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I'd been depressed before, of course. But I'm talking about really depressed. Not just feeling a bit down or sad, a depression that has something to do with biorhythms. I'm talking about the kind of depressed that floats in upon you like a fog. You can feel it coming and you can see where it is going to take you but you are powerless, utterly powerless to stop it. I know now.
Alan Cumming
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote describes a profound and overwhelming sense of depression that can feel inescapable.

Alan Cumming reflects on the experience of deep depression, distinguishing it from milder feelings of sadness. He illustrates how this state can envelop a person like a fog, showcasing both the awareness of its onset and the subsequent feeling of powerlessness against it.

Themes

DepressionMental HealthPowerlessnessAwarenessBiorhythms

In practice

Example use cases

In a mental health awareness seminar discussing the varying intensities of depression.

More from Alan Cumming

My feeling about work is it's much more about the experience of doing it than the end product. Sometimes things that are really great and make lots of money are miserable to make, and vice versa.
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I had to be a grown-up when I should have been a little boy, and now that I'm a grown-up my little-boyness has exploded out of me. I've lived my life backwards.
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