Poll: What do you think of depression?

[Vault101]

I realised somwhat recently on my mums side its the pattern of mental illness, both depresion and bi-polar

I also had a family member try and off themselfs (and even though I would only see them once a year I had no Idea they wre unhappy)

so I think people should think before they call bullshit on it, because I think its a lrea thing

 

[silasbufu]

I don't know how to sum up the huge amount of rants I have on this topic. I'll just tell you this : Self-diagnosing is pathetic. Mental ilness does not make you cool and special.

 

[Valksy]

Have had a diagnosis for years - a proper professional diagnosis. It's real and its destructive and when it's very bad, it can be very difficult to live with.

What we DO know is that it is a result of brain chemistry. So when people say "cheer up" they are really demanding that people who suffer with clinical depression somehow will their brain chemistry towards normalcy. Which, obviously, is utterly ignorant and uninformed bullshit. I can no more control my brain chemistry than I could will a broken bone to heal.

And yes, I get very fucking pissed off when people self-diagnose. You don't know, you aren't trained and you probably don't have what you think you have. But when you go and repeat your personal beliefs to other people who also don't know better, you do harm to those who struggle with problems like depression (or ADHD or Asperger's) every day of their life. Stop reading shit on the internet and placing a label on yourself.

 

[Vykrel]

the only time ive ever been depressed was when i was really sick about a year and a half ago. worst sickness ive ever experienced, and i just couldnt enjoy during that time. i was miserable.

but honestly, i have a hard time understanding and sympathizing with people who are depressed for literally no reason, or for stupid reasons. if youve got a hard life, i can understand why you would be depressed, but if youre like the people in depression commercials, i just cant comprehend that... you know, the people who look like sad sacks even though they are surrounded by a loving family, in their nice house, with all their nice stuff, their great job, and all that other stuff that people would kill for.

i dunno

 

[Reaper195]

I was depressed quite a few years ago when my first ever girlfriend was killed in a carcrash, but some good mates got me back up. And then a fair amount of them died due to cancer/another car crash/drugs/etc, and then I was down/alcoholic for about three years until I met a girl who I went out with for about six years. Then she suddenly left with some bullshit reason and I was down again until a couple of years ago.

Now, I find it easier to simply be happy and ignore the bad. Another good mate taught me that. No matter how bad things get, or how much shit the world and life conjoiningly (Just made that word up, hell yeah!) throw at you, there is always light at the end of the tunnel.

 

[The_ModeRazor]

I think it is depressing. (boooooooo-)

Dunno if I have, and not gonna diagnose myself with shit I don't have. But I do feel like shit all the time, just as I have for about 5 years now.

But yeah, I'm fairly sure that mental disorders are real. Like air or the holocaust. And there are people who don't believe in them. To them (ones I know), there are 2 people: those who are normal, and those who are crazy. Nothing in between, and depression is just emo boo-boo whining.

P.S. my captcha is black and white. I'm starting to like this new captcha

 

[Womplord]

Yes it is real... I once became psychotic from extremely severe depression. I also think that self diagnosis is often correct. Perhaps most depressed people don't see anyone. It's very hard because you don't want to talk to anyone, especially about something personal, when depressed (though I have). I'm bipolar though and have periods of feeling really bad and being absolutely ecstatic (but more depression).

 

[thecoreyhlltt]

I suffer from clinical depression, and I have seen a lot of people dismiss depression on the internet. They say that depression is an excuse, or to "just get over it", but I know from experience that depression is very real and not easy to shake off. It seems to me people dismiss depression in order to protect themselves from it, and people that have encountered depression are more accepting of it.

Dear reader, what are your thoughts on this matter?

i hate it myself, i was diagnosed 16 or so years ago with some kind of bipolar/anxiety/depression, (idk if theres a medical term for that)

so yes i've encountered it, i'm sort of forced to accept as anyone who really has it will tell you.
and i give a giant middle finger to those who still think it's "just an excuse".....

 

[Daniel Allsopp]

Those who geniunely seem to suffer with depression, (from my experience which may not apply more generally) often talk themselves further into it, letting it restrict what they do when it doesn't seem necessary. I think in those cases it is helpful to have some 'tough love', though trivializing or denying it would simply make it worse

That's accurate in my case, too.

