Student Sample
Ms. Balderrama
ENG107
31 March 2015
The risks of risk-taking
There are social expectations surrounding mostly everything in this world and
especially depression. Most people have heard about depression, though a big percentage
does not really know enough to actually discuss it. The expectations from or for a person
with depression will probably vary a lot. Whether you feel sorry for the person or not
depends on your values and opinions considering the illness. Some places it might even be
taboo because of the seriousness around depression. The blog is both different and risky
compared to other sources on the Internet. The writer takes a lot of risks, especially in the
use of exaggeration. There are so many who do not have a sense of humor and they can
easily find the blog offensive. On the other hand, it is an alternative way of providing help
that might actually work for others. People most would absolutely not joke about
depression, considering the possible dangers surrounding it. Another social expectation is
that doctors or medical clinics are the ones who should help. The other websites consisting
of help for depressed people are very different from the blog I read. The reason the help
provided, from those mentioned over, is expected to work better is because the knowledge
they have is on an educated and professional level, different from this blog. The blog is
original and I am sure Broshs story is a motivation for many, but it can also have catastrophic
outcomes for others, which is the reason I don´t find the blog successful.
“Hyperbole and a Half: adventures in Depression” is a blog written by Allie Brosh. The
author started the blog in 2009 because she suffers from depression herself. She provides
information about depression by exposing her private life and giving personal examples from
her everyday life to the audience. This gives a real life perspective of how it must be like to
live with depression. The purpose for the blog is for Brosh to tell her story and provide
alternative help she thinks might help for similar situations.
Last Name 2
The main points in the blog are many, but the author focuses on telling the readers
how to be themselves. Brosh writes very different, compared to others and you really notice
how she tells her side of the story. She is the one who has been depressed and this is how
she experienced it. She tells her stories in her own original way, to make the statements
clear. She uses a lot of exaggeration in her writing. The reason she does this is probably to
make the blog more fun and humoristic, but also to prove her point- this is what helped her
feel better. I get the feeling that she has a purpose and I think that is to send out a message.
There are so many other people out there who suffer from depression that are in similar
situations. They need to know that they are not alone. I think she wants them to be able to
relate to others in the same situation. There are so many who have the same problems and
concerns and that they need to accept themselves to be able to be their own person. The
author absolutely sticks out, even though I do not think her methods are the best, she has a
way to be herself and this might be a motivation for other people. Brosh writes about how
she feels and that no one else really knows, so to be able to get better you need to find your
way. You have to find yourself and as soon as you to it will help you with your depression.
The first big risk I noticed that Brosh took is the way she presents the content in her
blog. The article I first clicked on was “This is Why I’ll Never be an Adult,” and the header
alone made me wonder what this was going to be about. A little further down in the article
she writes, “I understand. I´m responsible now too, Just look at my groceries.” This is an
example of how she reflects on her achievements. This is probably one of the things that are
supposed to be exaggerated, and not taken seriously, but I think the signal she sends out is
bad. You are absolutely not responsible if you go grocery shopping. This is something that is
considered necessary and when you grow up, it is something you have to do. The problem is
that, if you read the comments, it seems like a lot of people can relate to this and they are
all laughing about how hard they think it is to go to the store. There are probably people
who find it difficult, but you should try to do something else about it, rather than laughing it
off. I think it is easy to make up excuses if I know people around me do the same. In my eyes
she should address the problem more seriously. This might of course be the other way
around and actually encourage people to get out and do the things that frighten them, but I
Last Name 3
still think it is wrong to express the experience like this. However, considering that not
everyone is the same, it is very risky to present her experiences like this.
