Ink-slinger and paid narcissist Johann Hari tells us that, after he had begun taking Seroxat — an anti-depressant which he has been taking every day for the last ten years —, he felt “no more self-absorption” [1], which leads me to the suspicion that the drug acts to suppress self-awareness.
[1] Johann Hari, “My week of withdrawal”, Evening Standard, 6th October 2006, reproduced online at JohannHari.com.
[1] Johann Hari, “My week of withdrawal”, Evening Standard, 6th October 2006, reproduced online at JohannHari.com.
12 comments:
He's a very silly boy.
Ho ho! A journalist confessing to a serious depressive illness - let's ridicule him for narcissism!
I wonder if there have been any surveys about who suffers most from depression -believers or nons. I'd guess the aetheist depressives would be most prone.They only have themselves to believe in -and if you are stephen fry or the mad dawkins that ain't much.
"[L]et's ridicule him for narcissism!"
Better than pandering to it.
Docotor, I'm becoming really depressed over the number of depressives I keep coming across. Can I have the pills now?
Deogolwulf, I just wish to say your blog is (generally) an oasis of sanity. Thanks!
Niconoclast: "They only have themselves to believe in".
It could indeed be a cause for gloominess.
Mr Duff,
One might say it spreads like the proverbial yawn.
Mr Fuller,
Many would say it be reactionary claptrap.
Let's hear it for mannered reaction!
I wonder what will he do when the stuff he's been taking all these years finally wears off and Mr Hari discovers that he has no personality to speak of. Mr Hari also uses an incorrect analogy; a depressive can kick a certain drug and replace it with something else or with nothing else, if they so choose. Diabetics are more or less stuck with insulin, since insulin is what controls a person's blood sugar and diabetics who choose not to control their blood sugar usually wind up blind, lame, and on dialysis. So much for kicking.
Do you know Hari? How do you know he has "no personality to speak of"? That seems to me an extraordinary thing to say.
If it helps, Anonymous, I know three people that know Hari fairly well, as they went to university with him, and it would appear to be a fair comment.
Well I have watched Hari on TV and read his work over a few years, and there seems to be plenty of personality there to me. There are plenty of legitimate criticisms I can think of, but being persoanlityless is not one of them. Are you sure these university colleagues aren't just jealous?
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