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Namelessblob — Depression PSA I
Published: 2009-06-01 15:19:59 +0000 UTC; Views: 10179; Favourites: 68; Downloads: 582
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Description
A public service announcement I did for my graphics class. We had to choose an ailment/disease, and an organization associated with it; I chose depression and To Write Love on Her Arms.This is the first of two designs that would be used as posters.
Not sure if it's in the right category...
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Comments: 51
This is great :-D Also, I love how 4 out of 25 people are red - 16%. Yes, I sat and counted them to prove a theory XD. I wish I could put this up in my school, to inform all the people who think that depression 'isn't a real illness.'
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Thanks!
And I for sure made 4/25 red. Glad someone noticed.
And I give you full permission to put it up in your school. Not sure how serious you were about that, but if you do give me a heads up: I have a cleaner and updated version that I could get to you.
Also, check out the other one .
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Oh! And thanks for the fav!
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You're welcome! And I may get back to you on the poster idea... :-D
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For sure, just let me know. I would be honored.
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Deppression IS extremely serious, and this is really a great way to let more people know!!!!! I love this! Great work!
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Very true, very true. Many people don't realize how severe it can be. I personally haven't hit that severity, but I have friends who have and just watching them is painful.
I see you found the other one too. Thank you so much for the kind words, and for the favorites as well!
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It is painful to watch. I think that's the problem, some people haven't really SEEN it.
And your very welcome!!!
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Very true. I have the feeling that a lot of the times it's a foreign, far away issue that 'shouldn't really be a problem' that people have no first or second-hand experience with.
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Like my brother, not until he experienced depression first hand did he realize that is serious
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It stinks that it takes actually experiencing it to know how bad it can get.
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Yeah, and people wonder why suicides are so prominent these days...
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Graet work on this one too.
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If you look to the text above the people, you will see that the word 'depression' is red. Thus the people are red, because they represent those who suffer from depression. The black ones are people who do not, and you will see that the red ones are both male and female.
Thanks for the comment and the faves. I appreciate it!
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Ah right, I see. Now how did I miss that?
You're welcome.
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That's a great idea ^.^
But I have one question, why are the people mainly males? o.0
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Why thank you.
Good question, but I don't have a great answer for you-that's just kinda how it turned out. I've since redone this and its partner piece . Both of them do have more females, but there still about twice as many males.
If I could get my hands on some more specific stats, maybe I could accurately visually represent the ration of males to females.
Thanks for the support!
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Ah makes sense. I wasn't sure whether it was intentional for any reason, or coincidence.
And you're quite welcome, thanks for the good contribution to society ^.^
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Such kind words friend! It's the first time they've been categorized as a 'good contribution to society'. Thank you very much.
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Awh ^.^
Well they are
And you're welcome x
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great job!! simple, yet informative. very nice.
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Thanks for the comment, and the fave! I appreciate both, especially the kind words. You should check out my other PSA, and my gallery too if you feel you'd like to. Have a marvelous day.
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These two posters are amazing. You've done a really good job on them
And it's a really great cause to support as well <3
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Thanks for the kind words friend! I really appreciate the support and the faves too!
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You're very welcome <3
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"Who Let The Features Out? Who? Who? Who? Whoooooooo?" (Sing it to the tune of "Who Let The Dogs Out?") Hahaha. Congratulations, YOU made it in my 94th Daily Journal Feature in here: [link] 
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Absolutely. You might also notice that there are younger people as well as adults too.
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Depression is a biological signal that something is wrong in your life.
"treatment" is not zoinking yourself out on pharmaceuticals like any major drug company would like.
It's choosing a different set of problems to have
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Notice the PSA is promoting TWLOHA, not a drug company.
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You're taking those words 'medical', 'genuine' and 'serious' for a denotative run for their money.
You seem to saying that all forms of a very loose array of symptoms are all serious. Perhaps even life threatening.
So... despite the fact that the very connotative word of 'depression' could have as many as 8 different medical non-medical and medical uses - 16 percent of the population is affected by it - seriously. How would or could someone collect a statistic like that? Date from a random sample to imply the world?
depression is not a medical condition.
