‘Depression Ain’t the Sads’ validates that depression is a debilitating condition

 

Depression Ain’t the Sads

Perzine, John Gamber, 17 pgs, J.F. Gamber, etsy.com/shop/PencilRevolution, @gamberwrites, [email protected], $3.79

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to wake up every morning and struggle to find the energy or motivation to get out of bed? Maybe you live this experience everyday. Perhaps you can’t imagine a life like this.

Whatever your stance is, this zine will give you a better peek into the life of an individual living with depression. In Depression Ain’t the Sads, author John Gamber neatly sums up his experience as a person who has both Persistent Depressive Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder.

“DEPRESSION IS NOT A CHOICE. It is a debilitating condition that wrecks your life at the deepest levels,” writes Gamber, whose writing conveys the edginess that fills him here, at his wits end. “One of the most accidentally wise statements I sometimes hear is, ‘I don’t understand why you won’t just get up and go out.’ That is true. YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND.”

I can say this zine taught me a lot more about the everyday struggles of those who have this condition. Gamber uses black and white illustrations and capitalized words with bold font to really get his point across: depression sucks. I feel both empathetic for Gamber’s life-long battle with depression, and grateful that this isn’t something I’ve had to personally experience as a persistent, nagging, and debilitating part of my life. I’m rooting for you, Gamber. Thanks for telling it how it is.