Depression Talk

Murder, mayhem, monsters — you wouldn’t normally prescribe books dealing in those subject matters to people with various types of depression. But horror books can certainly help lift the spirits of many people with major depression. Not only are they distracting and entertaining, but they also reinforce the notion that all bad guys loose … well, loose some bits of themsleves, anyway.

Books and Not Movies

Although some people with depression can find horror movies relaxing (especially the bad ones where everything is obviously fake), I find horror movies to be too intense. Also, I feel a little less in control of how I want the story to come at me with a movie than with a book. A book I can hold in my hands and imagine what I want to imagine.

A movie — even on tape or DVD — throws a bunch of images at you without much warning. You can be so caught up in the story that you don’t realize that there is a remote control with a STOP button sitting right next to you. With a movie or DVD, you’re more willing to let the story take over — even to the point where you ignore phone calls and your bladder screaming at you that you have to go potty. With a book, you have a better sense of perspective that “it’s just a story” and you can put it down and pick it up again any time you like.

What Stephen King Said

People have often ask Stephen King why he writes “just” horror or fantasy books when he has the storytelling ability to succeed in any genre he wants. King has gone to great length expalining not only the craft of writing, the great tradition of the horror genre but also why he just plain likes writing scary stories. Check out Danse Macabre and On Writing for details.

King points out that horror stories tend to be the most moralistic genre around, loaded with traditional family values or whatever the prevailing culture’s values are. The horror is partially in distorting what you hold to be good and true. In a usual horror story, or even a cautionary tale about the bogeyman to kids, bad behavior gets punished and good more or less prevails.

This is a lesson that can bring great comfort to those with depression. Perhaps Stephen King books should be studied just as much as serotonin in future clinical trials.