Charlotte Perkins Gilman v. David Foster Wallace - Essay Example

Many believe that depression can lead to mental disorder which is not true but it can affect a person’s perception and attitude. The author states that the girl feels neglected as her parents are more concerned about “scoring petty points of each other” (P). It makes her feel that her parents have abandoned her with no help and or concern. The author further shows that a depressed person looks for support and comfort, which can help her gain confidence and strength to fight the situation.

In the book the girl’s therapist finds that the “depressed person’s support system” comprised of girls who happen to be her childhood friends and few other who helped her at “various stages of her school career” (P). She calls these acquaintances in late nights to get support and “some realistic perspective on the day’s despair” (P). The context in which the author mentions the girl’s situation gives the readers a clear idea that depression cannot be purely called as a mental illness.

Often situations lead a person to a sense of despair which causes emotional stress and trauma. There should be a proper approach to the depressed persons in order to get them out of that situation. They often feel that they are boring and blame themselves for being in that situation. This might be due to lack of proper support system required for an individual in the situation of emotional agony. Giving the example of the situation the girl is in, the author says “the depressed person always apologized for dragging them down or coming off as boring or self-pitying or repellant or taking them away from their active, vibrant, largely pain-free long-distance lives” (P).

They also think that talking to others during depression can make others feel bored. Therefore, most of the depressed individuals like to be alone and isolated. More interaction with such people can help to improve their situation. A great deal of compassion and emotional attachment should be there to deal with depression. Many people are of the notion that depression is a kind of mental illness. This might be because they hear lot of stories and news on depressed people doing weird and horrifying acts.

Therapists believe that depressed people do not like to mention their situation in details. They sometimes give only the outline of their emotional agony. People suffering from mental illness always suggest that others are being too harsh in this situation and most of them eventually break down in tears. The author further tells the audience that “her support system often told the depressed person that they just wished she could not be a little less hard on herself, to which the depressed person responded by “bursting involuntarily into tears” (Wallace 58).

A person in depression is most vulnerable and any comments can affect their mental situation badly. Frequent talking to friends in such situations can make them feel bored and less responsive. Eventually, the depressed person will get a sense of shame talking to their so called support system and there will be an “inadequacy the depressed person experience about calling members of her support system” (Wallace 58). How to tackle this kind of situation is a big challenge. Besides, continuous depression can make the people in the support system feel bored.

Sometimes, their gestures or “