Depression?

[Yureina]

I was diagnosed with clinical depression when I was 18, and that was after years of wasting around and not bothering to talk to anyone about things that had happened four years before that. But the shrink who made that diagnosis then had to take leave for a while, and I haven't seen anyone since then.

I think i'm fine now.

 

[Griffolion]

People will hate me for this, but some psychiatrists believe that depression is a CHOICE. We choose it as the best way we know to fix a problem. Depression helps us avoid problems directly, stifles anger, gets us sympathy, gets us out of doing what we don't want to do, and allows others to help us. I sort of agree with this.

Depression is caused by depressive thoughts. Its not biological.

Here's a source.
http://www.wglasser.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=28

Also, my avatar suffers from depression, so I'm kind of an expert.

That's some good trolling right there except the link you posted was a link to some new age psychobabble bullshit and you're confusing depression(a mental illness caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain) with plain negative thought patterns. If alleviating depression was as easy as re-programming your brain and reading self-help books(which in both cases requires very little effort) then it wouldn't be a problem.

Umm, thanks. Look I knew this wasn't going to be a popular opinion, but I assure you this is all legit. The creator of this website is one of the giants in the field of psychology and psychiatry. He was one of the first to challenge the traditonal medical model of depression. The medical model has obviously been markteted and sold well to the public. Look how everyone in this thread has the same opinion. "Its a medical disease that must be treated with meds"

The biological definition of depression is one designed ot make money, and it has.

I'm exiting this thread now becuase I realize this is not the place to have such intellectual discussion with a group of people who all know much less than I do about this subject.

My post was meant to get people to think of their depression in a new way. It didn't work.

So I leave you with 2 FACTS.

1. Talk therapy has been proven to be equally effective in treating depression as medication. If depression was biological, talking about it would never help.
2. The neurotransmitter behavior connection goes both ways, not just one.

No no no don't leave, we could be onto something here. I do appreciate what you're saying and meds aren't the correct way to deal with depression (especially considering how irresponsibly doctors prescribe them these days) however I need to know, have you ever suffered from depression?

Never thought I'd here you say that too me here. I thought I royally pissed you off. I knew what I was saying would offend some and enrage others, but there are different ways to view mental illness. Hopefully I opened up some minds. I promise you that this isn't my own theory and does have some research to back it up. This doctor is veiwed as a radical by many in the field.

As for your question. I was depressed for much of my adolesence. My father was abusive and very negative and I had no self-esteem becuase of it. I went to therapy, but did a lot of work on myself and after a few years. I beat it. It took me thinking about life and myself in new ways, and putting myself in new situations that the old me woudl have ran away from.

Also, I work in the mental health field and treat depression.

I don't remember myself saying depression was biological, i remember saying that research strongly suggests a significant biological component to depression. I also said that counselling and CBT were equally as required in the therapeutic process as medication is.

Oh and in response to your facts, yes talk therapy has been shown to be effective in combatting depression as it serves to reinforce 'positive' neural pathways in the brain while medication serves to increase neurotransmitter levels associated with positivity i.e serotonin. So note the biology of that which is inextricably linked to the psychology and the behavioural responses of an individual. And for the record, i agree about fact number 2. I also agree with you as far as saying its not all biological, but to dismiss it and argue to the extreme of the behavioural and psychological spectrum is as foolish as the lay-person comments these people who "know much less about this than you do" are making.

You're not the only one who's qualified to talk in this area and if that 'radical' scientist guy's theory picks up some legitimacy then i'll consider it further but forgive me and the rest of us for looking at it with some skepticism (due dilligence to others i would say).

 

[Outright Villainy]

My first post here was meant to be controversial and was unfortunately written off as invalid. I wanted to challenge most people's overly traditional views about depression. I don't belive that the choice is ever conscious, and its possible that Choice Theory is wrong alltogether. It fits for some and doesn't for others.

I'l stop now because I could write a dissertation on all this.

The thing is though, that this is not the popular opinion outside such a forum. Many people are downright ignorant about depression, and dismiss it as people being self absorbed or attention seeking. I think it's safe to assume that we both agree depression isn't overtly conscious in any way; people do not want it, try to fight it, and it gives them a really shit time, to put it lightly. It's just it seemed like you were being dismissive by saying it was all in their head. I know this wasn't your intention by any means, but you must understand why people would get pretty reactionary when they have to deal with people being dismissive every day, which doesn't help and would only make them feel worse.

For the record I'd believe it is caused by a chemical imbalance. Offshoots of depression such as bipolar, manic depression and such don't really seem to add up with your theory. I'm no expert in the field, but I know enough experience first hand, and from friends who do study it to be convinced that psychological factors alone cannot account for it.

 

[khaimera]

People will hate me for this, but some psychiatrists believe that depression is a CHOICE. We choose it as the best way we know to fix a problem. Depression helps us avoid problems directly, stifles anger, gets us sympathy, gets us out of doing what we don't want to do, and allows others to help us. I sort of agree with this.

Depression is caused by depressive thoughts. Its not biological.

Here's a source.
http://www.wglasser.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=28

Also, my avatar suffers from depression, so I'm kind of an expert.

That's some good trolling right there except the link you posted was a link to some new age psychobabble bullshit and you're confusing depression(a mental illness caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain) with plain negative thought patterns. If alleviating depression was as easy as re-programming your brain and reading self-help books(which in both cases requires very little effort) then it wouldn't be a problem.

Umm, thanks. Look I knew this wasn't going to be a popular opinion, but I assure you this is all legit. The creator of this website is one of the giants in the field of psychology and psychiatry. He was one of the first to challenge the traditonal medical model of depression. The medical model has obviously been markteted and sold well to the public. Look how everyone in this thread has the same opinion. "Its a medical disease that must be treated with meds"

The biological definition of depression is one designed ot make money, and it has.

