QuoteProject
When I believe, I am crazy. When I don’t believe, _x000D_ I suffer psychotic depression.
Philip K. Dick
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote reflects the struggle between belief and doubt, highlighting the emotional turmoil that can arise from both extremes.

Philip K. Dick's quote illustrates the profound impact that belief, or the lack thereof, can have on one's mental state. It suggests that when he embraces his beliefs, he is seen as irrational or 'crazy,' yet when he withdraws that belief, he succumbs to deep sorrow and depression. This dichotomy emphasizes the delicate balance between conviction and doubt and its significant effects on psychological well-being.

Themes

BeliefMental HealthDepressionEmotional TurmoilPsychosis

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be shared in a mental health awareness workshop to illustrate the importance of belief in coping with depression.

More from Philip K. Dick

We are living in a computer-programmed reality, and the only clue we have to it is when some variable is changed, and some alteration in reality occurs. We have the overwhelming impression that we were reliving the present - deja vu.
Philip K. DickRead
Don't try to solve serious matters in the middle of the night.
Philip K. DickRead
On some other world, possibly it is different. Better. There are clear good and evil alternatives. Not these obscure admixtures, these blends, with no proper tool by which to untangle the components.
Philip K. DickRead
"Do you have information that there's an android in the cast? I'd be glad to help you, and if I were an android would I be glad to help you?" "An android," he said, "doesn't care what happens to another android. That's one of the indications we look for." "Then," Miss Luft said, "you must be an android."
Philip K. DickRead
The universe is information and we are stationary in it, not three dimensional and not in space or time.
Philip K. DickRead
A man is an angel that has gone deranged.
Philip K. DickRead

Similar quotes

Many politicians, celebrities, businessmen and women, and community leaders now are open about their struggles with mental illnesses, something almost unheard of when I began. Together, we are spreading the word that mental health affects all of us and deserves our support and attention.
Rosalynn CarterRead
When I was coming out of depression, I made one random video. It wasn't funny or anything, but just the idea that people I didn't know were watching it made me feel less alone than I'd felt in a long time.
Lilly SinghRead
Depression can seem worse than terminal cancer, because most cancer patients feel loved and they have hope and self-esteem.
David D. BurnsRead
Depression is like a bruise that never goes away. A bruise in your mind. You just got to be careful not to touch it where it hurts. It's always there, though.
Jeffrey EugenidesRead
When public figures remain silent about depression, there is a cost to the rest of society. Silence contributes to the misperception that successful people do not get depressed, and it keeps the public from seeing that treatment allows many individuals to return to competitive professional lives.
Kay Redfield JamisonRead
No pill can help me deal with the problem of not wanting to take pills; likewise, no amount of psychotherapy alone can prevent my manias and depressions. I need both. It is an odd thing, owing life to pills, one's own quirks and tenacities, and this unique, strange, and ultimately profound relationship called psychotherapy
Kay Redfield JamisonRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.