nancylebov: blue moon (Default)
nancylebov ([personal profile] nancylebov) wrote2007-12-23 08:51 pm

Suggested as a cure for depression

I was talking today with a man who said that wearing a silly hat helps a lot because everyone smiles at you.
ext_12246: (Default)

[identity profile] thnidu.livejournal.com 2007-12-24 02:52 am (UTC)(link)
Well, I'm sitting at my desk at home wearing a baseball cap... in four or five colors... with a propellor on top. But my family is used to it. I don't wear this outside the house except on two days of the year: Oct. 31 and April 1. Same goes for the hat with a fish jumping through my head.

[identity profile] papersky.livejournal.com 2007-12-24 12:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Many years ago now, some friends gave [livejournal.com profile] carandol a pair of bright green trousers with splashes of red and white all over them. They were extremely eye-catching. Strangers would comment. People would smile. Acquaintances would strike up conversations about them. He said they cured him of being shy.

I suppose a truly retiring person wouldn't have been cured by them. Probably the same with a really depressed person and a silly hat.

[identity profile] nancylebov.livejournal.com 2007-12-24 02:40 pm (UTC)(link)
I expect the silly hat cure would only work for mild-to-moderate depression. Still, there's a lot of m-to-m depression around.

I also wonder how carefully the silly garment has to be chosen, and whether there's a fairly low limit to what proportion of people could use that cure. After all, the silly hat or whatever has to be rare enough to attract comment.

[identity profile] solri.livejournal.com 2007-12-24 10:45 pm (UTC)(link)
I expect the silly hat cure would only work for mild-to-moderate depression.

Yes - if someone were truly depressed, they'd be thinking "See? They smile at the hat, but they don't see the pain under the hat."