On Depression

No. 1 from the Peak Notions Archive: the story of my own diagnosis of depression at eighteen, and a look at labels, the philosophy of emotions and mental illness. A Long Read.

Photo by Cherry Laithang on Unsplash

This is a long read upon which I based a much shorter column for The Irish Times in 2018. It considers how we think about mental illness and depression, and whether we are served by it.

I felt wise and cynical as all hell.

- Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

There is something about intense emotions – namely our own – that we …