#like think about it in a real life circumstance

acknowledging that mrs. everdeen fell into a catatonic depression after her husband died that complete incapacitated her can coexist with complete condemnation of her leaving her children to fend for themselves. i’m really freaking sickof the “she could have done something/ she could have tried harder” argument because that’s not how it works. at least not entirely. you are completely responsible for her actions, mental illness or not, but it is still an illness. the woman was sick. would you say the same thing of katniss when peeta is captured by the capitol? when she straight up tries to kill herself by self starvation? when she’s living in that house and doing nothing for months? no, you don’t. 

katniss and her mother are mirrors of each other. when they both  lose the one they love they  completely fall apart. but mrs. everdeen’s  choice of taking her medications and forcing herself to keep going (even though it takes a while) is completely ignored while katniss’ choice to keep going is celebrated. 

an illness is an illness and both katniss and her mother have undergone severe trauma. it isn’t suddenly easier just because mrs. everdeen is an adult. trauma, ptsd, depression doesn’t discriminate. i completely understand katniss’ anger, and i have a post hereabout attachment theory in regards to her and her mother. it’s not fair that she had to provide for her family. but they live in a world where nothing is fair, where their lives are not fair, where they cannot get help for both sickness and starvation. 

the point is that both of them are incapacitated, both of them suffer, and yet both of them make the choice to live. katniss doesn’t see that from her mother because she herself hasn’t experienced it yet. mental illness isn’t just feeling bad, it completely takes over your mind, your body, your life. you see nothing else. and for both of them to pull themselves out of that darkness, that’s full of so much bravery and hope. one of their choices isn’t better than the other. have y’all considered that mrs. everdeen’s taking of medication is her doing something? is her “trying harder?” just like katniss’ choice to live, as much as she doesn’t want to. that is her “doing something” and her “trying harder”. 

both of them suffer. both of them become sick. both of them survive. that’s the whole point.