“Well sure, Captain Obvious,” I hear you say. “What else is new? Gordon Ramsay swears a lot? Brian Blessed is a bit shouty? Graham Norton is gay?”
Wait, Graham Norton is gay? Seriously?
Stop it, ethereal readers who aren’t there really. I’m trying to make a point here. And my point is that, yes, Janet Street-Porter is a dickhead. Why do I say this with such authority though? Because of this.
For those of you too lazy to click on that link, or indeed those of you who are terrified of clicking on any sort of link that leads to the Daily Mail for fear of aspiring middle-class racist viruses infecting their otherwise happily multicultural computer, she wrote an article about depression under the title “Depression? It’s just the new trendy illness!”
Not a good start. As someone who has suffered depression and stress to varying degrees throughout the years (with right now being one of the “more” rather than “less” periods) I found the title by itself offensive. But I clicked on anyway, just in case she had anything enlightening to say on the subject.
The misery movement has rapidly gathered momentum and in recent months it’s become apparent that, along with the Sam Cam handbag, the latest must-have accessory is a big dose of depression.
Oh no. No no no. Fuck you. Seriously, fuck you. Depression is not a fashion accessory. Whether or not it’s been diagnosed and/or treated (mine isn’t and hasn’t, for the record) it’s serious business, and to put it in the same category as a bleeding Samantha Cameron handbag? That’s just the tip of the bell-end poking through her forehead right there. She continues:
I am not denying that clinical depression is a real mental illness, or that it can be debilitating for sufferers. But let’s take a moment to consider whether depression is common among the poor or the working class?
Oh, she doesn’t deny it’s a real, debilitating illness? How big of her. Is it common among the poor or the working class? Well, I don’t know, Janet, you’d better get the SCIENCE! out and let us know.
If you’re a black South African woman growing up in a township, or a mum in a slum favela in Rio, or a supermarket shelf-stacker in Croydon, or one of the band of low-paid female workers who go to work at 3am to clean the offices of the wealthiest and most powerful people in Britain in the City of London, you probably aren’t afflicted by depression. What you’re more likely to be suffering from is poverty, exhaustion and a deficient diet. You will have bills you can’t pay and a struggle to feed and clothe your kids.
Right. Because you can’t have depression and poverty. That would just be ridiculous! Hah! Look at the poor black people. Don’t even have enough money to have a debilitating mental illness! How pathetic they are! PATHETIC, I SAY!
The death of my own sister reduced me to rage and despair, and the sudden death recently of a close personal friend rekindled the same feelings of hopelessness.
But my life goes on, I haven’t retreated under the duvet with a bottle of pills. I refuse to accept this notion that a whole generation of women are being laid low by an unexplained epidemic of depression.
Ahh! “Life goes on!” Of course! All these people who are suffering with depression should just get up and get on with their lives! Silly me.
Of course, she does sort of have a point, albeit one expressed in the most obnoxious manner possible. The worst thing to do when suffering depression is to sit and wallow in it. That just makes it worse and worse and worse until you get to the stage where there’s seemingly no way out of it. For some people, that leads to seeking professional help. For others, an intervention by the people who love them. And tragically, for some that ends in the taking of their own life.
But different people deal with things differently. We can’t all be as strong as she apparently is, and for her to put down the efforts of those who are genuinely struggling with the condition as being somehow weak is both repulsive and wrong.
The truth is, we’ve got fatter and flabbier. Obesity is a medical condition too many of us are suffering from – but you can’t claim time off work because you’re fat. You can, however, suddenly find you can’t ‘cope’ – and stress has become, in our work-orientated society, almost a badge of honour.
If you’re stressed, it implies you are a busy person with plenty to do. Nowadays, women who’ve never been in a war zone or experienced an act of terrorism are claiming they are suffering from stress, when all they do is run a home and get the bus to work.
Stress has become so acceptable, the last government decided that the NHS would make counselling available for a whole variety of mental illnesses, from stress to depression to panic attacks and low self-esteem, totally gratis.
Oh, keep going, Janet! Have a dig at the fatties too! Go on! Especially if they’re black! And poor! Poor black fatties! I bet they’re gay too!
