Edited by Lauria E. Locsmondy, Health Editor, Howard Brown Health Center
In Michael Moore's first feature length film, Roger and Me, Anita Bryant cheerfully and adamantly chirps, 'Cheer up, Flint,
Michigan,' to an entire city in the throes of economic ruin. The humor was obvious, albeit dark, highlighting the impossibility of denial
in assuaging depression in light of human catastrophe.
Anita Bryant's response is like screaming to yourself and everyone else that everything is fine, when everything clearly is not fine.
It's one-sidedness, and as Carl Jung has taught, one-sidedness is usually a guarantee of something bad.
In the case of depression, this type of one-sidedness is especially damaging. More often than not, if you are depressed, you are
depressed for a good reason. When you judge this depression harshly, screaming to yourself to cheer up, it simply worsens an
already miserable condition. Plus, this reaction refuses to validate the very real—and very human—reasons why you feel so lousy.
It is crucial to respect and honor ourselves with a movement towards honoring our entire persons. Certainly, much of this involves
celebrating our sexuality and being with those who are like us in order to have a sense of belonging, friendship, and God willing,
love. It is useful to realize when we 'Anita Bryant' ourselves when it comes to how we address these particular areas of our lives that
depress us—that are in ruins like Flint, Michigan.
At times, depression is incredibly cunning or covered up, and it has more faces than Eve. Here is a list of possible symptoms that
you or someone you love might be experiencing:
— sleep too much or not enough
— drink or drug too much
— have too much interest in sex or not enough interest in sex
— have gained too much weight or have lost too much weight
— have lost concentration or memory
— cry all the time
— thinking a lot about death and dying
— have despair over the future or past
— carry so much guilt that you believe that you're responsible for everything
— no longer enjoy the things you once did
— cannot remember the last time you did not feel sad
All of the above symptoms point to a very real and serious medical condition that can be addressed, usually with counseling and/
or medication.
While depression usually starts for very real and very human reasons, it inevitably becomes a medical condition where your brain
chemical structure is altered. For anyone who has seen Nicole Kidman, aka Virginia Woolf, in The Hours, you have a sense of the
oppressive and intractable nature of this illness.
For this reason, there are two actions that you can choose to take:
— Seek counseling with providers sensitive to LGBT concerns to address underlying feelings of justifiable sadness and/or anger.
— Speak with your physician about a referral to a psychiatrist. After all, if you have a heart condition you see a cardiologist; if you are
experiencing depression you should see a psychiatrist.
Many people I have advised to seek counseling have balked at the idea of talking to someone about their problems. 'Is it scary to
do so?' they always ask. Of course it can be. One of the reasons for depression in the first place is that there are some feelings you've
been avoiding. However, not allowing yourself to feel these emotions is a particularly nasty way of saying to yourself that you are not
deserving of basic human needs. It simply reinforces the homophobia we all are so desperate to avoid.
It seems to me that the much scarier course of action is to follow the lead of Anita Bryant. By insisting that we cheer ourselves up
at the expense of not feeling our losses, we ignore much of ourselves, which, in my opinion, is not a particularly good way to
celebrate Pride. As memory serves, Anita Bryant has not done our community any favors in the past, so why start following her advice
now?