I hate a vast majority of human society and would love to go the mad dictator route to enforce my will on humanity, atrocities and all, for the greater good as I see it.

I'm sure most people here on the escapist would do the same. There isn't much hope for humanity around here.

I find alchohol the best remedy for depression!

It tastes foul and makes me choke, and I don't want to consume what is basically "Make me dumber" potion.

 

[UberNoodle]

I suffer from depression because of the neurological and pain condition on my right hand, neck and torso... I can't sleep properly, I am unable to use my right hand properly and I am in constant pain and most of all I am losing my ability to play video-games... And If someone says that is a bad excuse of not doing stuff because I am depressed, I welcome them to join my world and see how shit it is to live like this, a world in which the simple task of using a spoon/fork/knife or hold pen properly is a fucking achievement...

I take Anti-depressants for 2 reasons, to relax my mind, release tension, help with depression and for the side-effect that the medication has: it increases tolerance for physical pain. I am getting pain counseling an psychological help to live and manage the physical and mental pain.

Tho there is different types of depression. I accept people depression if they really have a problem, but not depression like "My life is OK, I am healthy, I have friends, I have money and I have no real mental/health issues" - aka Emo depression... No one should play being depressed just because they can or want attention, it is not a thing to joke about really, it hurts people, it destroys lives and is a sign of real issues that should be dealt with.


But yeah: If you have a real proper issue to be depressed, I am OK with it, I might even try to help you with it since I know how it feels. But if you want to be depressed because you can or want attention I will slap you and tell you to act like a grown-up...

I agree with what you said here, but I would like to remove the bolded parts because the crux of the matter is not the nature of our outer reality (being healthy, having friends and money, etc), but what our inner reality enables us to experience. It's all chemical, thats why the chemicals used to fight it also mess us up. The only reality we can be sure of is that reality inside our heads. Depression carries with it a level of delusion. A person can have all the happy things in the world yet not be able to see all that.

If you suffer from delusions, then you have a issue. Delusions can be treated with social interaction or with psychological help. I think you didn't understand what I meant with that part. If there is person who acts depressed just for sake of being depressed, for an example to get attention. It is wrong. Basically faking depression is wrong.
But if someone suffers from delusions, chemical imbalance in brain, mental sickness etc... Then he has problems, that I accept as a reason for him to be depressed.

I think I wasn't clear to you in my use of the word 'delusional'. I used it in the colloquial sense, not the clinical one. I didn't further explain the word use at that time because before that sentence, I talked about people who can't see the 'reality' of their lives, in terms of how 'good' or 'bad' it might be, due to their mental state. I certainly wasn't referring to people who have ACTUAL delusions, such as with Paranoid Shizophrenia and so on.

In the end, our emotional state is always chemical. Where free will begins and slavery to neurochemistry ends is highly debatable. One can argue that our free choices are those enabled by pre-existing chemicals in the brain. So, one doesn't need to have a condition that is diagnosable in order to have a valid problem.

What you are talking about is acting, essentially. I understand that. We aren't in that much disagreeance, if any. What I commented on was your implication that having a so-called 'good job', friends, and so on, disqualifies one from 'real' depression. While there may be drama queens and mopey 'emos' putting it on, there's no way to judge whether a claim of depression is 'true' based on how 'good' you believe their life to be.

 

[Griffolion]

It's a disorder as real as any other, I've been through it and know that for a fact. Anyone who dismisses it needs priorities/thoughts re-arranging in their heads.

 

[CrashBang]

It exists, I believe that.

I however, don't suffer from this. Unless you count me with alcohol, but I think that's just me moping.

Ditto, I'm a very emotional person so towards the end of a night out, I start getting mopey. I've never suffered from depression, myself, and honestly cannot imagine how difficult it must be

 

[SinisterGehe]

-.-'-.-

Do you know what is "relative life quality representation"? (Really bad translations so I will just explain it)

The relativity of "good" life is base on the normality of persons life, this causes things like "be grateful of what you have there are people who don't what you have" pointless word jumbles....

