“South Park Pandemic Special” and Quarantine Depression

South Park’s Pandemic Special is worth watching, if you can get past it's gross out humor. It’s pretty funny and really relatable. What makes it worth talking about, however, is it’s acknowledgment of mental strain caused by the ongoing pandemic and quarantine. We will be talking about the plot a little, but I won't spoil any gags. So if you watch South Park for the plot, spoilers...I guess.

After spending most of the year stuck in his house, Butters is placed on quarantine in his school. He finally starts losing his cool and freaking. All he's wanted to do for months is visit Build-a-Bear Workshop; but every time he’s supposed to go, the quarantine stops him. We thought the virus would be over by Summer and here we are at the tail end of October. Like many of us, Butters is tired of waiting for things to go back to 'normal'.

Stan, on the other hand, is pretty calm on the outside but secretly depressed. He denies his depression, at first, to himself, then to the people around him. “You know I'm strong. I'm just worried about how this is all affecting weaker kids.” Stan further deflects his depression by focusing his attention on Butter's problem, instead of his own.

I find myself acting like Stan sometimes, especially this week. I see people around me being affected pretty badly by quarantine, and I go, “Man, I feel really bad for them.” It's easy to ignore how quarantine has affected myself. Yeah, I’m a little depressed, and I feel better admitting it.

It's ok to spend some time focusing on your own issues, and it's not weak to struggle with something. What's weak, is denying you have a problem. It's, also important to help yourself, before you can try to help other people. Otherwise, you may end up like Stan, breaking into a Build-a-Bear in a desperate attempt to help a friend.

I like how the South Park Pandemic Special opens up discussion on an issue a lot of us are experiencing, right now. Humans aren’t built to be isolated creatures. By being over cautious of our physical health we risk losing ourselves in the process. If you are feeling depressed right now, it’s important to know you are not alone. Talk to someone about what’s going on, before it gets worse; and it’s important to get out of the house sometimes. Hanging out in small groups of friends and family is far healthier than being alone all day every day.

Or maybe you love "Social Distancing". To each their own.

If you're interested in reading more about mental health, I wrote about the hallucination striking similar to Invasion of the Body Snatchers. If you love animation I've made a list of some must watch Clone Wars episodes.

You can find me @ChefCinephile on twitter.

The Truth Behind Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Imagine waking up one day, your child, spose, mother, and father--everyone you know replaced by identical copies. Only you know they are different, and no one will believe you. This is the plot of Jack Finley's 1954 novel The Body Snatchers. It’s also a real world psychological condition.

Body Snatchers (and the film Invasion of the body Snatchers) is about a town whose citizens systemically disappear before being replaced by identical pod people. These replicas have the same physical characteristics, personalities, and memories as their original recipe counterparts. Eventually the remaining humans find some significant differences and send those aliens packing in true post war fashion. In the beginning, however, the aliens mostly fit in. Only their loved ones could tell something was off.

In chapter one of the book, Doctor Miles is told Wilma believes her Uncle Ira has been replaced by an impostor. After confirming “Every little move, everything about him is exactly like Ira’s”, Doctor Miles decides to talk to Wilma herself. On page 19 Wilma explains:

“Miles, he looks, sounds, acts, and remembers exactly like Ira. On the outside. But inside he’s different. His responses aren’t emotionally right. ....there’s something missing, and the same thing is true of Aunt Aleda, lately.”

Wilma's story is a textbook example of the psychological disorder known as Capgras Syndrome. According to Healthline:

“Capgras syndrome is a psychological condition. It’s also known as “imposter syndrome” or “Capgras delusion.” People who experience this syndrome will have an irrational belief that someone they know or recognize has been replaced by an imposter. They may, for example, accuse a spouse of being an imposter of their actual spouse. This can be upsetting for both the person experiencing the delusion and the person who is accused of being an imposter.”

Unfortunately for Wilma, none of the doctors had heard about Capgras. One of them even suggested a good old fashioned bleeding might help her out.

 

Body Snatchers is a pretty terrible book, yet the description of what Wilma was going through is so spot on, one can only assume Jack Finley knew somebody afflicted with Capgras Syndrome. He probably had no idea what the cause of the delusion was, but was inspired to write a story where people really got replaced by impostors. Mental health awareness has come a long way since the 1950's, but we still aren't where we need to be. If you’re interested in learning more about Capgras Syndrome, please check out this TED talk. It's how I was originally able to learn about Capgras.

Thank you for reading. This is a new website so please consider sharing or telling a friend. If you enjoyed post this please check out my post on The Walking Dead. 

You can find me @ChefCinephile on twitter.