It is a buzz word.
cancer is a medical condition.
strep throat is a medical condition.
Simply being really down on yourself or liking the feeling of a blade being stuck in your arm doesn't necessarily have an exact medical cause. It has to do with chemical interactions in the brain - but so does everything else we personally experience.
And let me guess, help is faith.
Awesome. That's trading one chemical dependence for another. It's strange how similar it is to be addicted to heroine or meth and to religion.
Youre crazy and so is you emo kid sob story organization.
I think people that voluntarily choose not to exist anymore, rationally or not, should be allowed to take their plunge.
Help or 'awareness' doesn't come from an all knowing non-profit organization or spooky incompetent parent figures that don't give a shit. It comes from other human beings.
Only 25% of the profit is given to organizations seeking to help? what gumption! I guess those catchy t-shirts ain't cheap.
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What does TWLOHA, or anything mentioned here, have to do with religion? And most people with depression DON'T want to go to doctors who would put them on drugs. I'd tell you more about why you're wrong, but I have a feeling you're going to be getting a LOT of people telling you the same thing. You're a small-minded douchebag. Have a nice day.
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He is a guy who knows me personally, so the faith comment was more like a comment directed at me.
TWLOHA does have a foundation in Christianity, but it is unofficial and is in no way pushed onto anybody.
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I am deeply offended by this comment. Depression is something serious, and it is a medical condition. I've suffered from it for 4 years. For some, self harm is not all about the rush...It's because they need a sense of relief, a release from the pain. Some feel they deserve it. It's different for each person.
Emo is a stereotype, and a type of music. It shouldn't be used to label people with depression. We aren't crazy, we aren't emo. We are people who have possibly suffered a traumatic situation or more, which caused us to become depressed. Like myself. I've gone through an ass of shit and heartache.
The point is, you shouldn't be judging people with depression, and act as though its not a big fucking deal, because it is. I just thought I'd put my two cents in. Not that it matters to you.
As for ~Namelessblob I think you did a good job on both your deviations. (:
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Hey! I just read this (didn't get a notification because you commented on someone else's reply). Thanks for the support. I hope the deviations touched you in someway (not sure if you faved them, I've been getting swamped with faves since I submitted them to groups). I apologize if I've already thanked you.
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You're quite welcome. C:
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Without going into a whole discussion about the legitimacy of labeling depression as a medical ailment, I can respect your opinion and see that you have a few good points, but on the same note notice that my PSA was promoting TWLOHA, not some big drug company that can drug you into submission.
And discounting all the holy wars (because I figure you bring them up if I didn't) which were led by people who had a poor vision of religion (but that's a whole different discussion), religion can defiantly help. I find if unfortunate that you equate religion to drugs.
You said, 'Help or 'awareness' doesn't come from an all knowing non-profit organization or spooky incompetent parent figures that don't give a shit. It comes from other human beings.' TWLOHA is all about people. People helping those who need help.
To say that people who want to kill themselves should be able to, that's just short-sighted. I don't know your reasoning behind it, be it because you think that people that 'sad' should just rid the earth of themselves or for whatever other reason, but I think that at least SOME of those people who want to kill themselves wouldn't if they knew that someone loved them. THAT is what TWLOHA is about: loving people who need love and support.
And that is my religion: love is my religion. Christ came here to love people, and we are called to live like Him, AKA: love people.
If you don't believe in loving people, you, sir, are the one who is crazy.
And nice word choice on 'gumption'. Had to look that one up.
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I just reread this and I can hardly believe I wrote such horse shit. I sound like a complete asshole - nor did I explain my various reasonings.
Please allow me to rephrase my objection in a far more civil and understanding manner.
I disagree with the way you've chosen to present this organization. Particularly - it is the text. Depression is too broad a subject to use the terms you have used. It seems to generalized to me, distanced and relatively sterile.
"genuine and serious" seems like way to blatant a fashion to try and legitimize talking about depression. There are many different forms of it and can't all be reduced to a single definition.
