The legitimacy of depression as an illness. (3 Viewers)

[Bacilli]

Illness = part of human body not functioning correctly
Depression = chemical imbalance in the brain
Therefore depression = illness
Thread shut, deleted incl arch removal plz

 

[Ben Netanyahu]

wot did u do about it lady?

 

[Serius]

Do you believe in the existence of depression or simply in the weakness of those who claim to suffer from it.

I'm not saying that everyone who is out there is faking it, but i have found personally that for most people labeling themselves as having depression it's just an easy way out of a difficult situation, an excuse.

I suppose what most gets me about it is that there aren't in most cases any physical symptoms, so it makes it hard for me personally to believe in it as an actual illness rather than just the weakness of certain individuals (in most cases).

What are your personal views on this?

And all of this is based on anecdotal evidence? your own meagre life experience? these people labelling themselves as depressed, have they also being diagnosed by a medical professional?

Your claim that there are no physical symptoms is ludicrous. just because you the casual observer cannot see any symptoms does not mean they dont exist. Lets ignore for a minute all the psychological symptoms, self hatred, feelings of worthlessness, a consistent and pervading low mood, and look at some symptoms that are easier to understand.
Insomnia, loss of appetite, weight loss, headaches, debilitating fatigue shit i cant remember everything, here educate yourself: Major depressive disorder - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Whilst this thread angers me, i am not angry at you but more society, how depression is still so poorly understood by the public and how it is overdiagnosed. In some ways i do sympathise with you, it seems that depression is becoming the fad physiological disease, replacing ADD in becoming the most proscribed problem. Many people rather than trying to work through their problems may simply resign to the fact that they are depressed and start taking anti-depressants rather than trying to actually work through the problem [ a common one is grief, grief especially for a loved one who has died is almost identical to depression, except that if the person is normal and tries to work through it, it only lasts 2 months or so].

There are many people out there though who have a chemical imbalance in their brain, who are unable to feel happy because of it and are depressed ALL THE TIME, often for years even though they have heaps of friends, great family and an awesome life. Is that fair? Depression is a very real disease and those suffering from it have a right to happiness and should be treated.

 

[katie tully]

too far tully

no seriously, it's how i feel. I seriously think that if people want to committ suicide, that is their right.

I have serious reservations about people who do it in a way that adversely affects other people, either known to them or not. Once they're gone, they're gone. Tell that to the paramedics and the firefighters and the cops and who have to scrape these people off whatever surface they've landed on.

There are 1000 ways to kill yourself that dont involve making as much mess as possible.

 

[axlenatore]

suicide is general not a planned thing, it is spontaneous and therefore thats why you find many public occurrences. You have to remember people who are suffering depression arent in complete control/full state of mind in a way therefore they arent going to do it in a private place out of consideration of others

 

[scaredytiger]

wot did u do about it lady?

Me?

I eventually caused a conflict which resulted in me moving to my mother's, then being exiled from my former house via snailmail. It was odd.

Mother went HEY YOU ARE GOING TO SCHOOL STAY BUSY AND YOU BE HAPPY.

 

[katie tully]

suicide is general not a planned thing, it is spontaneous and therefore thats why you find many public occurrences. You have to remember people who are suffering depression arent in complete control/full state of mind in a way therefore they arent going to do it in a private place out of consideration of others

I know a girl who's boyfriend shot himself while she was in bed, she got up to find his brains splattered against the wall.
A guy here recently went out and hanged himself in an area that is frequented by families taking their kids out to motor bike ride.
I've read of train drivers who have to live off disability pensions for the rest of their lives because they've got PTSD from watching a person jump infront of their train
The wife of the principal at my old school hanged herself in her lounge room, only to be found by her school aged children, still alive. She later died from a heart attack before the paramedics arrived.

It's selfish and it impacts on more than just their families.

 

[Nadiaaa]

qft.
Some people have a chemical imbalance in their brain or truly go through some hard shit in life that destroys their mental stability. Others are emo and want attention.

Pretty much.

So fuck them.
I know a girl who's boyfriend shot himself while she was in bed, she got up to find his brains splattered against the wall.
A guy here recently went out and hanged himself in an area that is frequented by families taking their kids out to motor bike ride.
I've read of train drivers who have to live off disability pensions for the rest of their lives because they've got PTSD from watching a person jump infront of their train
The wife of the principal at my old school hanged herself in her lounge room, only to be found by her school aged children, still alive. She later died from a heart attack before the paramedics arrived.

