[newsletter]
Lies about depression and catharsis
13 Apr 2020
New articles:
A great deal is made about depression these days. Depression is on the rise. Suicide is on the rise. Anxiety is on the rise. It’s alarming, and news of this often dominates the headlines. Most egregious is the claim that ‘perhaps young people these days are too fragile’. It’s not just a deflection of responsibility. What these media narratives often miss is that it’s OK to be sad sometimes. In fact, being sad can be good thing. Useful even. Here’s the article.
Recently updated:
Catharsis is a term that originated in Greece. In Greek, the word meant something like ‘to purge’. In his book, Poetics, Aristotle writes the phrase ‘cathartic tragedy’. It’s thought here, that he was considering the way a tragic play could replace the emotions in your mind with those on the stage. A kind of purification. You see, the word was a medical term back then and still is today. A way to avoid talking about the kinds of discharge that made people feel uncomfortable. like menstruation and vomit and faeces. But Aristotle’s usage is the first recorded example of it being used as an emotional metaphor. It’s a shame. Because if Aristotle hadn’t tried to be so damn poetic, the dangerous idea it has become may never have slipped out into the aether. Here’s the article.
Other news: The Facebook site is back up and running, after two years of neglect. It’s a horrible platform for publishers and I now remember why I neglected it. But it is great to get updates. If you’d like to check it out, the link is below. The Twitter exists, but it’s not running yet. Haven’t quite figured Twitter out yet.
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That’s all from me! Enjoy.
Warm regards,
Dorian