In 'Monsters of the Sea', Richard Ellis writes,
“To qualify as a proper monster, the creature has to be large and mysterious, but it also has to pose some sort of a threat.”
Depression has often been represented and portrayed as a monster. The unknown. The other.
It's all consuming, and yet reserves a sense of mystery with so much about mental illness remaining unknown. It's also hard to escape the argument that it represents a threat; not only to happiness, normality, but to life as well.
Winston Churchill's 'Black Dog' continues to be used as a metaphor for the terrors of depression. It follows you around, stands in your way, drags you down. Recently, Roddy's Doyle's 'Brilliant
' borrowed the metaphor of the mysterious black dog in the context of an Irish children's story.
I think looking back,
monstrous is the best description I can give of my depression. It terrified and controlled me. It was everywhere and all I could see. It was dark and deep and I couldn't get out. There was no escape.