Lets theorize that we have a scale that can accurately represent person life quality (Every possible variable is included).

Person A has score of 100, B = 75, C = 50, D = 25
Person C will look up to A and B, thinking that their life is better and they are happier. A will look down to B, C, D thinking their life is worse and they are miserable. You get the idea. When person C goes below the score of 50, he will think hes life is worse and when he goes above 50 he thinks hes life better. This is the relativity of a person life quality in person and compared to other.
Person can be depressed no matter what hes score is, the score doesn't affect hes changes of being depressed.

Reasons to be depressed are not connected to psychological or physical reasons only. Example, a common symptom of certain cancer types is depression, without a reason.

But I think we both did agree on that. ( I have issues understanding social context so please excuse me ) I think I have misunderstood something you have said and you have misunderstood something I said. Not pointing fingers tho...

About the chemical imbalance in brain. It is a fact that all of your functions are electrochemical functions interacting together. But the thing is that a person can effect these chemical balances by thinking. In a sense a person can make himself depressed by thinking that he is depressed - it has been proven that a person can effect hes health by thinking about being healthy or sick.

To be honest, I am not really sure what I think about depression really, since it is emotional state really and I don't really understand emotions properly so, I can't really see a proper picture of it in relativity to others. Suffering about depression and not being able to understand or to accept it does give you some issues when it comes to talking about it.

But in a sense if you are healthy and have "good" life - in every parameters that counts to the person itself. Being depressed then is wrong in my opinion. So in a perfect sense the situation in which I see being depressed as being wrong is totally theoretical. But pointing to my earlie Relativity line, the people who are below a persons score don't often understand the higher scored persons depression and often when a person doesn't understand something, he also has issues accepting it.

 

[SinisterGehe]

I have the standard internet double-whammy of Depression and Asperger's. Unlike many, I have the government disability check, my getting kicked out of the Air Force for it, and the miles of paperwork to prove it.

I take Celexa and Welbutrin for my depression, though I think my depression is milder than most. But that might be the medication helping. Or not.

For everyone who thinks "I get bullied, and I think I'm really smart, I MUST HAVE ASPERGER'S" It doesn't exactly work that way. More than likely, you just grew up around assholes.

I fell you. I have the same thing going on, my Asperger's got diagnosed 10 years later than it should have been, no the fact that I have Asperger's gives me nothing more than open door to the support group and additional help if I can't get a job... I wish it could been diagnosed earlier so I could have received help in early school life. Now all the comfort it really gives me is an answer to the questions of "why do I act this way".
I got diagnosed when I got in to the pain treatment plan. Personality analyze and Behavior pattern studies are a protocol tests if you are classified as a pain patient in Finnish health-care system.

Just curious, what is our "thing"? Do you have the obsessive/skilled "thing" also? Or just the behavioral patterns?

And Also, I know what you mean by that last part in your post. In my school system there is a issue with the modern parents not accepting that a child might not be interested about school or people. First they get tested for ADHD if they don't have it they get tested for Asperger's, if they do not have that either then the parents want a some kind of a miracle pill so they can get the child behave...

 

[Biodeamon]

I've actually had to talk five people out of suicide so i'd say, yah. I've encountered depression.

And i've been 90% succesful. No fatalities so far.

 

[Suicida1 Midget]

I was depressed.... when i was twelve. Evan then without the use of pills or help i shook it off. Its just people who dont have a realy strong will or rational way of thinking that makes it an issue. There are those with ligitimate reasons though

 

[FamoFunk]

Depression is very real, and I do beleive it.

But, I also think it's thrown around too much and people are simply given tablets from Drs. just because.

For months people told me I had PND (Post natal depression - depression after giving birth) and suggested I go to the Doctors to get pills to help me through the day. I didn't need pills, I needed company and support because having a baby is literally life changing, someone to help me for 5mins so I could take a shit, someone to help me when I struggloed to get a baby on my tit to feed. I didn't need happy pills.

(I never did go to the Drs, or have pills to "help me" it went once I ajusted to my new life, got out more and met other people with the commen thing we had together - a baby)