This group, this ad, doctors, medical councils, seminars, national organizations and Big Pharma represent a cycle. Things get worse and more blown out of proprotion the more it spins. Oligarchs convince the doctors to perscribe and gossip illness. Lobbying conditions into existence (restless leg syndrome, add, adhd, etc) so they can sell you the drugs, which can fuck with your head, which makes you buy into the facet that all this stuff was created by humankind. Time, language, money - we made them up. Now we are slaves to them.
Now then. My stupid little rant and mainstream religion and pharmaceutical companies are linked. It is the mindset that a person can't be dependent on themselves, that I feel drives attitudes similiar to a typical depressed state. Religion and Drug giants attempt to sell people back their sanity. Which is completely infeasable. These channels leading to very slippery slopes. If perceived in a particular way - one can become subservient. Power structures of these sorts don't have logical ending points. They keep going. They hold the power to destroy the individual in their own ways.
You know what would better than bying a cheesy t-shirt, selling out for fads, identifying yourself a Christian, describing your perception as depressed or quoting statistics? Giving a shit about other people.
Which you have done Noah and I must take off my hat. Despite my being being a judgmental prick(probably for a great deal of my Senior year as well)
I think it is so deceptive to hide a neutral religious undertones behind a non-profit organization about people helping people. If it's about people helping people - where does the omniscent creator come in? It's hard for me to seperate mainstream/organized religion from practices of indoctrination- Which insights my rage. In the past - usually irrationally. I think People should do and think and be whatever the hell they want. I have no right to change them.
I understand compassion, love and emathy. If the ideas you formed yourself about this ideas include the figure Jesus of Nazareth, Something called 'God', or a rock in your front yard - all is well and good. But you can't save everyone. Not everyone needs to be saved. And no one should be rescued from a suicidal death wish only to become some sort of born-again christian zelot by extension.
If youre using the word "offended" and "clinical depression" you might be buying into life a little bit much. It's just a ride.
I will apologize for my insults but not for my opinions.
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Firstly I would like to thank you for responding to this. Acknowledging the fact that your previous response was not necessarily the best articulated response is quite admirable. I very much appreciate it and your apology.
Secondly: I apologize for the delay in response here. I had the message sitting in my inbox for a little while, but didn't get around to responding. Your message was something I had to sit down and really concentrate on. My lack of response had nothing to do with 'not wanting to talk to you' or 'not wanting to deal with it' in any way.
Thirdly: let's get to my response!
You are right in attacking my choice of words. Depression IS a very broad subject. Saying that all aspects of it are 'a serious medical condition' isn't necessarily true. Better words would have been 'Can be a serious medical condition'. I should also note (not as defense, but a bit of knowledge) that I was drawn to TWLOHA and to make a PSA about it because of the feeling of love, acceptance and support. The reason I threw statistics and gave it a medical angle was because of specs of the project (the PSAs were done in one of my graphics classes).
I am a bit confused by the 5th paragraph of your response. My assessment of it is that you're arguing that media, the medical industry, politics, whatever have created these diseases or blown them way out of proportion. Prescribing ADD pills to anyone who says their head hurts. I can somewhat agree with you on this one, and what you're saying makes a lot of sense. However, through the PSA I was not advocating medication, rather a personal approach to solving a problem of depression.
I am also kind of confused as to your point of the following paragraph regarding the link between religion and the drug industry. I think you may have been saying that people can become dependent on both to the point of overriding logic. That it replaces their own free-thought. Before I state my side of this particular point, I would like to be more explicitly aware of what you were getting at, so as to avoid confusion.
I completely agree about actually caring about people. As a counter-argument though, specifically to 'calling yourself a Christian', the heart of Christianity is about loving other people. I think that if 'done properly' Christianity should not only overlap, but fully be the actions that people should take in those situations. Simply calling oneself a Christian or buying a shirt is not enough, living it is what it comes down to, which you have acknowledged in a later paragraph. If I were to buy a shirt or label myself a Christian, my actions would go along with it. I would hope that the shirt buying and labels come AFTER the actual emotions and thoughts that they should symbolize. They should be a result of something, not something standalone.
