Lithium

Bipolar Disorder is a bitch.

And I couldn't think of two better music videos to show my wife to let her know how I feel sometimes.

Thank you Amy Lee for writing Good Enough and Lithium. You are an Angel.

I think everyone pretty much covered it, but . . .

Lithium is typically a treatment for bipolar disorder (though not all forms of bipolar disorder include major depression in their cycles, most do and lithium is certainly more poetic than singing about treatments for major depression-- oh, SSRIs, MAOIs . . . you get the idea, lol), and oftentimes a fear preventing the taking of them is that they'll alter emotions too much, so that one doesn't know themselves anymore; we've let ourselves be defined by our depression. More potent than the fear of the side effects of a specific drug, however, is change, period (which can still be accredited to the drug). As anyone with a long-standing mood disorder can attest to, it IS comfortable to slide back into the old ways of coping, the "familiar darkness." There's definitely a conflict between wanting to get better but fearing the unknown (however unpleasant, it's familiar, and familiarity is always more comfortable).

As for the verses about coming to bed and forgiveness-- I'm not so clear, but my perception right now is that there's someone who's loved her during her darker hours, perhaps because of them. In my experience and observation, depression seems to lead to unusual attachments one otherwise might not have, and so sometimes losing the depression can change or even destroy the relationship.

This is definitely a powerful song, especially in being able to capture this emotion which is more pervasive than I'm sure many suspect.

Emotional numbness is something that I've been dealing with for many many years. Spontaneously crying in a public place for no reason, with no real emotion behind it is disturbing and difficult to understand. That's how I've been while on Lithium. I've become numb to most (if not all) of my emotions, but the ghosts of those emotions still remain. I smile at inappropriate times, cry for no reason, etc.

I've had long-lasting depression for many years with sporadic episodes of mania that don't last all that long. I've been like this for close to 10 years. So I definitely know how it feels to be depressed. You become locked into one way of thinking and it becomes comfortable. I fell in love with my sorrow and couldn't really love anything else. When I started finally seeking treatment, it was all very different and I went through many medication changes and many attempts at suicide.

This song seriously strikes deep at my heart because I can relate so well. Waking up one day while medicated and thinking "I'd rather be miserable right now. I feel right when I'm miserable." I'm still in love with my sorrow and I cannot pull away no matter how hard I try with drugs, therapy...nothing really seems to work.

The song goes from acoustic moments to parts that are very aggressive which symbolize the depressive and manic episodes that encompass bipolar disorder. I think that was a very nice touch.The chorus almost seems angry and stressed, while the verses are very depressed and speaking of depressing things, which is very fitting for this disease.

I know I didn't cover everything but that's what this song means to me.

To me, this song is much more than a ''metaphor for a realationship gone bad''. It represents the strugle with an illness (BPD). I am a bipolar musician. Before i was diagnosed and medicated, I would be easily inspired to write songs. Ever since I've been taken lithium, I feel like a different person, I can't write music, and I have developed a tendency to not care about anything. Sometimes, i'll stop taking my medication for a few days just to get to be myself. But then mood swings start catching up to me and things don't go too well (fighting with my best friends, missing work, etc...). For long I've wanted to drop the lithium completely, but I feel like I wouldn't be able to survive the consequences. This song represents my situation perfectly, someone who wants to ''stay in love with their sorrow'' or ''let it go'' but keeps calling back the lithium because she can't have a normal life without it.

Yes, I know Amy isn't bipolar, but I got a feeling this is what happened to Ben.

This song captures my feelings about depression so well: I didn't want to stay depressed but I didn't want to get better: I felt like depression gave me something special. And also there was the matter of depression being familiar and comforting, in a way: I knew myself in the darkness. But I had to let go of it to break free. I'm glad I did =)

Well, Lithium is actually an antidepressant in the world of pharmaceuticals. I feel like Amy uses the idea of lithium as a metaphor for her attempts to find happiness in the few good instances in relationship full of sadness and turmoil.

Her "lithium" is the praise and love her significant other gives her on occasion. Thats what she clings to to justify being in such a relationship.

"Lithium-Don't want to lock me up inside Lithium-Don't wanna forget how it feels without Lithium-I wanna stay in love with my sorrow. Oh, but God I wanna let it go." ---She's battling with herself. She uses the good moments as the reason for staying but realizes that she's only punishing herself by staying in the relationship when she's just trapped anymore.

That's just how I see it. :)

I absolutely love this song. Beautifully written and beautifully done. Could listen to it forever!

This song is the "my immortal" of the album. Amy said it was. I agree it is the best song on the whole album

this song is amazing, i really like it a lot, I've seen the video and it's the most amazing video I have ever seen so far. Amy is a great songwriter and she has the ability to evoke an emotion out of you and I find that amazing

I think almost everybody hit it. Though I doubt it's so much being happy about depression as it is feeling special because of depression. Everyone wants to feel special in some way, even if it means that your special feature is having experienced more pain than others. Though I cant speak for Amy, I can speak for myself in saying that I've wasted a year refusing to let myself be happy and hurt myself and the people around me in the process :( Yah, so for the people reading this, do something with your life instead of grieve for yourself because in every case but one, someone has always seen worse.

Beautiful track... undoubtedly one of the best on the album