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I'm not sure if there are really many threads done about depression, but this is my view. People in well off countries, like the US for example, have a high rate of depression. Ever wonder why? I feel that many, though not all, put value on material things, objects, and people, and what other people think of them, but not in themselves. It seems that people that put value on themselves as something special and wonderful with their own ideas, thoughts, and individuality don't have much of a problem with depression....It also seems that people who try to conform to others wishes, or clicks (fitting in) seem to have more problems with it then people that don't care.

What do you think?

In my view, there are some people who have the time and luxury to feel depressed, and others that don't have the time and the luxury. I used to have the time and luxury for depression, but not anymore, because I realised that there are so much to be thankfull for, and so much things to do and experience in this mysterious universe - life is all too short to feel unhappy about - even for someone like me who don't live in a 'well-off' country.

I recall a quote by someone: "When it's darkest, one can see the stars."...

Depression can be chemical; an imbalance in the brain. But for the rest of us, it is something we are creating in our lives.

Originally posted by Shakyamunison
Depression can be chemical; an imbalance in the brain. But for the rest of us, it is something we are creating in our lives.

I agree, but the 'chemical' imballance (with which I was also diagnosed) is a symptom of a deep rooted imbalance in the soul or thoughts. In other words, you yourself cause the chemical imbalance because your soul is distressed by things that go deeper than the physical body. I see the body as an expression of the soul - so the body - even genetics are the cause of one's own karma. I believe that when you sort your own mind and spirituality out, your physical balance will be in perfect harmony.

Saying depression is a chemical imbalance is no excuse or cure, because drugs that purport to rectify that imbalance will not help - I've been there and on such anti-depressants for many years and it didn't cure me, it only made things worse.

I am now drug-free and happy. It REALLY is all in the mind. Your entire physical condition is a manifestation of your spirit.

I like that....

I find myself that taking pleasures in the simple and small things are really joyful like the constellations and smells of nature and expressions on peoples faces, and laughter. I know that sounds kinda goofy. But I was never one for lavish things anyways. I grew up with them, and it never did much for me.

i noticed that depression was never a major problem until somebody called it depression

before it's clinical diagnosis you were just down in the dumps and got over after a couple of days....now i cant help but feel that if you diagnose someone with depression...it just makes them feel worse

Originally posted by Wonderer
I agree, but the 'chemical' imballance (with which I was also diagnosed) is a symptom of a deep rooted imbalance in the soul or thoughts. In other words, you yourself cause the chemical imbalance because your soul is distressed by things that go deeper than the physical body. I see the body as an expression of the soul - so the body - even genetics are the cause of one's own karma. I believe that when you sort your own mind and spirituality out, your physical balance will be in perfect harmony.

Saying depression is a chemical imbalance is no excuse or cure, because drugs that purport to rectify that imbalance will not help - I've been there and on such anti-depressants for many years and it didn't cure me, it only made things worse.

I am now drug-free and happy. It REALLY is all in the mind. Your entire physical condition is a manifestation of your spirit.

Yes you are right, we are responsible for all things in our lives. I was just trying to be nice.

Originally posted by Shakyamunison
Depression can be chemical; an imbalance in the brain. But for the rest of us, it is something we are creating in our lives.
I agree with this.

Wonderer> "In my view, there are some people who have the time and luxury to feel depressed"
That sounds extremely insensitive in my ears and almost callous towards people who are, for some reason, depressed.
Those I know who suffer from depression have neither the time nor the luxury, and would frankly much rather be without. But sometimes things happen in life, and the time to "mourn" or "grieve" have been shortened considerably.
"What? Are you STILL upset about... ?"

Jaden101>"i noticed that depression was never a major problem until somebody called it depression."
Or maybe a clinical term was needed when it became obvious that there WAS a problem??

Debbiejo> Oh, I think you're at the core of something. We live in a society were it's all about success, about constantly "doing" or "acting", so that we forget to just lie in the grass and watch the clouds a summer-day. Dalai Lama was once asked what he thought happiness was. "A glass of clean cold water in the morning."
And I take it we are there, were a lot of people wouldn't understand Dalai Lama. We're almost drowned in mobil-phones, messaging and programmes on TV about the "right" houses, the "right" way of dating, the "right" way of bringing up kids etc. etc.
I guess we're not really any longer allowed to try out things before we make them ours.

I'm aware of depression being caused by a chemical imbalance, but I would say that popular treatment for it is ineffective for the most part and especially for me. I found anti-depressants worse than useless. I can't decide whether anti-psychotics are worse or not. The psychiatrist was very rude as well he actually wrote is a letter to a third party that I am a 'very awkward character.'

