Diving Deep into Depression

Painting: 'The Ugly Duchess' by Quentin Matsys

Human life in 21st century revolves around a single concept. The concept of ‘Market’. ‘Market’ is based on the idea of ‘Selling’. But what will ‘Sell’? The product which is ‘Best’ or ‘Perfect’. But what is ‘Best’ or ‘Perfect’? The product which is better than what exists as the state of the art. If the product which exists is equated to ‘Reality’ then the product which is ‘Best’ or ‘Perfect’ can be equated to ‘Expectation’. And there is always a gap between this ‘Reality’ and ‘Expectation’. The more ‘The Gap’ the more is the profit and hence more is the fuel to drive the market. But in the contrary do you know what bridges this gap? It is ‘Contentment’. Although it is the crown jewel of all human values but it is rarely appreciated. It is considered to be antagonistic towards the progress of mankind. It is often mocked as a sign of laziness or incompetence. Do you know why? Because it is bad for the market. As it fills ‘The Gap’ it diminishes the profit.  In order to explain this let us consider the simple example of Fashion Industry. How does this industry generate profit? By selling products? But what triggers this sale? It’s done using a simple trick. Consider that there is a person named ‘X’ who is dark complexioned and a bit bulky. However, ‘X’ has no issues with it. She has never thought about it. She is absolutely fine. In fact she is happy and content with it. But as I told you ‘Contentment is bad for Market’. The market doesn’t let her stay happy. First the industry makes her realise that she is not fair and her figure is not perfect. Its the ‘Reality’. Then the industry shows her the ideal body type. It is done through advertising a Model who is fair like snow and has a size zero figure which is considered to be the ‘Best’ or ‘Perfect’. And hence ‘The Gap’ is created to sell products like cosmetics, surgery, health supplements etc. It is somewhat similar to inventing Corona Virus so that we can sell Health Equipments, Sanitizers, Medicines, Vaccines etc. The erstwhile happy ‘X’ now becomes unhappy. It enters her subconscious mind that she is not perfect but if she wants she can be. To bridge this artificial gap becomes the sole purpose of her life. Now she works harder to earn money that she didn’t have to buy things that she didn’t need to solve the problem that didn’t exist. This is not confined to a particular industry or a particular sphere. This is how our entire world works. It runs by making us unhappy, discontent and unsatisfied. It keeps on widening the gap between our ‘Reality’ and our ‘Expectations’.  For our whole lifetime we struggle to bridge this gap. But if due to some reason or the other the gap is not filled. We feel worthless. We dive deep into depression. We feel that our life is not worth living. And in some rare cases we are forced to take the extreme step so as to close the gap i.e. to End our Life. What we discussed above is a problem statement. But what is the solution for it? Does a solution even exist? Can we restrict ourselves from falling into this dark pit called ‘Depression’. Is there a way out of it? Do think about it. Until Next Time, Ashutosh  Human life in 21st century revolves around a single concept. The concept of ‘Market’. ‘Market’ is based on the idea of ‘Selling’. But what will ‘Sell’? The product which is ‘Best’ or ‘Perfect’. But what is ‘Best’ or ‘Perfect’? The product which is better than what exists as the state of the art. If the product which exists is equated to ‘Reality’ then the product which is ‘Best’ or ‘Perfect’ can be equated to ‘Expectation’. And there is always a gap between this ‘Reality’ and ‘Expectation’. The more ‘The Gap’ the more is the profit and hence more is the fuel to drive the market. But in the contrary do you know what bridges this gap? It is ‘Contentment’. Although it is the crown jewel of all human values but it is rarely appreciated. It is considered to be antagonistic towards the progress of mankind. It is often mocked as a sign of laziness or incompetence. Do you know why? Because it is bad for the market. As it fills ‘The Gap’ it diminishes the profit.  In order to explain this let us consider the simple example of Fashion Industry. How does this industry generate profit? By selling products? But what triggers this sale? It’s done using a simple trick. Consider that there is a person named ‘X’ who is dark complexioned and a bit bulky. However, ‘X’ has no issues with it. She has never thought about it. She is absolutely fine. In fact she is happy and content with it. But as I told you ‘Contentment is bad for Market’. The market doesn’t let her stay happy. First the industry makes her realise that she is not fair and her figure is not perfect. Its the ‘Reality’. Then the industry shows her the ideal body type. It is done through advertising a Model who is fair like snow and has a size zero figure which is considered to be the ‘Best’ or ‘Perfect’. And hence ‘The Gap’ is created to sell products like cosmetics, surgery, health supplements etc. It is somewhat similar to inventing Corona Virus so that we can sell Health Equipments, Sanitizers, Medicines, Vaccines etc. The erstwhile happy ‘X’ now becomes unhappy. It enters her subconscious mind that she is not perfect but if she wants she can be. To bridge this artificial gap becomes the sole purpose of her life. Now she works harder to earn money that she didn’t have to buy things that she didn’t need to solve the problem that didn’t exist. This is not confined to a particular industry or a particular sphere. This is how our entire world works. It runs by making us unhappy, discontent and unsatisfied. It keeps on widening the gap between our ‘Reality’ and our ‘Expectations’.  For our whole lifetime we struggle to bridge this gap. But if due to some reason or the other the gap is not filled. We feel worthless. We dive deep into depression. We feel that our life is not worth living. And in some rare cases we are forced to take the extreme step so as to close the gap i.e. to End our Life. What we discussed above is a problem statement. But what is the solution for it? Does a solution even exist? Can we restrict ourselves from falling into this dark pit called ‘Depression’. Is there a way out of it? Do think about it. Until Next Time, Ashutosh 