It's selfish and it impacts on more than just their families.

I agree... yeah, you're not in the right state of mind when you decide you just want to end everything, but doesn't it occur to you to be considerate towards others?

Anyway, in my opinion, sometimes people use the term "depression" way too lightly.
"Omg I'm going to fail my assessment, I'm so depressed right now!"
... just, no.

 

[katie tully]

Don't know why people get so upset at the term "selfish". Selfish doesn't mean it's not a tragedy, but I'm not one for mulling over it and excusing it with 'oh it's not their fault, they didn't know they were going to kill themselves until they saw the train and it looked like an okay option"

 

[Empyrean444]

^I agree if the suicider is in a stable and properly functioning state of mind. The problem with many clinically depressed people is that they are not thus. They are not always being 'selfish' because it is a character vice, but because their condition means that they simply don't/are unable to think of others. Labelling them selfish in this context can be wrong, because it denotes a level of deliberacy and awareness that they may simply often lack.

 

[axlenatore]

So fuck them.
I know a girl who's boyfriend shot himself while she was in bed, she got up to find his brains splattered against the wall.
A guy here recently went out and hanged himself in an area that is frequented by families taking their kids out to motor bike ride.
I've read of train drivers who have to live off disability pensions for the rest of their lives because they've got PTSD from watching a person jump infront of their train
The wife of the principal at my old school hanged herself in her lounge room, only to be found by her school aged children, still alive. She later died from a heart attack before the paramedics arrived.

It's selfish and it impacts on more than just their families.

the one i know of personally occurred in a pubic place

 

[Nadiaaa]

Don't know why people get so upset at the term "selfish". Selfish doesn't mean it's not a tragedy, but I'm not one for mulling over it and excusing it with 'oh it's not their fault, they didn't know they were going to kill themselves until they saw the train and it looked like an okay option"

Mmm. But I think most of the time they'd already had suicidal thoughts before acting on it, right? Like, how many people killed themselves at the first thought? If you know what I mean.

 

[Iron]

Interesting thread!

I believe that the Church once counted this as sloth - a refusal to enjoy God's creation. This struck me as interesting!

I think that the label can be too easily thrown around, but I certainly wouldnt deny the seriousness of it. We need to be like Germans and drink in closely seated barns to oom-papa muzac, swaying and clinking and communing etc.
Though they tend to go nuts and kill themselves/many others when they lose a war...

I put it down to willpower. If youre surrounded by non-threatening, non-dependant people or are engaged with a vibrant supportive institution like the Church, then it is less of an issue. Idol mind and devil's playground and all that
What!
what?

 

[Nadiaaa]

Just want to add, I wouldn't consider the person bad if they weren't being considerate, but it'd be nice if they at least tried.

 

[Iron]

I find it hard to believe that somebody can remain insulated from depression 'in some form'.

Or am I revealing too much?

 

[Graney]

I can't conceive how it could be selfish to kill yourself (unless you have dependent children...). It's not like I owe the world anything. I didn't choose to be born. Someone else will just take my place.

If you're a real failure scumbag of a person, you may be doing the world/friends/family a favour (in objectively measured terms, if not emotionally).

 

[katie tully]

I can't conceive how it could be selfish to kill yourself (unless you have dependent children...). It's not like I owe the world anything. I didn't choose to be born. Someone else will just take my place.

If you're a real failure scumbag of a person, you may be doing the world/friends/family a favour (in objectively measured terms, if not emotionally).

I'm not looking at it in the sense that you should live to keep others happy.

I just object to people doing it and then making people they've never met wash their brains off the pavement

 

[Nadiaaa]

I suppose some people feel like they won't be missed, nobody would care etc.

 

[Nadiaaa]

But I doubt people are thinking "great, i'll kill myself and make everyone clean up after me! awesome!" they'd rather just die and not give a shit.

 

[Iron]

Yeah but there is a fundamental self-indulgence attached to it, I think.
An inability to seek help from outside and to engage sufficiently with other distracting pursuits. I mean, I know people who most certainly seem to enjoy being in such a state of self-pity. It can be a way of ensuring that the world revolves around you, while rejecting any onus on your own part to be, like, ambitious or successful at anything