Also I thank you for 'taking your hat off' to me. I appreciate that you see that I do actually care. And you weren't a jerk through high school; I actually did, and still do, like you quite a bit. Your views aren't necessarily the things that most people think (which is totally fine) and you are vocal about them and defend them. If anything I can respect that. I may not agree with you on everything, but I can definitely respect the fact that you stick to your guns.
You questioned the validity of the religious aspect in TWLOHA, and called it 'deceptive to hide neutral religious undertones...'. I think you are misinterpreting it. TWLOHA as an organization was founded by people who share religious beliefs. However, these beliefs (love and empathy, not theological points) are fairly universal and are no way shoved onto people. TWLOHA is not out to convert people (although I think it would be false to think they aren't thinking about it. Most Christians want to convert people), they are there to support people who struggle with problems. TWLOHA is NOT an evangelical organization at all.
The last couple of paragraphs are confusing as well. In one of the last ones you mention suicide and that 'not everyone needs to be saved'. Should I take this to mean that you think people who want to kill themselves should be able to? Are there 'conditions' to this?
I very much appreciate your last sentence; while I think it is good to keep an open mind about things, your opinions are what you believe. I admire the fact that you are willing to stand up for them.
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I think we're understanding each other pretty well. I appreciate your response and repose as well.
I think i'll be able to boil down pretty simply what I think I was getting at.
I guess it could be said that I wish the "To Write Love on Her Arms" had a more secular view point in it's mission statement (the basis for my beef with the outfit). If they are trying to help the most people possible - that's great. I just find the word "God" inherently pushy.
I get that Jesus says to just love everybody. Many other people have said the same thing. And I'm certain that individuals can come to such concepts in time. It is all the baggage of the word "God" that irks me. I immediately turn to all the evil that word has been used for in my life.
I see the opportunity for abuse in this setup, as I do in many others. It is not unlike TV evangelism. Religious zealots tend to prey on people when their weak - to make them think their way.
This has fundamental implications for freedom which I think most the structure in my life stems from.
Freedom staying out of other peoples way and letting them live how they wish - however they wish.
I would like to draw a distinction between organized religion and individual spirituality.
Organized religions seek to change people and the end justified the means because we have the truth.
but there is no ultimate truth - only differing perspectives.
I would rather people don't suffer. I really would. I try to live an altruistic lifestyle. If TWLOHA were a secular group which helped people deal with suffering they see in others (particularly friends) instead of some huge fad (thus reducing it to a bumper sticker mentality) I would approve. Some non-profit, no matter how prolific - will never seep into everybody's lives in accordance with it's best intentions. Actually changing lives requires self-discipline and personal contact with someone you trust (in case it is not yourself).
My thoughts are all over the place and my dislike of TWLOHA is ancient. I distrust multinational corporations (pharmaceutical giants), doctors, popular culture and religion. I see them as forces which seek to control my life. It is contrary to my freedom and the freedom of others.
I find them pushy.
I find labeling people as depressed pushy. Same as diagnosing someone ADD or Schizophrenic. Some are more real than others, but their all human inventions. I mention ADD specifically because I think it is a sham. It was invented to sell drugs which sometimes put you in a worse case then you were before. That's why I hate prescription medication in a nutshell.
I see less harm to a person being done if they are doing to themselves then some outside group trying to change them - be it prescription medication or evangelism.
A habitual mind can be tamed. I'd rather see people fix themselves than become sheep.
In which case, I humbly state perhaps a person should be allowed to kill themselves if they really wish to. That's not always a sign of mental instability. Unless it's a pathetic 'I cut myself for attention bit', which is despicable to me. Those people are insulting the institution of genuine suicide.
When I wrote my original response several months ago I was probably looking for a fight and too pissed off to think straight. I wasn't even talking about the work. It just incorporated lots of little things I did not like. Such as statistics, TWLOHA and blanket statements.
I doubt I've said exactly what I mean, but that's a condition of being human.
On a completely different note, I hope the graphic design program is treating you well.
