We know that many people suffer from psychological diseases, but not many of us can actually relate to them. What is it like to have an anxiety disorder? How can you describe it to someone that has never had an experience like that? Psychologist Douglas Amorim came up with an idea to create a photo essay that will tell the stories of his own patients and their suffering. The world needs to be more compassionate and people need to at least try and understand what others are going through. His photo essay is called “Depressive Intimacy” and it features some of the most staggering photos of psychological illnesses.
Douglas Amorim is trying to draw more attention to issues of suicides and what causes them. Each photo from his essay depicts a certain emotional state or mental illness. The photo here portrays emotional blunting, when a person is in a state of depression and is unable to do even the simplest things.
Amorim reveals that all of his patients complain that they suffer from the inability of their friends and family to understand what they were going through. That’s why he wanted to create this photo essay – to make people with psychological illnesses feel understood. To urge them go and get some help. This photo depicts a feeling that one’s self doesn’t matter as if a person was just an object.
He really wanted to depict the anguish his patients were feeling so their friends and family would have a better understanding of their illnesses and conditions. This photo is about the anxiety disorder.
Amorim himself was a model for this photo essay as he has also suffered from depression. The photo beneath deals with a panic syndrome and the strong feeling of danger and fear that goes with it.
Most people don’t think they are ill, they just treat their condition as a weakness. But they can actually get help and get better eventually. The photo beneath depicts pathological shyness and social phobia which is usually a part of depression.
Amorim was inspired by the works of Brooke Shaden, and the photo essay itself was created with the help of Lester Leomax. The photo beneath depicts a person struggling with the bipolar disorder.
Douglas Amorim also has a background in arts, so he used that to create his beautiful photos. The photo beneath depicts a person that feels incredibly weak physically, almost unable to move.
The author has always wanted to express his artistical side while doing something really meaningful. That’s how his project was born. The photo beneath depicts depersonalization or ‘turning into someone else’.
Amorim also uses social media like his Instagram account to popularize psychology. It can help people with all kinds of problems, not only extreme ones. The photo beneath depicts mental illness in general with bats symbolizing psychological illnesses.