Drug companies (like all Big Business) are compelled to show profits every single quarter of every single year (helluva bar they set). This means 1) redefine old maladies (eg, lowering the standard for "healthy" blood pressure); and 2) making up new maladies ("restless leg syndrome"?). Mix that in with a pop-a-pill, quick-fix social mentality, and, By Jiminey, they just might make it. Dow Jones goes up, the party in power declares the country is in good health, and the Financial Elite continue to feed off the cattle fodder that is the middle class.

With regard to depression, the danger lies in blurring the line between situational depression (eg, you just broke up with your significant other), and clinical depression (genuinely requiring medication).

My thought would be that people who have to struggle to survive have an obvious purpose, a single driving force in their life. That being survival. When you have your mind set on something, trying to get that one thing accomplished, and have the motivation to act on it and not just sit around and think about it, you have no need to be depressed. People with priveledge also have ambitions, things they want to accomplish, but they are obviously less urgent and less motivation than a struggle for basic survival, which leads to pondering and reflection which probably is what is necessary to be depressed. That's just my logic on the matter, I have never studied the human psyche.

Originally posted by Shakyamunison
Depression can be chemical; an imbalance in the brain. But for the rest of us, it is something we are creating in our lives.

aye....so true.

I wonder if people in the Middle Ages suffered so much from depression? Could be they didn't because they had much to occupy their lives.

Originally posted by debbiejo
I wonder if people in the Middle Ages suffered so much from depression? Could be they didn't because they had much to occupy their lives.

They also had lower expectations. Overall, there was less foresight and mobility.

Besides, if they were all depressed, how in blazes would they even recognize it?

I think it called life............

you miss my point...before it was given a clinical diagnosis it never prevented people from getting on with there lives...my parents never knew of anyone they've ever worked with being sick from their job because they were a bit miserable...whereas i know of about 10 people who are on long term absence from their jobs because they've been diagnosed with depression

what i find even more ironic is that these people are usually depressed because of their home lives...yet they stop working which means they spend their entire time in the situation thats making them unhappy in the first place...

doesn't make much sense to me

Originally posted by debbiejo
I'm not sure if there are really many threads done about depression, but this is my view. People in well off countries, like the US for example, have a high rate of depression. Ever wonder why? I feel that many, though not all, put value on material things, objects, and people, and what other people think of them, but not in themselves. It seems that people that put value on themselves as something special and wonderful with their own ideas, thoughts, and individuality don't have much of a problem with depression....It also seems that people who try to conform to others wishes, or clicks (fitting in) seem to have more problems with it then people that don't care.

What do you think?

This should be in the Philosophy Forum, but anyways...

Yes, in the US, materialism has a lot to do with depression. Losing money or property and desiring what isn't your's leads to depression.

Do you think materialism includes accomplishments too? Feeling like a total failure constantly can lead to depression, of course. Anyways, heavens knows life here is constantly about who's the best. Maybe there wasn't so much time for that in the Middle Ages. They were just trying to survive.

Maybe we try to cram in too much in our lives, or maybe we have too much time on our hands.....Maybe we pay too much attention to the media and want our cake and eat it too.

Originally posted by debbiejo
Maybe we try to cram in too much in our lives, or maybe we have too much time on our hands.....Maybe we pay too much attention to the media and want our cake and eat it too.

Maybe we look at our lists too often.

Maybe we listen to people who tell us we're depressed when we're not......

Originally posted by debbiejo
Maybe we listen to people who tell us we're depressed when we're not......

Maybe we talk ourselves into it.

Originally posted by Shakyamunison
Maybe we talk ourselves into it. And maybe we start to believe it.

As much as we want to believe depression can be overcome no matter the circumstance, the trouble is.. sometimes depression is unavoidable. It is tied with the human condition, people will suffer.. the end.

As for increased depression in America, I think its because we have it too easy over here. People can afford to just sit around and think, and that isnt what we were designed as a species to do. We are supposed to be fighting to survive, all this apathy that exists in America today is unnatural.

Ohhh, a topic I can have a good say on...

First of all...
Originally posted by jaden101
i noticed that depression was never a major problem until somebody called it depression

before it's clinical diagnosis you were just down in the dumps and got over after a couple of days....now i cant help but feel that if you diagnose someone with depression...it just makes them feel worse

I agree that now days it has become an "excuse" in some cases. My mom has been "clinicly depressed" for as long as I can remember, that is until they came up w/ a new term for it and called her bi-polar.

