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 depressionbefore 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.
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
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.