thick as thieves;

“If a person uses a metaphor they are carrying themselves over, towards the listener, but in madness this need becomes infinitely more intense. In a manic-depressive episode metaphors are heavy with meaning, and the metaphors one chooses must carry a heavy, almost unbearable weight. This, I think, is why people are so stubborn about repeating the precise metaphors which tell their truth. Gérald de Nerval saw depression as a black sun. Poet Les Murray, Winston Churchill and others describe it as ‘the black dog.’ Some say that they are in an ‘abyss’ or a ‘black hole,’ others say that they are drowning. For the person in crisis, these images carry a burden of significance which listeners, be they doctors, psychiatrists or friends need to appreciate.”