Human life in 21st century revolves around a single concept. The concept of ‘Market’. ‘Market’ is based on the idea of ‘Selling’. But what will ‘Sell’? The product which is ‘Best’ or ‘Perfect’. But what is ‘Best’ or ‘Perfect’? The product which is better than what exists as the state of the art. If the product which exists is equated to ‘Reality’ then the product which is ‘Best’ or ‘Perfect’ can be equated to ‘Expectation’. And there is always a gap between this ‘Reality’ and ‘Expectation’. The more ‘The Gap’ the more is the profit and hence more is the fuel to drive the market. But in the contrary do you know what bridges this gap? It is ‘Contentment’. Although it is the crown jewel of all human values but it is rarely appreciated. It is considered to be antagonistic towards the progress of mankind. It is often mocked as a sign of laziness or incompetence. Do you know why? Because it is bad for the market. As it fills ‘The Gap’ it diminishes the profit.  In order to explain this let us consider the simple example of Fashion Industry. How does this industry generate profit? By selling products? But what triggers this sale? It’s done using a simple trick. Consider that there is a person named ‘X’ who is dark complexioned and a bit bulky. However, ‘X’ has no issues with it. She has never thought about it. She is absolutely fine. In fact she is happy and content with it. But as I told you ‘Contentment is bad for Market’. The market doesn’t let her stay happy. First the industry makes her realise that she is not fair and her figure is not perfect. Its the ‘Reality’. Then the industry shows her the ideal body type. It is done through advertising a Model who is fair like snow and has a size zero figure which is considered to be the ‘Best’ or ‘Perfect’. And hence ‘The Gap’ is created to sell products like cosmetics, surgery and health supplements. It is somewhat similar to inventing Corona Virus so that we can sell Health Equipments, Sanitizers, Medicines and Vaccines. The erstwhile happy ‘X’ now becomes unhappy. It enters her subconscious mind that she is not perfect but if she wants she can be. To bridge this artificial gap becomes the sole purpose of her life. Now she works harder to earn money that she didn’t have, to buy things that she didn’t need, to solve the problem that didn’t exist. This is not confined to a particular industry or a particular sphere. This is how our entire world works. It runs by making us unhappy, discontent and unsatisfied. It keeps on widening the gap between our ‘Reality’ and our ‘Expectations’. 

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Painting: 'The Scream' by Edvard Munch

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For our whole lifetime we struggle to bridge this gap. But if due to some reason or the other the gap is not filled. We feel worthless. We dive deep into depression. We feel that our life is not worth living. And in some rare cases we are forced to take the extreme step so as to close the gap that is to End our Life. What we discussed above is a problem statement. But what is the solution for it? Does a solution even exist? Can we restrict ourselves from falling into this dark pit called ‘Depression’. Is there a way out of it? Do think about it.

Until Next Time, Ashutosh