Here are the top 5 things I hear when he's starting to get depressed. (And I don't mean things I think I hear. They're actually things he says, verbatim):
1) Nobody likes me. Everybody hates me.
I kid you not, this just gets thrown in mid-sentence, ad hoc with no particular relevance to anything. It could just be something like:
Me: Did you hear that song on the radio? It's good isn't it? I thought it sounded a bit like (whoever it sounded like).
Him: I don't know. Nobody loves me.
2) I hate everything.
This usually comes as a response to a question from me about anything at all (like: do you want coffee?).
3) I'm not feeling very good. I never feel good anymore.
This can be despite the fact that he may have had a great week with really nothing having gone wrong that he's mentioned. It usually comes if I try to start a conversation while he's doing anything else at all (like driving, or walking somewhere, or just sitting on the couch).
4) I'm just sick and tired of [insert almost-right-wing-grumpy-old-man rant here on just about any current affairs topic].
This is pretty weird coming from him as he's usually a very mild mannered, small-L-liberal-minded guy.
5) Various moaning noises.
Almost funny except it's so incredibly annoying and really uses up any sympathy credit he might have with me pretty quickly. It sounds like he's lifting heavy furniture no matter what he's doing (taking out the rubbish, getting dressed, getting up off the couch).
What about you? Got a top 5? (Or 4,3,2,1?)
Flo
Oh, indeed I do.
ReplyDelete1. I'm no good at [fill in the blank]. I'never been good at [fill in the blank], and I'll never be good at [fill in the blank].
2. I don't have any confidence. I've never had any confidence. If I had had confidence I would have succeeded at [fill in the blank], but I didn't and that's why my life sucks.
3. I can't complete [fill in the blank with a task, job, project, commitment or course of study]. I never finish anything, and that's why my life sucks.
4. I'm sick and tired of [insert grumpy left-wing rant]. Why are THEY out to screw us at every turn and why doesn't anybody but me notice or care? Politics are hopeless, this country is a mess, and that's why my life sucks.
5. The dog doesn't love me any more. She loves you but she doesn't love me. Nobody loves me, and that's why my life sucks.
It would be laughable if it weren't so constant; like a broken record, over and over....
Maybe we need a top 100 instead!
ReplyDeleteYikes, I just found this blog from the Depression Fallout message board,s o I know I'm late to the comments here, but 1, 2, and 3 especially sound almost word for word like my BF. Although he doesn't even bother with I hate everything, it's just, out of nowhere, "I hate." And he, being a former Catholic, also adds things like, "There is no God." and "God hates me."
ReplyDeleteI can laugh about it right now because he's doing reasonably well at the moment and so I'm a bit removed from it. But, as anonymous said, it's not funny when it's just a constant litany of "I hate. There is no God. I'm not feeling very well. Nobody loves me. I've wasted my life." Then it's just exhausting.
I really think a lot of the time he doesn't even notice he's saying it out loud. I've asked him this, and he says he doesn't, but he also doesn't do it around other people, so I don't think it can be completely unconscious.