By: Katharine

In reply to Bess Farris.

I am right here with you. The people in my family who have never been depressed always tell me things like “go for a run” or “get some fresh air” or “count your blessings” and seem to think that if I tried harder my mental illness would just magically be cured. I grew up in New England, though, and my family has no Southern roots to speak of, so I think that the bootstrapping phenomenon is not at all limited to the South. My family is republican, though.