Depression isn't all in your heads... is it?

[mandaforever]

as someone who just found out she has depression, and took meds that completely altered my outlook on life (after the two months it took for them to kick in), he is dead wrong. Depression is a chemical imbalance between synapses in the brain. And it makes life really really unnecessarily hard. I would know!

 

[Cousin_IT]

Some say Depression is all in your head.

To which I respond;

Where could there possibly be a worse place for it to be!?​

In your crotch

 

[mandaforever]

Just remember, it's all about mind over matter.
If you don't mind, it don't matter.

Thank you, goodnight!

Side Note: I love how everyone's an expert, this thread is funny.

I have depression. It's a chemical imbalance in my brain. Not really something I can "ignore"...you literally have to fight yourself to ignore something like that.

 

[mandaforever]

Just remember, it's all about mind over matter.
If you don't mind, it don't matter.

Thank you, goodnight!

Side Note: I love how everyone's an expert, this thread is funny.

I have depression. It's a chemical imbalance in my brain. Not really something I can "ignore"...you literally have to fight yourself to ignore something like that.

You're right, I should have put /sarcasm in my post perhaps. I didn't think anyone would have taken me so seriously. I imagine you are talking about a clinical depression. I'm not. I will edit my first post.

ahh I see XD I think I just read it wrong. S'all good.

 

[Private Custard]

It's a chemical imbalance, much like anything else really. When I'm hungry I can get itrritable. When I'm tired, I can be more emotional.

When the balance of various chemicals, such as seratonin, in my brain is messed up, I feel mentally destroyed. We're all merely walking chemical reactions, when things go wrong it's definitely a clinical issue.

I never took my various anti-depressants such as the SSRIs and tri-cyclics, opting to put up with the fucked up mindset rather than the side effects of the drugs. My Dad never understood any of it!

I only wish that people that rubbish certain ailments could spend a few days in the shoes of someone suffering from them. I have happy jolly friends that would probably kill themselves if they spent a few days with my mind!

 

[Escapefromwhatever]

I KNOW BETTER THAN SCIENCE, AND BECAUSE THIS IS MY BELIEF, YOU CAN'T TELL ME I'M WRONG, BECAUSE WE HAVE TO RESPECT DIFFERENT BELIEFS.

Your friend is just as right as the people who believe that global warming isn't happening or people who believe that being gay is a choice. Which is not at all.

 

[Monkey Fbi]

Well, since I have clinical depression, I can tell you your friend is wrong.

 

[BRex21]

One last thing, drugs are not the way as they only treat symptoms rather than root out the cause.

Could you clarify what you mean by this please? Are you talking about all drugs (in which case that statement is BS) or are you talking about depression medication (in which case it is still BS, but for a different reason as some feel the medication is only slightly better than a placebo)?

Depression medication really does only treat the symptoms, its not a shot of penacillin that will cure it, its more like a tylenol that makes your headache go away. This isnt to say that it isn't valuble in its own way, simply that often it can be throwing drugs at the problem to try and get your brain chemistry back in order.
I have a friend from highschool who was diagnosed as a schizo depressive. He takes drugs that, while doing little to combat his depression at least in his outward appearance, make him much more socially awkward. What he is CURRENTLY depressed about is in fact the social awkwardness that seems to show up if they increase his medication. He is the perfect example of what is wrong with the drugs and of someone who needs a swift kick in the ass to try and get his life back in order so that he has something to look forward to.
Far to much of the human mind is still shrowded in mystery the sheer concept that our personalities and memories are just a chemical soup we keep in our head is more than a little frightening to me.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

To quote Albus Dumbledore:

"Of course it is all in your head, but why on earth should that mean it is not real?"

Speaking as someone who has depression, your friend needs some re-education, preferably in the form of a punch in the face. Yes, shit happens. I know that and for the most part am perfectly capable of dealing with that because at least that happens to everyone. When depression starts to really suck is when things are actually going your way for once and you still can't be happy, not properly at least. Because you cannot live in the moment. You are constantly paranoid about when this streak of good fortune is going to end, and how, because everything ends, and no matter how good certain moments in your life may have been they do nothing to stop the passage of time that makes us all wind up the same in the end.

You start to really hate that voice inside your head that keeps reminding you that nothing lasts forever whenever you get to close to actually feeling positive and contented. This leads to you withdrawing from other people in fear that you will be blamed for not being as mentally capable as them. Afraid of being accused of being (as your delightful friend put it) "A puss who can't deal with reality". This is a vicious circle because withdrawing from people only serves to increase the sense of isolation.

I don't know the actual medical specifics of what depression 'is'. However I do know how it feels so I can tell you that your friend would be singing a different tune if he had any idea what he was talking about.

 

[FalloutJack]

You see, I'm of the school that understands that people get depressed, but for the life of me...I've always been confused about clinical depression. No, I know what it is, it's just that the action and application of it doesn't entirely make sense.

It's not like a disease, after all, but that it resides entirely within chemicals of the brain reacting a certain way. But to me, that is the effect without the proper cause. That is, clinical depression is depression without a reason to be properly depressed. At that point, you may as well just be saying that it's a natural part of your personality to be meloncholy.

To me, it seems that someone with clinical depression is in grips of woe even while good things are happening to him, so it doesn't really fit what is defined AS depression. To say it's more a part of your personality DOES seem to make a lick of sense, as having Asbergers is - in fact - a part of mine.

Does anyone have any helpful views in this nature?