Some guy elsewhere in this forum, asked the question "How would we describe depression if it were a physical creature.
What a sensible question to ask.
The guy who asked, must be an intelligent guy, a guy with a future of success.
I can answer that question, but would first like to remind everyone that many famous
and successfull persons have experienced depression. (Burton and Taylor come to mind)
Indeed it seems likely that depression is a precursor to success, even to victory, in most dramatical terms.
The late Winston Churchill himself said he had been afflicted by deep depression for much of his life.
He called it Blackdog.
Therefore I will call it that too, when considering it as the "physical creature". Most human beings can relate to the dog, and will recognise the animal as being of varying temperament according to breed. The wolf is a dog, as is the dingo. Likewise the poodle, the pekinese and the labrador.
On the one hand, we have the wild feral destructive canine, whilst on the other we have the loveable domesticated pet.
Clearly therefore, depression can be represented by the dog.(Blackdog).
It is, all dogs, merged into one.
The loveable domesticated pet today, and a destructive feral tomorrow.
If you own a dog, you train it. If you do not do that it will not become the loveable domestic pet you may desire. It may become something different entirely. It will likely become a menace, in fact.
The first step in training the animal is to treat it in precisely the same way as you would like it to treat you.
That way, the dog will become your friend - and yes, blackdog can be that too.
In training your dog, you feed it morsels of reward, treats or titbits if you like, when it behaves/responds as you would like it to.
Blackdog is no different.
Returning to Winston Churchill, Did he win World War II ? No of course not, but he was a leader and inspirer amongst allies, perhaps guided by Blackdog, the friend.
Blackdog, is no longer my demon.
I might be again one day, and if it is, I'll just remove the cause, if I can.
My pain is now greatly reduced, because of that. I even jog a bit now, (when walking).
I have to, in order, to keep up with a friendly blackdog, which is running ahead of me. (metaphorically speaking)
If it can be true in my case, Why not yours ?
Cheers,
Sea-n-sky.
