#depression trigger warning

I used to be so confident about my art, about my skills, but at the moment I just feel like I have lost everything I once had.

I am really really sad and I feel small. And I really don‘t know how to help myself these days.

I hate feeling like that. I am an artist, as broken as I might be. I just don‘t know how to fix myself again. How to make it work again.

It feels like everything works against me. My brushes, my brain, my hand. It‘s like my whole earlier life was for nothing and I feel so lost.

All my life I have worked to be an artist. And I was really good. My professors were impressed and I really felt like there was a future.

But I don‘t see it anymore. It‘s like the door is gone. I cannot find it anymore, no matter how desperately I am searching.

Do Time Lords deal with depression? If yes, how?

Short answer: Yes, because they have brains, and brains are complicated. But how they deal with it is a little trickier to unpack—both biologically and culturally, and we've got to ask a few basic questions first:

❓ Why Isn't It Highlighted on Gallifrey?

Gallifrey's culture emphasises intellect, tradition, and practicality, which means emotional and mental health don't really get the attention they deserve. Depression and similar conditions are likely under-recognised or even stigmatised. That said, Gallifreyans are a highly advanced species, so some potential fascinating coping methods may exist:

💡 Possible Gallifreyan Approaches to Depression

🧠 Self-Neural Rewiring: Gallifreyans can reroute their own neural pathways. This means a Time Lord feeling overwhelmed could, in theory, redirect those negative thought patterns or reconfigure the parts of their brain responsible for mood regulation. Like cognitive behavioural therapy but with a manual override.

🍌 Food: Gallifreyans are sensitive to food chemicals. They might instinctively crave foods that contain positive amino acids like tyrosine, which boost neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin. Some example foods include poultry, seeds, and bananas.

🌟 Psionic Emotional Support: In theory, Gallifreyans could 'latch onto' the emotions of others, borrowing a bit of happiness or comfort through telepathic connections. This could explain why some Time Lords surround themselves with humans.

🚀 Support from Their TARDIS: A symbiotically-linked TARDIS provides emotional stability. As sentient beings, TARDISes intuitively understand their pilot's mental state. They might offer subtle psionic nudges or provide a calming atmosphere through environmental adjustments.

💊 Specialised Medications (or Not): Gallifreyans might have their own medications for mood disorders, though it's more likely they rely on their natural neural and psionic capabilities instead. Human antidepressants would probably be ineffective—or potentially dangerous—due to Gallifreyan biology. (For a detailed breakdown, see our earlier post: Can Gallifreyans Take Human Antidepressants? in the related section below).

🔍 What's the Real Answer?

As much as we love theorising, the truth is that depression probably isn't openly discussed on Gallifrey. It's a society that prioritises logic over emotions, which may leave those struggling to cope feeling isolated. That said, Gallifreyans are incredibly resilient beings.

🏫 So ...

While Gallifrey may not have an obviously established cultural framework for mental health care, Gallifreyans still potentially have unique ways to manage their emotional well-being. They might find solace in their TARDIS for long periods, by surrounding themselves with bright-eyed, adventurous companions, or maybe by consuming bananas … Hold on a moment—why does this sound oddly familiar? 🤔

Related:

💬|🥗💊Can Gallifreyans take human antidepressants?: Exploring the effect of antidepressants.

💬|♾️🧠Can Time Lords have bipolar disorder?: How bipolar disorder might manifest in Gallifreyans and coping mechanisms/treatments.

🤔|🥗😆Why is my Gallifreyan a little bit giggly today?

Hope that helped! 😃

Can Gallifreyans take human antidepressants?

Gallifreyans have brains that are way more sophisticated than humans. They've got all the usual brainy bits—like a cerebrum, cerebellum, and brain stems—but with some extra bells and whistles that make them, well, alien. So here's why popping a Prozac might not be so straightforward.

🧠 Gallifreyan Brains

Gallifreyan brains are wired differently. They have an extra lobe specifically for time, a super-charged cerebellum for balance and coordination, and a cluster of nerves that lets them literally rewire their brain pathways. They even have a pineal gland that's beefed up to handle psionic abilities like telepathy. In short, their brains are very complex, which means they process things—including drugs—differently.

💊 The Problems with Human Antidepressants

Metabolism Might Be Too Fast: Gallifreyans have a super-efficient digestive and metabolic system, meaning they break down substances really quickly. A standard dose of antidepressants might just get chewed up and spit out by their system before it can do anything.