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I can understand you being wary of 'God' being put into the organization, and the word 'pushy'. I'd urge you to read the mission statement and see how involved it is (if you haven't already). It only says the word 'God' once (and this is in the vision, which is separate from the normal, corporate mission statement). It doesn't seem very pushy to me, but your opinion may differ.
To view it as 'preying on the weak' is certainly one viewpoint on the subject, and one I'm not saying is necessarily wrong. But another view would be that the type of set-up you are describing is offering people hope (obviously from a 'faith' perspective). You say that people should be able to live how they want; I agree (without infringing on others' rights, of course). Christianity could be something someone chooses to live, and they might not have found that option if someone hadn't presented it to them.
I (somewhat) agree with your distinction of organized religion and spirituality. As I become more mature and find out just what I believe, I too find myself somewhat disliking the thought behind organized religion. Subscribing to the belief that you have everything figured out is a slippery slope (which can lead to the 'sheep' syndrome you've mentioned). It's similar to political parties: I'm not a republican, or a democrat. Sure, I may have some leanings people might identify as 'conservative', but a group does not define me. Whenever labels are put in place things can become dicey; all of a sudden it's 'you believe all of it or none of it' and people stop thinking for themselves. I have a problem with 'denominations' for these reasons.
Slightly related, you said, 'Organized religions seek to change people and the end justified the means because we have the truth.' In the nicest and most respectful way I can say it, that is a very broad statement that is not true. I will admit that it is true for some (if not many) churches and organizations, but certainly not all.
I'm hesitant in calling TWLOHA a fad as you do. I can see where you're coming from, but my thought is that a lot of the people who are 'in the trenches' so to speak-dealing with all the problems and helping people- are still there. I can also see a lot of people who think the shirts are cool buy them to 'support a cause'. As with everything, I'm sure there are people who are actually fired up about it and believe in it, and others who just jump on the bandwagon 'cause it's cool'.
I can understand your mistrust with big organizations; the bigger and more 'powerful' they become, the more likely they are to be corrupt and insincere. Although I don't think that all of the big organizations are corrupt, there certainly is legitimacy to your concerns, and I can say that I have some as well.
I'm not super well-versed in depression (ESPECIALLY the medical aspects of it), so I can't speak too strongly about it. However, my initial thoughts are to prescribe love and support (as corny as that sounds) rather than drugs. I can't speak about the medical aspect of it because I simply don't know about it. I think there might be some legitimacy behind medical solutions, but I'm kinda wary. I think a lot of what depression is about is emotional problems that can be worked out, through a friend or maybe even a counselor.
I think you need to not focus on the 'sheep' factor of religion. By all means, keep it in mind and we aware of it, but there are more sincere, loving aspects behind it than that; it's not all about hating gays or bombing abortion clinics.
I think it's pretty indisputable that humans, at the core, have the drive to live and survive and thrive. If someone wants to kill themselves, I think that is a sign of emotional instability (maybe not mental, as you stated).
Tell me more about the, '...pathetic 'I cut myself for attention bit', which is despicable to me. Those people are insulting the institution of genuine suicide.'. I'm interested in exactly what you're saying about that (if you want to discuss that too).
Again, I appreciate your humility and civilizedness here; conversations are a lot easier when we're thinking straight.
My plan was to put these PSAs into my portfolio this semester. The class is focused on we-working pieces we've done in the past and assembling them into a portfolio. So, I'm going to update these with some skills I've learned since I first made them, and thanks to you the holes in the text was brought to my attention. Any suggestions as to better wording of what it should say?
Also, the design program is treating me quite well in face. But I don't want to bog down my deviation comments with an unrelated thread, so I'm going to jump to...
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I didn't realise that there were that many of us. This realy works and grabs the attention; well done
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Yeah, 16% is a lot. If you need help or anything, I highly suggest visiting the web site on the PSA or even PMing me if you want
Also, you should check out my other PSA for the same thing; I like it better.
ALSO, thanks for the fav!
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I saw that one too but my computer crashed as i was about to comment
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Ha, too bad. Make sure to look at it sometime though!
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