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Seriously, mental health professionals, stop harping on about my intelligence. Yeah, it's nice that you've noticed I'm not as dumb as a bag of rocks, but really. Neither are most of your other patients. I'm not some kind of super-genius. It worries me that you sound so surprised and interested.
And let me tell you a little secret. If someone's chronically depressed, it is highly fucking unlikely that she will hear "you're so intelligent" as a compliment. She will hear it as yet more expectations that she has to live up to. "You're so intelligent" actually means:
- "You're so intelligent, so why haven't you sorted yourself out by now?"
- "You're so intelligent, so you shouldn't be wasting my time like this."
- "You're so intelligent, so you must be doing this on purpose."
- "You're so intelligent, so why do you keep disappointing me?"
- "You're so intelligent, so why have you fucked up yet again?"
And let me tell you a little secret. If someone's chronically depressed, it is highly fucking unlikely that she will hear "you're so intelligent" as a compliment. She will hear it as yet more expectations that she has to live up to. "You're so intelligent" actually means:
- "You're so intelligent, so why haven't you sorted yourself out by now?"
- "You're so intelligent, so you shouldn't be wasting my time like this."
- "You're so intelligent, so you must be doing this on purpose."
- "You're so intelligent, so why do you keep disappointing me?"
- "You're so intelligent, so why have you fucked up yet again?"