The most effective risk Brosh takes in this blog is the tone of energy as soon as you
enter it. The header is really childish and consists of a lot of colors. The colors are all happy
and some of the drawings Brosh uses are rainbows and different animal figures. On the right
hand side there is a table of content, which is also very colorful and easy to understand. The
author has chosen to have pictures you can click on, that will direct you to the different
articles, rather than just typing in a lot of text. I think that is very interesting, but at least you
do not feel sad when you enter the website. I think this blog stands out when you compare it
to the design of other depression help webpages. They are usually very plain and consist of a
lot of text. This blog is very simple, even though it is original when it comes to the design
and it gives you this feeling of happiness. People with depression can feel like everything is
very dark, but when you enter this blog the colors are not. This is obviously positive, because
the last thing you need is another factor that will make you sad. The word childish popped
up in my head several times, but at least I associate it with something positive and it might
be the same for people who feel down. The energy is very positive even though the author
writes about depression. She also uses her own drawings in between the text, which splits it
up a little bit and makes it easier to read through the articles. I got a good impression of this
creative part of the blog and it can actually lighten up your mood, even though it is a big risk
to take- since some might find it offensive and not serious considering the topic is
depression.
The author converts her own experiences into something humoristic, which I
personally think is the biggest risk. The way we see this is mostly by details, like the style she
chooses to write in. She uses a lot of exaggeration and it is not always easy to tell the
difference between when she is being serious and just trying to be funny. Another example
from the blog is the comics the author uses to retell her stories. Brosh make these herself
and they are very colorful and goofy. This is something a lot of people will not take serious,
myself included. I do not think it is appropriate to fool around, when it comes to a serious
illness as depression. I think the way she tells her stories will make people relate to them
Last Name 4
and encourage them to “accept” whatever problems they are facing. I would not consider
that as a problem, but the issues are consequences that can be bad. Humor is related to
something good and people might think depression is not as bad as they thought. I would
say the worst is for the people who are in the early stage of depression (or people who are
just sad). They obviously already feel alone and when they finally have something they can
connect to, it might want them to keep getting worse- just so that they can feel like they
belong to something. The name of the blog is “Hyperbole and a Half,” and hyperboles are
exaggerated statements that are not expected to be taken literally. You cannot tell a
depressed and confused person to not take a depression blog literally. That is just wrong in
my head and somebody that should be aware of this is the author herself. The way Brosh
writes with humor might not seem too serious and it is a huge risk to take, especially if
people start to think about depression in the wrong way.
Problems with taking big risks are the misinterpretations that might possibly come
out of them. I would say most people have had the feeling of belongingness and if not, it is
human to strive for it. The issues with this are the people who are not actually sick and
because they see some similar characteristics they might feel like they connect to Brosh. This
is an extreme statement, but it is a possible outcome for people to actually think this is cool
and actually wish for themselves to get the same type of attention. This again might end up
in people self-diagnosing themselves, even if they are just sad. There is a huge difference
between having a bad day and having depression. I am very sure when I say that most
people wake up every once in a while, with no energy to do anything. This is usually not
accepted in our society, but as soon as it is defined as an illness- people will accept it, all of a
sudden. Obviously there are people who suffer from it, but at one point you have to try to
do something about it. Those people who have a bad day should not be able to use
depression as an excuse to not do things. This will lead the self-diagnosed people to stop
doing what they are supposed to, because they now have “fake-depression” as an excuse to
not work, go to school or even go out.
My conclusion is that the blog is not successful. There are many positive things with
the blog, like the colors and design, even the humor for those who find it funny. These are all
Last Name 5
positive because they can light up the day for a person who feels bad. However, the negative
consequences have worse outcomes than the positive ones. A person with depression might
get help and even get better, but eventually they will need to do something additional to
reading the blog. I do not think the blog alone will help a person cure their depression. The
people who are confused or extremely depressed might misinterpret the blog. Brosh writes
in a very humoristic way and this can lead people to not take it serious. The people who are
depressed might see that and worry about how the rest of the world might not take them
serious either. The blog could be used as supplementary depression help, but as a secondary
source and not the first place you visit when you need help. There are doctors who have the
knowledge and are willing to help, which should be the first place you visit when you need
help. In conclusion I think those negative consequences that might come out of the blog are
way worse than the positive ones and that is why I do not find the blog successful.
Works Cited:
Brosh, Allie. ”This is why I´ll never be an adult.” Hyperbole and a Half: Adventures in
Depression. Blogspot.com. 2011. Web. 24 March 2015.
