So you might be wondering: what does it take to make a DepressionFTW post? Well you’re in luck, because I am going to reveal my personal guidelines for how to write a post that embodies the spirit of DepressionFTW.

• Remember, it’s less about giving advice and more about describing those oh so familiar thoughts that are associated with the downside of depression and then giving them a life of their own. Whether you agree with the depressed mindset or want to disprove it, it’s okay to embrace these contradictions and even disagree with some parts of what you’re saying. But, you can’t lose sight of the true argument that you’re trying to convey and so some amount of consistency is key. (See what I just did there. That’s an example, it sure is.)

• Culture, religion, and philosophy are a part of the backdrop of each post, but the centerpieces are the thought processes caused by the symptoms of depression. It’s not always easy to determine which thoughts are “depressed”, but sometimes you just know or remember that when you are/were dealing with your condition, you have/had a distinct belief or set of ideas that you want to deconstruct via a post.

• Responsibility is a part of the DepressionFTW mentality, so certain behaviors that are considered understandable, are still not considered entirely acceptable. For example, violence has certain legal uses in contemporary societies around the world, and sometimes it is hard to know what the boundaries of the legitimate use of force are. Yet most people would agree that there should be some limitations on aggressive behavior. This blog tends to focus on avoiding causing long-term physical damage or harm to other living creatures or objects of value, or at least avoiding careless destruction. It’s important to remember the consequences of our actions that will occur in the moment and those that will continue to have an impact throughout time with potential chain reactions.

• There are no “bad guys.” Just good guys and less good guys. Because the fundamental underlying mentality of this blog is that pretty much everyone has a mental health condition, it’s just that some people are similar enough in their collective “psychoses” to be considered “normal”. This idea is controversial when expressed certain ways, but is more widely accepted when described as “normal is a societal construct.” So even though some people are “depressed”, and they have to put up with all the insensitive assholes that don’t get them, those insensitive assholes might actually also have symptoms of depression, or some form of another mental health condition.

• The speaking style is what gets through to your intended reader and also comes from your impression of your own experience of depression. This blog uses a lot of cursing and informal speaking styles because the author found that from her experience, she was capable of connecting to advice when it was said in a way that expressed the rougher side of communication, but still ultimately delivered affirmations. It’s like when you say “this really sucks, but it’s also really cool” as opposed to leading with the positive information and ending on a negative note.

• Lastly, a few fun stylistic elements are: 1) I like to keep it to six paragraphs most of the time. There’s essentially a “thesis” statement, but actually I enjoy the freedom of doing a free-write so rather than seeing the first paragraph as something to prove, it’s more like a theme to guide the subsequent sections. 2) I like the conversational style of beginning the introductory and concluding paragraphs with “so” or “so you know”. It’s kind of a way of saying “am I right?” to every person reading. 3) I think it’s fun to come up with titles that are a play on a idiom or common sense. It is also okay to just say what you want. The title is usually thematically tied to the topics of the article.

That’s how the magic happens! I’ve got a few more tricks up my sleeve, and yet with these guidelines you can write your own DepressionFTW-style post and express all the essay rants that you’ve been drafting in your own mind. If you’d like to share, please feel free to go ahead in the comments. You never know who you might inspire.