Depression

[epepke]

Anyway, I have read every post you made on this topic and have been thoroughly impressed with you knowledge on this subject. It's just that the list you provided most recently comprised of ways to feel better while depressed rather than actually getting rid of it completely. I do not think that is something you advocate by any means though.

I did sort of outline the things that can be done.  It's kind of hard to go through all the possibilities in the space allotted, though.

If there is a main point I am trying to make it is that, yes, drugs can be useful, but they are useful mainly in helping to get the process started, because when someone is really depressed, the symptoms make it impossible even to try to do those other things.

Drugs aren't the only way.  I think I also mentioned getting laid.  Trouble is that it is difficult to get laid when one is depressed.  One such event, when I was 24, saved me from a suicidal depression, but I was fortunate.  A lesbian friend of mine arranged for me to get laid, and a series of coincidences, including a flight delayed for a day, made it possible.

Yeah, with any though or concept, chemicals and chemical reactions are involved. But the actual meanings are not chemical. They are abstract and mean things beyond their chemical constructs. Anyway, a better way of putting it is that depression is not purely psychiatric, but much more psychological. Psychology is physiology combined with philosophy by definition. The philosophical parts are what need to be focused on but are often neglected in mainstream medicine.

This is an interesting problem, and I appreciate the opportunity to discuss it with someone such as yourself who is aware of the nuances.  There are not a lot of people like that.

The problem, I think, is that there has been a big pendulum in psychiatry.  It swings from the purely psychological to the purely physiological.  Right now it's pointing to the purely physiological, the "medical model."  There are plenty of psychiatrists who prescribe drugs and do little else.  Within my lifetime, which is considerably longer than yours, it has also swung toward the purely psychological.  Neither approach seems to work well on its own, but when you combine the two, you get something.

[i_am_i]

Ok, here is some overview about the emergence of psychology that is fairly consistent with most schools of thought about psychology. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/brief-hi ... ology.html

Buzzle.com?

[i_am_i]

Drugs aren't the only way.  I think I also mentioned getting laid.  Trouble is that it is difficult to get laid when one is depressed.  

Hah! That's really funny, it really is. When a person is going through severe depression sex is the last thing on that person's mind. Okay, to be perfectly fair about this I can say that when I was going through my crisis sex was the last thing on my mind because nothing was on my mind, nothing that made any sense anyway.

Yes, when you're close to being completely out of your mind it is difficult to get laid, unless you're willing to pay for it.

[philosoraptor]

Ok, here is some overview about the emergence of psychology that is fairly consistent with most schools of thought about psychology. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/brief-hi ... ology.html

Buzzle.com?

Yeah, I mean that sounds legit.  After all, he's had TWO whole classes in psychology.  

[Intercourseman72]

I was actually much more likely to get laid while I was depressed 1)because there are lots of depressed emoish girls in high school and 2) because while I was on zoloft, I couldn't even get sexually aroused.

@ i_am_i
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=The ... i=scholart

take your pick.

[juliec0211]

As someone that has suffered with depression on and off for probably 15 years, I've got just a couple of words of advice.  Read "Learned Optimism" by Dr. Seligman and seek therapy.  I never considered myself a pessimist until I took Stanford's Learned Optimism test.  It opened my eyes that my own worldview was getting in the way of my being happy, intimate, content and satisfied.  I've been in therapy for a year and that has also helped work through some of my "issues", but I think the $10 book was as valuable as the year of therapy.

Trying to get out from under depression is an ongoing process.  You won't just one day wake up and "be happy", but you can train your brain not to continually make you miserable!  My own ruminating was causing me to worry myself into a depression.  I still have a bad worry habit, but I now notice how awful it makes me feel and I am more able to control it.

Best wishes for your recovering from depression.

[Intercourseman72]

http://www.stanford.edu/class/msande271 ... edOpt.html

Is this the test you were talking about? Does it do ok for what is likely a cheap knock-off of the real test?

[epepke]

As someone that has suffered with depression on and off for probably 15 years, I've got just a couple of words of advice.  Read "Learned Optimism" by Dr. Seligman and seek therapy.  I never considered myself a pessimist until I took Stanford's Learned Optimism test.  It opened my eyes that my own worldview was getting in the way of my being happy, intimate, content and satisfied.  I've been in therapy for a year and that has also helped work through some of my "issues", but I think the $10 book was as valuable as the year of therapy.

That doesn't seem to be available for the Kindle.  I guess I'll look for it the next time I'm in a book store.

[jduster]

Is it really a sickness as psychologists desrcibe it to be? I am not sure if I have been really suffering from it or not...but I have had many 'down' periods...especially this summer. My lack of social connection with people has been a heavy contribution to my pessimistic attitude and supposed depression, being an existential nihilist.

Forgive me if I get too personal, but I have had about 2 or 3 suicide attempts due to depression. I am afraid to let my family know of this condition because they are really religious. I am only 20 years old, and I am not sure what to do. There seems to be alot of older and wiser people on this forum...and I was wondering if I could get any advice. My mind is more scrambled than an egg, and I am not sure if it's due to my transition from a child to an adult, or a genuine state of depression . Can anyone help?

you can talk to me, i am here to help

[pinkocommie]

If you need someone to talk to, I'm always around.  PM me and I'll give you my email.