I’ve been stressed – reduced to midnight panic attacks with it, in fact. It’s not pleasant. And I certainly didn’t wear it as a badge of honour. I was ashamed of it. I was terrified on the one occasion I got myself signed off sick with stress. I dropped in the doctor’s note when no-one was around and then got out of the door as fast as possible so no-one could witness my shame. It was an awful experience, and I’m by no means proud of it, as Janet seems to suggest I am. You don’t have to have been in a warzone or have experienced an act of terrorism to suffer from stress. It depends on the sort of person you are. If you’re someone with self-esteem issues like me, one single hurtful comment can trigger a depressive episode.
Needless to say, the article continues in a similar vein for a considerable number of words, with a particular highlight being Janet’s “laughing out loud” at the prospect of men having low self-esteem. Her justification? Men have been in charge of everything for so long, so it’s “karmic revenge”. Well, as a man with low self-esteem, I say again, Janet, fuck you. And may the men in the white coats never come for you.
Of course, by posting this I’m probably doing exactly what was intended by the article – drawing attention to the Mail and it’s “Oooh! Controversial!” columnists. Does Janet Street-Porter really hold such objectionable opinions? I don’t know and right now I don’t care. The Mail has long had a reputation as a filthy rag barely fit to wipe the arse of the country with. Every article like this that appears in it is a little worrying, because there are people out there who will read that and believe it. And that’s a problem.
[UPDATE: The comments on that post are remarkably coherent for Mail readers, with all of the visible ones expressing concern or outrage over JSP’s article. The Mail have closed comments on the article.]
Discover more from I'm Not Doctor Who
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
The Daily Mail just strikes me as pathetic, as does Porter. If she’d have tempered her argument and explored the differences between depression and, say, being sad – there’s definitely something to discuss. There’s a tendency here in the U.S., and I’m sure back home in the UK to immediately jump to the depression diagnosis as there are dollars to be made. Depression is an illness for which expensive drugs can be prescribed. Sadness is just being sad, and there’s nothing that anyone can really do about it except tell you to cheer up.
While I’ve never suffered from ongoing depression, I certainly know what it’s like to dip into those dark places – and panic attacks are absolutely no fun whatsoever. When we were going through some tough times with the business last year, it was difficult to get any perspective on what was happening, and the thoughts of things spiraling out of control were difficult to temper. To have someone deny that that is real, and somehow an affectation is bullshit.
You’re right, that there is a tendency to jump to diagnosis of depression prematurely. But JSP seems to suggest that everyone who claims to suffer from depression should just pull themselves together. That’s not the case at all. As you say, she should have explored what it means to be depressed rather than making the obnoxious statement that people are using it as a “fashion accessory”.
She’s also just plain wrong in saying that depression has only been around for the last few years. It may not have been recognised as a condition, it may not have been diagnosed, it may not have been reported on quite so much… but it was there. There’s considerable evidence for it throughout history, and in literature too.
Good grief, that truly is terrible of her.
I’m all for lambasting those who say they’re depressed when really they’re just a bit fed up, but that’s just inappropriate wording for the most part.
But actually thinking depression is a new thing and suggesting that only living in a warzone is a valid reason for it?!
Well done her for getting over her sister’s death so easily. I’d dearly love to be able to do so after my Dad’s death.
I’ve had to be signed off work because of stress and it feels humiliating to even admit it to the doctor let alone work colleagues. Fortunately mine were extremely understanding (some of them had had similar problems it turned out) but I still felt like a fraud. But it did do me the world of good to stop and take stock of things.
Attitudes like Janet Street-Porter’s just makes things harder to admit you’re struggling though :/
Thought you’d like to know Pete – they were discussing this on BBC Gaelic this evening. I caught the words “depression”, “Daily Mail” and “what the hell” (pronounced ‘heel’)… Couldn’t understand the rest of it as it was a lot of fast, angry Gaelic, but I think those phrases were the gist!
For what it’s worth, I’ve read some other articles by JSP and she’s actually been quite sensible. I suspect a combination of Mail sensationalism and lazy journalism – last minute deadline, maybe?
Yes! This has been all over the news today. Or all over Twitter. I forget which, since I get most of my news from Twitter, which probably isn’t the most reliable source of news but still better than Sky News (memorably described by Jason Manford as “The Sun for people who can’t read”). Still, the vast majority of people appear to agree that Janet Street-Porter is indeed a dickhead and should spend some time in a dark room with some disturbing imagery. Or a slowly-lowering ceiling of spikes. My vote’s for the latter.