Which Way Is Up?: An Atheist's guide to Depression

A heavy topic.

I just wanted to address the biggest elephant in the room: Suicide. As the chapter title indicates, this is 'a heavy topic.' I will ALWAYS give a warning when a chapter is going to address such a serious topic so you can skip it if you don't think you can handle it.  For those of you who do read it, the purpose of this chapter is not to force a 180 degree turn around for someone in their dark place.  It's impossible to force that. The goal of this chapter is to create a shift, maybe only a couple of degrees, that is enough to keep you going.

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Suicidal thoughts hurt.  

People, your parents, your shrinks, your so-called-friends make you promise to give them a call before you do anything drastic.  

They say "they're always there for you" but when the moment comes, you know they'll never understand.  

It hurts you to know that if you followed through with what you wanted to do, that you'd be hurting those few people, paid or unpaid, who have told you they care.  

So what do you do when there's no one you can go to? no one to talk to?

I'm so tired of feeling so weak. I want the ugly feelings in my chest to go away.  

They say suicide is the coward's way out.  A permanent solution for a temporary problem.  

But after 'solving' too many 'temporary' problems, I know I get burned out.  

And I know the reason I get burned out.  

But, hell, I don't want to change my ways.

We get so tired of this hamster wheel called life that we crave escape.  Escape from reality.  And boy do I know that escape is addicting.  

You find that one thing, that crutch, that you can focus on to make the pain go away, and you indulge in it, even if it means ignoring your problems, even if it means you begin to live only for the escape.  

So then, after ignoring and then loosing the real things you used live for, all you have left is your crutch, your escape.  

But escape is empty.  It's not fair that something so amazing in the moment is ultimately so empty.  

Now, you have nothing, and you want escape from your escape.

Well, death is the ultimate escape.  That's it. That's the end.

There is nothing else.

Nada.

Religion smeligion.  I don't like to believe in things just because so-and-so said to.  

Have faith?

YOU WANT ME TO HAVE FAITH?

ARE YOU OFF YOUR ROCKER?

FAITH IN WHAT?  WHAT IS THERE THAT I CAN BLINDLY BELIEVE IN?  

You know what I think? -no you don't, so I'm gonna tell you- I think we all die.  Every person that is alive right now, right this very second, is gonna be dirt.  All those dead people? THEY DIED! All those people who haven't been born yet? THEY'RE GONNA DIE! I hate to break the news to ya pal, but, WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!

I don't know when. I don't know how. I don't know why. But what I do know is that we all are born, we all live, and we all, eventually, die. Everyone is always trying to climb that latter of success.  If death is the end goal, then why the hell are we rushing up that latter?  

Because we hope to encounter something good, as much good as we can find, worth living for.  We hope for a better day and a better tomorrow.  

Hope hurts. Being let down really hurts.  

But I'm telling you now, when you're feeling like shit, you'd better make like Dory from Finding Nemo and 'just keep swimming' because it's impossible for something good to not eventually float your way.  It might be smaller than a morsel of plankton, but its coming. Its coming Just. For. You.  

Oh? What's that you say? How am I sure about this? It's easy really.  Because just like we are always waiting for the other shoe to drop, for something bad to happen, you can't deny that good things happen. Good things practically fall from the sky (sunlight *cough cough*).

The bottom line: If you're tired of being a depressed atheist, if you want to be happy, you don't have to have faith in a religion. All you have to do is have Faith. in. Hope.

Have faith in the hope that good things will eventually come your way because it is statistically impossible for them not to.  

Read on for things to be hopeful about --> 

(and pssssst! Watch the video.)