The colour of depression

The annual ritual of nail biting draws to a close as the next generation of young adults receive their A-Level results. Some will need to re-sit whilst others will be able to take up their offers to attend university.

There is some debate as to which is harder, the old or the new examinations.

I haven't particularly decided to create a debate about the merits of modern examinations and the current standards achieved by each successive generation. However, I would like to say to all those who have passed "well done I'm sure you have earned your achievement".

You may be the proud parent of a young adult who has recently passed and I can imagine that your feathers are a little more shiny today.

Can I ask you to imagine that it's our turn to sit an A-Level exam. Just to make it even harder can you imagine that we are studying chemistry. I didn't do to well in this particular subject.

"Has everyone got a pen, a ruler and a copy of the exam paper ?"

"You have two hours to answer as many questions as you can !"

"Please turn you paper over and begin"

Question 1
What colour is clinical depression ?

I've not been fair, have I ?

The question doesn't really relate to chemistry at all.

By now those of us who have had or indeed still live with depression are beginning to see the paradox which the question raises.

My question could be restructured to say "If depression was a colour what colour would it be and why"

We could possibly answer that it's black. Many of us have heard of the term the black swamp of depression and would use the word black to try and describe the void which becomes the world of a depressed mind.

Some thing's not correct about my approach because no matter how I try and word the question it seems that the answer is not particularly specific. For example I could argue that black is not a colour until it is described in such an accurate way that we could all reproduce it without getting several hundred different shades. A chemistry student would be able to use British Standards to convey the information accurately enough. This has a small flaw though. You have to be a chemist to interpret the information successfully.

By now you are probably tiring of my poor use of the English language. Imagine though that you are suffering with something which is so insidious it would take a trained biologist an hour or two to write about it. Imagine that there are no words in the English language which truly convey the nature of how you feel, or indeed how you do not !

Imagine that the questions that you are asked are as silly as the one I have asked above.

How would you answer ?

You could say that the colour of clinical depression is yellow, but how do you make sure that the person you are talking to knows which shade of yellow you are referring to.

Depression has a unique colour for all of us who suffer with it. Our blacks or blues are all different shades and hues.

At the fore front of diagnosing depression our gp's will use their judgement and experience to diagnose the illness if some but not all symptoms are seen.

A heart attack can be quite clearly defined because afterwards certain chemicals will appear in the blood stream which have not been there before. Diagnosis is much easier in such cases. Many illness's are much more easy to scientifically explain than depression.

We live in a society that nurtures strength of mind and the wish to succeed and do well. Our children are raised into a culture of education and for countless eons we have improved our standards of living and health by increasing our knowledge of science and biology.

Yet we still have no definitive way to describe clinical depression. There are no markers which show increased levels of toxins or other chemicals in our blood stream. There is only a vague guide which tells us that clinical depression may be present.

And what about those of us who don't want to understand depression because it can't be "pigeon holed" by words or descriptions. Science hasn't yet conclusively proven that it exists at all.

It's not a crime or even a moral misdemeanour if we don't understand.

It is if we don't make a small effort to improve our understanding though.

Statistics tell us that one in every four people will suffer with some form of mental illness during their life, not least of which the most prevalent will be clinical depression.

As I type I can look of the window and in the street beyond are four red cars. They are all red, yet the shades are different. If I wait long enough for the sun to go down and for the street lights to come on they will not appear red any more. They will be more an orangey brown.

Can I ask you again ...

"What colour is depression ?"

Interesting

For me, it's white - i.e. not even a colour but the absence of colour

I agree I think depression is grey and if its very severe black
(I say this as this is usually the colour of your aura if you are depressed)

For me it has no colour.
All other colours become less because of it. The bright vibrant edges to colours are removed by depression. It has no colour, rather takes some from others.

Oh What a wonderful thought provoking subject.

I always thought I was the only person to hear and feel somethings in colours. It doesn't happen with every noise or feeling but it definitely happens.

As for what colour my depression is, I would say, it starts off a murky greyish purple, then it deepens to a very dark almost black purple but at my lowest I can't see anything at all, it is more like a void, a black hole if you like....and I can physically feel it in the pit of my stomach. There, I've never told anyone that before. :wink:

I get strange enough looks if I say things like "Mojo (my dog) has a deep brown bark"... :lol: :lol:

Hey dude

did your barbershop quartet go to the nationals in scarborough last week?

Sunlizard

i stand corrected! :oops:

Mine's a sort of dirty yellow. An ill colour.
And the heavyness that comes with SAD a drak blue grey (like heavy rain clouds too).

This is interesting as my therapist oftens asks me to express things in colour.

Depression to me is a pale shade of blue that gradually fades until it is opaque.