Depression Talk

People with depression often are far more sensitive to picking up the unspoken emotions of others. Even if they live alone, they can often pick up the vibe of the nieghborhood, or sense how people really feel just from talking to them on the phone. So, things were a wee bit tense around the Greater Philadelphia area (where I live) this past couple of weeks because the Phillies were in the World Series.

How I Did My Part

I do my part for Philadelphia sports teams by not watching them. I haven’t watched a single second of the Phillies 2008 season — and they wind up winning the World Series. Of course, that doesn’t explain why they won the World Series in 1980 and I watched nearly every game. (Yes — I am old). However, this is Philadelphia. Logic need not apply as to why the Phillies have a good or bad season.

The Night Air

Mom and I watched MSNBC while the game went on last night about a half hour away from where we live. Just before 10pm, the fireworks started. Mom said, “The Phillies!” but she has trouble walking now, so she switched the channels while I went outside with my dog, Pony.

Out in the night air, even over the fireworks, Pony barking and car honkings, were cheers. It wasn’t just my neighborhood yelling, it wasn’t just the town next door yelling — it was the whole city of Philadelphia yelling, too. It was great to loose myself in the moment when most of the area was finally happy rather than our usual shade of miserable. A couple of years ago, Philadelphia was voted “America’s Most Depressed City”. Not this year, baby.

The Moral Of The Story

If you have any type of depression, it can be too intense of an experience to follow a sports team. If it gives you happiness, then by all means go for it. But for some people like me, I get too personally involved. Suddenly, if my team isn’t winning, then the sky is falling. Part of this I think is because I can pick up on the emotions of all other fans when they are disappointed.

So, I stopped following sports teams. But if you have depression and your town’s sports team does well, go outside and join the parade or listen to the cheers in the biting cold night. It sure beats shock therapy.