I'd like to propose a national "Shed Your Depression Label" day. How about Monday, March 12, 2012? Let's put it on our calendars.
On that day anyone who is tired of "having a mental disorder" called depression and who would prefer to be as humanly sad as he or she happens to feel would join in the festivities, maybe by marching through town, maybe by slow dancing in the streets.
Our goal on that day would not be to suddenly become happy. It would be a lovely extra bonus if the day's festivities happened to transform anyone's unhappiness into happiness but that is not the goal. The goal would be to affirm, in the company of other human beings who are also marching, dancing, and shedding, that we do not believe in the way that the mental health industry has created mental disorders out of whole cloth, that we no longer care to don a label based on "symptom pictures" and not explanations, and that we recognize those "symptoms" as proof of sadness, not sickness.
It will be easy to mistakenly suppose that this is a day where people are supposed to miraculously shed their thoughts, feelings, and circumstances and, like a new employee at a corporation where smiling is required, begin to smile whether they mean it or not. It isn't that sort of day. It is a day to shed a label and what the label signifies, not a day to magically make it okay that you have a job you hate, a cheating spouse, and few prospects. It is not a day to smile if you are feeling blue. Rather, it is a day to be frank and honest. How many of those days get penciled onto the calendar?
It will perhaps prove a strange day for many of the celebrants who suddenly realize that they have been sad for a long time. Maybe the day will be punctuated by marchers stopping in mid-stride to frown and by dancers wailing as they spin. In short, it may prove a day of truth and reality, which is not as much fun as a day of games and hot dogs. Organizers should keep this in mind and provide a tip sheet for celebrants on "what to do when sadness strikes" and hand it out with the flags to wave and the buttons to wear. I think that celebrants may also want to come armed with my book on this subject, Rethinking Depression.
It is perhaps fanciful to imagine that actual marches and celebrations will be created for our national "Shed Your Depression Label" day. But certainly we can aim for increased awareness and a national meeting in cyberspace. The details of that national meeting will follow. Put the date on your calendar. Invite your friends, family, networks, neighborhoods, and whole communities to this day of awareness. Let us celebrate the revolutionary idea that being sad, even if that sadness runs deep, is not a mental disorder.
You may still want your antidepressants, as chemicals have effects and you may want those effects. You may still want your therapy sessions, as talk can help. But for one day at least you can raise your voice in celebration of simple human sadness and cry out "I am Jane and I am sad!" or "I am John and I am sad!" Like anyone admitting something that is not easy to admit, you will feel the tremendous relief that comes with honest confession.
If you want to do a little organizing for this special day, drop me a line at ericmaisel@hotmail.com. It will be quite a day. Monday, March 12, 2012. Stay tuned.
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Eric Maisel, Ph.D., is a psychotherapist, bestselling author of 40 books, and widely regarded as America's foremost creativity coach. His latest book is Rethinking Depression: How to Shed Mental Health Labels and Create Personal Meaning (New World Library, February, 2012). He is the founder of noimetic psychology, the new psychology of meaning. Please visit Dr. Maisel at http://www.ericmaisel.com or contact him at ericmaisel@hotmail.com. You can learn more about noimetic psychology at http://www.entheosacademy.com/courses/7
