Arseniy Neskhodimov

Titile: PROZAC

This is an ongoing project that I started a few years ago. I called it Prozac after a famous antidepressant prescribed for the treatment of major depressive disorder.  Since I was 20 I have been prone to depression. Finding antidepressants unhelpful, I decided to get out of Moscow and find somewhere I could be happier, chronicling my own experiences. But the depression followed me wherever I go.

People imagine that depression is like ordinary unhappiness, only more so. It isn’t. And the things we typically do to cheer ourselves up can’t be relied on as treatments. I tried a change of scene to get away from my troubles, but to no avail. I now thinks depression has to be understood and treated as an illness, although I am not sure how.