Yesterday, a huge earthquake followed by a tsunami hit the Samoan Islands, including Samoa. Casualties and damages are high, and help is badly needed. Our hearts go out to all bereaved survivors who lost loved ones to this major disaster.
On behalf of Cordula’s Web editorial team: please consider donating to relief organizations and sending humanitarian help and relief workers (e.g. via New Zealand’s Red Cross).
Thank you for caring.
I’ve just added The Left Banke’s Walk Away Renée lyrics to Cordula’s Web, associating them with a gloomy painting of a train station by Claude Monet, because many people — including myself — unconsciously project their own unrequited love with it.
Its background is particularly interesting. According to the song’s entry on Wikipedia, Michael Brown allegedly wrote about Renée Fladen, a tall blonde and then-girlfriend of bassist Tom Finn. He fell deeply in love with her; but since she was engaged, he couldn’t confess his love.
If you’re a regular reader of Cordula’s Web, chances are high that you’re also experiencing more or less severe forms of depression, and seeking solace and a quiet place. Whatever the causes (PTSD, a broken heart, mourning, burnout, …), you probably realize that those are just psychological triggers. So what are the real physiological root causes of depression?
As if dwelling in the dark hole of despair wasn’t painful enough already, society, mental health therapists, and counselors often add insult to injury by insinuating that depression were some kind of mental health problem. Since pronounced feelings of guilt are among typical symptoms of depression, this only exacerbates the anguish by inducing unnecessary shame and additional self-loathing. But what if depression was actually a natural reaction, and quite useful for the survival of the species?