Neurotransmitter Differences: Antidepressants work by balancing neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine. Although Gallifreyan brains probably have these two, they might not rely on these chemicals in the same way, or they might have additional ones we don't even know about. Plus, their ability to control their brain's activity means they might override or negate the effects of the meds.

Psionic Side Effects: Gallifreyans use alpha waves for telepathy, and those same brainwaves are linked to mood regulation, which is what antidepressants can influence. Messing with these could throw their telepathic abilities out of whack, leading to issues like loss of telepathic control or psionic overloads.

Regeneration Risks: And then there's regeneration. Since regenerating involves a complete overhaul of their body and brain, anything that messes with their neurochemistry could potentially interfere with this process, and that's not something you want to gamble with.

📝 Types of Antidepressants and Gallifreyan Considerations

There are different classes of antidepressants, and each works a bit differently in humans. These differences could lead to varied effects on Gallifreyans:

SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors): These increase serotonin levels by blocking its reabsorption in the brain. For Gallifreyans, the effects could be dampened by their advanced neural controls, and the increase in serotonin might disrupt their natural balance of neurotransmitters.

SNRIs (Serotonin-Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors): These work on both serotonin and norepinephrine. Given the potential extra neurotransmitters in a Gallifreyan brain, SNRIs could have unpredictable effects, possibly overloading the system or causing extreme mood swings.

MAOIs (Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors): These prevent the breakdown of neurotransmitters. However, with the Gallifreyan ability to reroute neural pathways and regulate brain chemistry, MAOIs might interact unpredictably, potentially leading to a dangerous buildup of neurochemicals.

Tricyclics: These affect several neurotransmitters at once. For a Gallifreyan, the broad action of tricyclics could be too blunt an instrument, leading to severe side effects like disrupted time perception, cognitive confusion, or even interfering with the autonomic brain's control over vital functions.

⚠️ Potential Side Effects of Antidepressant Use in Gallifreyans

Considering their complex biology, Gallifreyans could experience a range of side effects from human antidepressants, including:

Telepathic Disruption: Loss of telepathic control or interference with psionic abilities.

Cognitive Overload: Overstimulation of neural pathways leading to headaches, confusion, or even temporary cognitive impairment.

Emotional Dysregulation: Extreme mood swings due to interference with their natural emotional balance.

Impaired Regeneration: Disruption of the regeneration process, leading to incomplete or faulty regeneration.

Metabolic Reactions: Ineffective metabolism of the drug leading to either no effect or toxic buildup.

🏫 So …

In theory, Gallifreyans could take human antidepressants, but they'd probably need something much stronger, specifically tailored to their biology. Standard human meds might not work as intended—or at all—and could even cause some pretty weird side effects that can't be predicted. Given their advanced neural controls, complex neurotransmitter systems, and unique regenerative abilities, Gallifreyan antidepressant therapy would need to be a highly specialised field all on its own. We await the arrival of the Universe's first Gallifreyan Pharmacologist.

Related:

💬|🥗💊How do recreational drugs affect Gallifreyans?: The effect of human drugs on Gallifreyans, and some of their own.

🤔|🥗😆Why is my Gallifreyan a little bit giggly today?

💬|🧑‍🤝‍🧑😔How do you help a lonely Time Lord?: Brief guide to helping your lonely Time Lord

Hope that helped! 😃

my husband: oh, I know what you need.

my husband: hands me the cat, throws a blanket over us and turns on fullmetal alchemist: brotherhood

And, some of you guys already know. But for those of you that don't, my oldest cat Mollie died about a week and a half ago. I'm trying to take it as best as I can. And other than a few minor episodes I've been ok. But we picked up her ashes today and I've just been losing it since. I don't know why. Maybe just looking at this tiny box that used to be my buddy and my nurse for 10 years got to me. Idk.

In any case, I've been too depressed really to do much. Even before she died. My replies don't feel right. My icons don't feel right. Nothing feels good enough anymore and I'm just kind of feeling like maybe I just shouldn't come back? Idk. I have no idea when I'll be able to post replies. But if anyone wants to plot something or do something small, iconless, and doesn't mind the fact that the app isn't letting me trim posts anymore, then maybe it'll help at least make me feel semi creative again. Because honestly I can't remember the last time I did. 

I'm in a lot of pain too. I fell last week while we were looking at a house and landed on my knee. It's still bruised and I still can't walk. 

But at least they gave us a pretty box and put Mollie's ashes in a nice little drawstring bag.