I am back with a Sopranos update! This most recent episode was simply the most entertaining mental health extravaganza I have seen. From A.J. attempting suicide, to another examination of mental disorders being passed down in families, to all of the mobsters sitting around a room discussing “problems” in their children, and finally the issue I want to blog about depression and its ties to tragic world events.
Before A.J. is rescued from the pool by his dad after attempting to take his own life the show focused heavily on him paying attention to horribly depressing world events. The last couple of shows have done this, but this show made it extremely obvious. A.J. talks about starvation, genocide and other issues ravaging our world. He is seen focusing on them on the internet and talking about them with his therapist. It appears the issues most people simply want to move past or don’t know how to respond to completely consume his world. The despair of depression can lead people to more easily relate to these stories. So it begs the question do people who suffer from depression focus more on tragic events than other people without depression or does focusing on the events lead to depression or a combination of the two? I feel it’s a large mixture of a lot of issues depending on each individual. What was truly sad was when A.J. stresses these events to his parents his dad quiets him. A.J. says, “Go put your hand in the sand.” To which Tony replies, “How about I put your %^@#ing head through a wall.” Unfortunately, this is a common response.
Why is it that when we don’t focus on world events, because of their depressing nature we often put our heads in the sand or when we do focus on them are threatened to have our heads put through a wall?
1 comment:
Here's a question that keeps haunting me from the Soprano's: does Tony's psychiatrist, Dr. Melfi, have an obligation to stop seeing Tony if (1) she knows that their session help him justify his behavior and absolve him of some guilt and (2) that Tony will never change?
In the law these lines are more clear: I would never abandon a client, regardless of how evil I thought him to be because everyone deserves a lawyer. But does everyone deserve a doctor? In her attempt to help Tony sort through his issues, is Doctor Melfi helping him to live with the man that he is?
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