I'm exiting this thread now becuase I realize this is not the place to have such intellectual discussion with a group of people who all know much less than I do about this subject.

My post was meant to get people to think of their depression in a new way. It didn't work.

So I leave you with 2 FACTS.

1. Talk therapy has been proven to be equally effective in treating depression as medication. If depression was biological, talking about it would never help.
2. The neurotransmitter behavior connection goes both ways, not just one.

No no no don't leave, we could be onto something here. I do appreciate what you're saying and meds aren't the correct way to deal with depression (especially considering how irresponsibly doctors prescribe them these days) however I need to know, have you ever suffered from depression?

Never thought I'd here you say that too me here. I thought I royally pissed you off. I knew what I was saying would offend some and enrage others, but there are different ways to view mental illness. Hopefully I opened up some minds. I promise you that this isn't my own theory and does have some research to back it up. This doctor is veiwed as a radical by many in the field.

As for your question. I was depressed for much of my adolesence. My father was abusive and very negative and I had no self-esteem becuase of it. I went to therapy, but did a lot of work on myself and after a few years. I beat it. It took me thinking about life and myself in new ways, and putting myself in new situations that the old me woudl have ran away from.

Also, I work in the mental health field and treat depression.

I don't remember myself saying depression was biological, i remember saying that research strongly suggests a significant biological component to depression. I also said that counselling and CBT were equally as required in the therapeutic process as medication is.

Oh and in response to your facts, yes talk therapy has been shown to be effective in combatting depression as it serves to reinforce 'positive' neural pathways in the brain while medication serves to increase neurotransmitter levels associated with positivity i.e serotonin. So note the biology of that which is inextricably linked to the psychology and the behavioural responses of an individual. And for the record, i agree about fact number 2. I also agree with you as far as saying its not all biological, but to dismiss it and argue to the extreme of the behavioural and psychological spectrum is as foolish as the lay-person comments these people who "know much less about this than you do" are making.

You're not the only one who's qualified to talk in this area and if that 'radical' scientist guy's theory picks up some legitimacy then i'll consider it further but forgive me and the rest of us for looking at it with some skepticism (due dilligence to others i would say).

I think I understand what you are saying. Personally, I belive that the mind and body are connected in ways which we have yet to fully understand. Thus all mental illness is a combination of biological, cognitive, and behavioral factors. I was just pointing out that there are other ways to think about what causes these diseases. You are right on about the strengthened neural pathways (google neural plasticity) but the serotonin aspect is not so simple. For example there are at leat nine subtypes of serotonin. Most of whihc we have no idea what they do. Serotonin has been implictaed in motivation, anger, pain, etc. There is just more to it that it increases happiness, which it does, sometimes.

As for the radical, and he is one, here's a wikipedia article about him. I know its not the best source, but getting free psychological journal articles online isn't really an option. You'll see that he has been around forever, started his own movement which is still going strong 40 years later, and is now attempting to overall the way schools teach children. I highly reccomend his most popular book "Choice Theory". In it he argues that all mental ilness is unconsciously chosen as a means to an end.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Glasser

 

[khaimera]

My first post here was meant to be controversial and was unfortunately written off as invalid. I wanted to challenge most people's overly traditional views about depression. I don't belive that the choice is ever conscious, and its possible that Choice Theory is wrong alltogether. It fits for some and doesn't for others.

I'l stop now because I could write a dissertation on all this.

The thing is though, that this is not the popular opinion outside such a forum. Many people are downright ignorant about depression, and dismiss it as people being self absorbed or attention seeking. I think it's safe to assume that we both agree depression isn't overtly conscious in any way; people do not want it, try to fight it, and it gives them a really shit time, to put it lightly. It's just it seemed like you were being dismissive by saying it was all in their head. I know this wasn't your intention by any means, but you must understand why people would get pretty reactionary when they have to deal with people being dismissive every day, which doesn't help and would only make them feel worse.

For the record I'd believe it is caused by a chemical imbalance. Offshoots of depression such as bipolar, manic depression and such don't really seem to add up with your theory. I'm no expert in the field, but I know enough experience first hand, and from friends who do study it to be convinced that psychological factors alone cannot account for it.

we definitely agree that its not conscious. I knew the type of reaction I would get, but I was sharing a legitimate psychological theory which has been researched for decades. Most people don't know about it becuase it is a radical theory and its not really taught in psych classes. I just wanted to open people's eyes to a new way to look at it. I didn't think though about how it would remind people of the often dismissive attitude the general public and family members have about a depressed person. For that one, I apologize for not thinking about all the implications of my post.

I think that different mental illnesses have a diferent genetic componenet which is stronger for some than other. Bipolar and shizophrenia are two examples of diseases that are more biologically based. Though some still argue otherwise. There are those who have been able to cure both of these without any meds. Basically, I think that people inherit a tendency, or higher likelihood, of having a mental illness. It lays dormant until life experiences come into play and set the train in motion.

 

[etherlance]

I hope your room mate had someone around with more empathy.

No she didn't and two days later she slit her wrists.......with MY fucking razor!!

Had to go to work with stubble because the blood wouldn't wash out.......selfish ***** always thinking of herself then whining ALL day and night

 

[Sarkule]

I hope your room mate had someone around with more empathy.

No she didn't and two days later she slit her wrists.......with MY fucking razor!!

Had to go to work with stubble because the blood wouldn't wash out.......selfish ***** always thinking of herself then whining ALL day and night

lol. obvious troll is obvious.