Mindfull

When I think of television shows, the one thing I dislike the most is when a show jokes about depression. The sound of an audience laughing at a serious issue are like nails on a chalkboard. We often don’t pay attention to it, since we have been taught to laugh when others laugh. The hard part is seeing the difference between the world we see and the world we are shown. Yes, people can have a view of the world where things are serious and can be explained in a funny light. However, the examination of depression is one that needs to be looked at not by a telescope, but instead by a microscope. One show I think allows us to do this is Rick and Morty. The show itself has picked up by a wide audience; which most (I believe) do not understand what they are watching. Why this is? It is because Rick is a hard character to understand; especially for individuals who lack understanding of symptoms of depression, as well as anxiety and PTSD. For them, it is a comic relief of a sense of nihilism−that is only scraping the film of nihilism. Some viewers do not understand the lengths of depression. Rick is in pain; his motto is “Wabba lubba dub dub”, which translates to I am in great pain, please help me. Now with depression, people can repeatedly say something in code. Mostly, using my own experience, they are embarrassed to ask for help. Still, the words are always there−if you look for them. The person is asking for acknowledgment. Rick is in a constant state of validation because he has seen so much loss, which reveals his PTSD. Not only has he seen many versions of himself die, he has seen the loss of his family repeatedly. He is in a constant battle in keeping Morty alive, despite having much of the world(s) around him being destroyed. Rick chooses to fight; a fight that is a constant struggle. Not only with outside forces but literally with himself. He does whatever it takes to overcome all obstacles. The easiest being who he fights against are other Ricks, since he knows himself so well that the idea of fighting himself is comical. This is what depression is, since it is a constant struggle to find your way out of something that is happening within yourself. People who do not understand depression seem to say “it is all in your mind”. Most people figure out how to live with depression and it is not a comedy. Life is a constant thing; where for the most part, we are alone. Rick shows he can see the things that want to break him in spite of having depression. The goal is seeing so far into the future that it almost seems ridiculous.