Just because the word depression is relatively new doesn't mean the illness is. Babies use to die "unkown deaths" from the begining of time, in the bible it is referred to as the baby being "laid over". Doctors had NO idea what caused it! Then all of the sudden they gave it a name, Crib death or SIDS, and now they have preventive messures. Does that mean that before the name was created that it wasn't real? No, it just means that it wasn't understood.

I believe that alot of people are "depressed" BUT I also believe that alot of people are just UNHAPPY. And there is a diffrence. But to an uneducated person or an uninformed person they are the same. Medicine is not ALWAYS the answer. But in some cases it can be.

After I had my baby, I had TONS of hormones streaming through me. Along w/ other unbaby related shit life had thrown at me at the same time. It got to me. I wasn't just unhappy, I was depressed. It was a horrible feeling that I could not shake. It should have been the happiest time of my life, yet I was misrible.

It took ALONG time to shake it, and although I did not go on medication, some people need it, some people are in a lot deeper than I am. I had alot of support from my husband and was able to slowly come back. It was not easy, and at times I feel myself sliding down the path again. But now I know how to fight harder. And it is hard.

I don't think that ppl who have not had to fight depression, and I am not talking unhappiness (because everyone fights that), don't comepletely understand the feelings and the fear that come along w/ it.

Much depression can also be alleviated by your diet intake also.

Depression? My specialty...

There's a difference between true clinical depression and a depressive episode. Clinical depression is brought on by a chemical imbalance in the brain and can be due to genetics; it seemingly comes out of nowhere and is pretty damn shitty to have to go through. A depressive episode is where for whatever reason, stuff just gets you into a depressed mood, but it goes away over time - usually not very long. I believe that most everyone will go through some sort of depressive episode at some point in their lives -- it's fairly common.

But depression really isn't being taken seriously now, and I think there's a few reasons why. First reason is all the people (teenagers in particular) who say they're depressed when they're simply in a bad mood over a bad grade or breaking up with their boyfriend/girlfriend or something like that -- they're over it in a couple of days. That's not being depressed, that's simply being upset. The other reason is people use it as an excuse to get out of things -- like jaden said with people using it to get out of work. Now, I understand that yes, it can and does get bad enough for people where they have no willpower to do absolutely anything at all. But really, wallowing in self-pity will not make you better. I've been dealing with pretty severe clinical depression for going on 8 years now. And it gets pretty bad. But when it's at it's worst, I try and struggle on with my usual day to day stuff. Because I know that if I don't, I'm just not going to do anything and it'll overtake me completely. Yeah, I certainly don't want to or feel like doing anything, but I make myself do it anyway, because by sticking to my usual routine and such, I'm able to eventually pull myself out of it.

As for drugs -- that's really just a case of "what works for one person might not work for another". Anti-depressants just screwed me up even worse. But one of my friends is bi-polar and her meds are the only things that work for her. Treatment of depression and bi-polar and stuff like that is entirely trial-and-error. Keep trying things until you find one that works.

Whilst I agree that the term gets very misused and people do say they're depressed over stupid things, I try to take into account the fact that people do get affected and deal with their problems in different ways.

Some people find it easy to get over the death of someone, others don't and often enter depression. That doesn't mean you can stroll over and say "Hey, I've been there and I'm alright. Suck it up."

-AC

Yeah, which is why I NEVER say that to people. I know that just because one person can get over something a certain way, doesn't mean than someone else can.

I swear you previously said, on another site (that I won't name for privacy purposes) that certain people don't know how good they've got it and shouldn't really complain/you're tired of hearing about their problems.

I agree somewhat, but still. Big shit to them might not be big to you or I.

-AC

It's also in many cases how you view life and or death..........Which gives you hope or despair........

Originally posted by Alpha Centauri
I swear you previously said, on another site (that I won't name for privacy purposes) that certain people don't know how good they've got it and shouldn't really complain/you're tired of hearing about their problems.

I agree somewhat, but still. Big shit to them might not be big to you or I.

-AC

That was in a locked LJ post, referring to other locked LJ posts, which you haven't seen, and I'm sure that if you knew the content of them you'd probably agree with me.

Or rather, it was just me in a bad mood and fed up with a handful of my friends who act like spoiled whiny brats whenever the slightest thing doesn't go their way. But as for specifics of why I was pissed enough to say that - not happening here.

Why has the chemistry in clinical depression grown I wonder?