.
Comment by Jim in KC on 4/21 @ 1:34 pm #
Ack. “named”
Comment by Lost My Cookies on 4/21 @ 2:00 pm #
I don’t think ol’ Kingsley ever had to pretend he was hung over.
Anyway, it’s sooo much better to petend you’ve just accidentally ran over the mailman in a fit of jealous rage, realized your mistake after you had dismembered the body in your neighbor’s unused hot tub and disposed of the pieces in the self-cleaning oven of a hunting lodge you had rented under an alias every summer for years.
I mean hell, Kingsley, give us something we can relate to.
Comment by McGehee on 4/21 @ 6:11 pm #
His sister Wednesday is kind of enticing.
In a “sleep with one eye open” kind of way.
Comment by Patrick Carroll on 4/22 @ 6:07 am #
Hey, Sanity Inspector, did you get your name from the Alan Coren book?
If so, well, my hat’s off to you.
Comment by The Sanity Inspector on 4/22 @ 9:39 am #
And my hat’s off to you for spotting it!
Comment by Lisa on 4/22 @ 1:04 pm #
That picture makes me laugh. Alot.
Comment by JD on 4/22 @ 1:32 pm #
You know, the first time somebody told me they thought I might be suffering from chronic depression, it was right after I cut waaaaay back on my drinking.
The first time someone told me that, I puked on their chest, and they realized I was just a drunk.
Trackback by Causes Depression on 5/3 @ 2:35 pm #
Causes Depression
Certain medications prescribed for various medical conditions