Depression And Depression In Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

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Long ago, caves were the only shelter available to man. There was no choice but to live in them. They provided warmth and protection. Living in a cave in today’s society would be torturous. Depression plays a role in society today, and people live with it non-stop. Depression is isolating and leaves one in the darkness. Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” helps show how a person is captured by depression, living inside their own mind just like the cave, and how to see the light of escaping depression is like the sun. It is possible for a man to be captured by an inanimate object. Depression itself is very much its own being. Being held prisoner by the hands of another man, and being held by one’s self are immensely different. In Plato’s …show more content…

One does not think of themselves as a normal person when they are sick. They see light but refuse to go near because it is scary and new. Plato says in his story,
And if he is compelled to look straight at the light, will he not have a pain in his eyes which will make him turn away to take refuge in the objects of vision which he can see, and which he will conceive to be in reality clearer than the things which are now being shown to him? (WT, 202) This quote is asking if a person who is shown the light will be able to go straight to it instead of turning away. If anyone were to live in a cave chained down for many years they would be very afraid of what was on the outside. The Sun will be the first thing to be seen by anyone who escapes the cave. Just like the sun, the light from freeing one’s self from their own mind will be the first thing seen. Everything outside anyone’s comfort zone is scary. The first reaction of any scared person is to run. The fear of the unknown is well-known phobia around the world. In order for someone to let the light in and see the sun, they must keep their mind open and explore the world for themselves. Living in a cave, being a slave to their captor is no life for a human. It is cruel to keep anyone undeserving locked up in their own personal cell. The key to leaving the cave, and being successful is to see things for one’s self. Breaking free from the chains, and refusing …show more content…

The world is a scary place, there are many ways to be enslaved by society. A lot of them actually involve interaction with other people, when depression is solely one person. A fight against one’s self is a much harder feat to accomplish than fighting against someone else. One must be able to find the light for themselves and break free of the chains that they put themselves in. It takes time for anyone to find the courage to stop listening to their captor and to live life experiencing the world and what it has to offer. Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” will help anyone with depression realize they do not have to be captured by darkness, live inside a cave made by their mind, and show anyone with darkness the light inside. This story will help anyone living inside their own cave escape, and be

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