Maria answers “I find Esther's descent into insanity a...”

Maddie asked this question about The Bell Jar:

I find Esther's descent into insanity a little rushed or hasty, but I have never experienced mental trauma like hers. Is it relatable to anyone else? Has anyone gone through what Esther is experiencing and could shed some light on this?

Maria I haven't read all the previous answers, so maybe I am repeating something that someone already said.

I could relate to the main character way too eas…moreI haven't read all the previous answers, so maybe I am repeating something that someone already said.

I could relate to the main character way too easily. It is a scary thought - a suicidal depressed character, and yet I get everything she says. Maybe I could use this book as a prove of my diagnose, though I have never been to the shrink.

The way I see depression, It starts with a very simple little thing - sense of purposelessness. Feeling lost and useless.
When you don't care about superficial, "tip of the iceberg" things, when your thoughts go way deeper into areas they probably shouldn't go. When you feel like drowning in your own thoughts. It is fully mental and controllable by the person. The moment you switch your thinking is the moment you cure yourself. It if quite difficult, clearly. For some it takes time. For some there isn't enough time at all.

Depression can start at any point, for no apparent reason, but most of the time we see depression evolve after some sort of tragic experience. Why it happens? (IMHO, from my own experience) Because you try to shut down from the world and emotions. Try to minimize the pain by not letting yourself feel properly. And if you succeed, you, unfortunately, shut down not just pain but ANY emotions. So you become grey, and the world around you becomes grey. You don't have reactions to things around you and therefore you can't make decisions, because everything is equally (un)attractive.

Like someone mentioned already, the progression wasn't rush, because she was already depressed to begin with. We don't know for how long. The book shows a specific time period. Within that time period depression escalated and got to a suicidal point. I have never been there, so I can't say when and how fast can someone fall into that kind of thinking.

Don't know if that was helpful at all hehe
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