This week we take a look at depression in the world of The Tribe.
Many members of the Tribe have suffered from depression at one time or another. The virus and its’ affects would have been a real worry for these people. A lot of them would have suffered depression to an extent after the worldwide loss of adults as well as losing friends, families and possessions.
TRUDY AND BRAY
Trudy suffered terribly after she gave birth to baby Brady. This is a fairly common problem that affects a lot of women and is called postnatal depression. Trudy did not have medical or psychological help after the birth and was lucky to have the support of the Mall rats to get her through this difficult time.
It could be said that Bray was suffering from a form of depression when he thought that Amber had died in the explosion on Eagle ountain. He rebounded into a love affair with Danni and this could have been down to the fact that he needed to replace the feelings he had for Amber. Bray’s depression was not too bad and he soon became more like his old self again.
LEX
When Lex contracted the virus he became quite depressed due to the fact that he was running out of time on earth! Once he took some antidote he recovered and got on with life again. But he never fully forgot this brush with death and it affected his personality to an extent.
The death of Zandra was a huge burden for him and he also had feelings of sensitivity when he had to fight constantly to be a major leader of the Mall Rats. This was a huge down point for The Tribe, as they had to suffer the affects of Lex’s mood swings and irrational behaviour. Lex became very depressed and started turning to the demon drink, rapidly falling into alcoholism. Lex managed to pull himself out of this depression and his alcoholism and get back on track.
THE GUARDIAN
It could be said that the Guardian was suffering a form of depression. The fact that he believed so strongly in the power of Zoot that points to the suggestion that he was a very emotional, sensitive, vulnerable soul after the virus struck and started to suffer delusions and hallucinations due to depression.
The Guardian truly believed that he was more important than anybody else in the Tribal world (apart from Zoot) and thought that the rest of the population should follow and believe in his word.
He showed real symptoms of depression when he was captured in Series 3 and basically fell apart at the seams, not knowing how he should cope in this New World without his delusional power.
SALENE
This poor girl suffered from Bulimia, an eating disorder. This could have started from feelings of depression and low self worth. Or depression could have developed after the Bulimia took hold.
Salene fought hard to control her feelings but couldn’t shake them off on her own. It was really down to the help of Trudy that Salene eventually overcame the Bulimia and the depression and lived to fight another day.
There must be many others within The Tribe who have suffered or will suffer depression at some stage. This was just a brief outline of some of the major characters that have had brushes with it in the past few series.
Please remember that if you might be suffering from depression you should seek help from a qualified professional as soon as possible. Depression is an illness and will not go away on its’ own.