Depression Monologues

Monologues/ short scenes about depression from my scripts over the years. There is a clear theme, despite me writing these at completely different points in my life. The message is an important one.

The Waiting Room (2015)

TARYN
Am I not allowed to be sad just because
I don’t have a big problem or a sob story?
Because you so called doctors can’t
even figure out a way to prove this
massive, on-going complication in my
mind. With your fucking certificates
that are as arbitrary as the very subject
you studied. With your little notepad
writing down everything from my
past thinking you can find some
hidden thing that is the root of my shit.
And worse are the ones who tried
shoving pills down my throat based
on what I tell them on this couch.
Half of what I say here is bullshit.
The pills they gave me were bullshit.
Your breathing exercises are bullshit.
All of this is bullshit.

Insomnia Train (2017)

NATALIE
You're sleeping because you're
depressed. You don't have an
appetite because you're depressed.
Despite being one of the smartest
people I've met, you're failing school...
because you're depressed. 

CLAYTON
I'm not. There's nothing wrong
with me or my life. I'm just a lazy
piece of shit.

NATALIE
Listen to me. Trey once said that
everyone has moments in life
when they’re on the edge of a broken
bottle. It doesn’t matter how big
the bottle is- it’s still sharp,
exposed, and can cut deep. It
doesn't matter how crappy your life
is, you can still be broken.

CLAYTON
Fuck him. I don't trust him. 

NATALIE
I don't care. He may be an
asshole but he's a professional.
What do you guys keep telling me?
This isn't a movie. You're not going to
get real advice from the old sage,
or the kid who seem's wise beyond
his years. You have a disease,
you need to see a doctor.

Untitled (2019)

DAISY
At the end of act two of a
screenplay there’s a false climax.
Well, you probably know what a climax
is but the false climax is that point
where you think the protagonist
gets what they want like they do
after the actual climax, ya know?

DAISY (CONT’D)
But they don’t because right after
is the low point, when everything
goes to shit and the character is
stuck. When you watch a movie,
you can probably tell that it’s
the false climax. You know how
much time is left and that this can’t
be the ending.

DAISY (CONT’D)
It’s like my life has been a series
of false climaxes. I keep thinking
this is my climatic moment. This is
where everything falls into place.
All that crap before will be chapters
in my memoir that lead up to my
success. They will be funny
anecdotes even though most of the
time it wasn’t funny at all.

THERAPIST
The way people tell stories, like
you mentioned a memoir, and the
way we look back at life- we tend
to organize it like a timeline. This
event leads to that, which leads to
this. In reality, life is made up of
cycles, not a neat arc. Moments
are random. Yes, you learn from
them. You try something, then you
fail but that doesn’t necessarily
mean you try again right away or
learn your lesson like that. 
(therapist snaps her fingers)
You’re here, and you should be
proud, because different moments
in time taught you to seek help.

THERAPIST (CONT’D)
In a study, Americans were
inclined to rate their happiness
lower in the moment , than what
they rate it when they look back.
While other cultures, such as the
Japanese, find more happiness
in the here and now. It’s hard for us
to appreciate the present.

DAISY
What if when you look back you
only see darkness? And the
“here and now” seems like an
illusion because your mind is in
constant motion?

THERAPIST (CONT’D)
Then we pause your movie.
There’s plenty of time left.

TOMBOYS (2020)

CJ
You don’t get it. None of you do.
It’s not like that awful teen drama
you binged in one day- 13 Reasons Why.
A person doesn’t need 13 reasons to
be depressed, they only need one.
And that’s just simply being stuck with
this monster of a disease. I don’t
know if my brain got wired wrong
or if I was born missing something
but people with good lives can get this.
Positive people can get this.
And just because it can’t be seen or
measured doesn’t make it any less
real than breaking your leg or getting
mono. Remember when you got mono?
And you were too scared to tell mom
you got it from kissing a boy so I took
care of you. Me, I took care of you, like
an older sister should. But now
I need to be taken care of and I hate
it. I hate feeling like a wounded child.