To those who think depression is a joke

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RustDogofAus
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18 Aug 2014, 5:54 am

To those who think depression is a joke: You can go take a long walk off a short pier.
In this day and age we have concrete evidence to support that there are varying forms and levels of depression; it is not simply caused by a person having a bad day or just feeling a bit moody, but that it is a medical condition caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. I am outright sickened by the amount of people crawling out of the woodwork since Robin William's untimely and tragic death spurning their mouths saying that people with depression and those that have sadly taken their own lives are nothing more cowards and weaklings. Depression is not some fickle thing that can be blown away on a whim and there is no auto shut-off switch, it takes a great inner strength to overcome it.
To those who have depression: stay strong, keep fighting the good fight and I wish you all the best.



kraftiekortie
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18 Aug 2014, 7:47 am

I never think depression is a joke. I've experienced wanting to go in front of cars to kill myself.

I just feel people, at times, when they are able, should make use of their willpower to attempt to mitigate symptoms.



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18 Aug 2014, 12:31 pm

RustDogofAus wrote:
To those who think depression is a joke: You can go take a long walk off a short pier.
In this day and age we have concrete evidence to support that there are varying forms and levels of depression; it is not simply caused by a person having a bad day or just feeling a bit moody, but that it is a medical condition caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. I am outright sickened by the amount of people crawling out of the woodwork since Robin William's untimely and tragic death spurning their mouths saying that people with depression and those that have sadly taken their own lives are nothing more cowards and weaklings. Depression is not some fickle thing that can be blown away on a whim and there is no auto shut-off switch, it takes a great inner strength to overcome it.
To those who have depression: stay strong, keep fighting the good fight and I wish you all the best.


Yeah I hate that kind of ignorance.......Also though some people just like to be distasteful and rude and get a rise out of people so they say stuff like that to get at people who might be effected by the death/suicide and some people just have no respect whatsoever for the dead....and will just want to find crap to talk about them. I really don't get this sort of behavior from people but unfortunately it does exist.


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Sweetleaf
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18 Aug 2014, 12:33 pm

kraftiekortie wrote:
I never think depression is a joke. I've experienced wanting to go in front of cars to kill myself.

I just feel people, at times, when they are able, should make use of their willpower to attempt to mitigate symptoms.


'When the are able' is key though, a lot of people think they can assume someone is able to do something....or can judge whether or not they are trying hard enough but judge and assume wrong. Also though much of the time all the willpower in the world isn't going to give you the ability to mitigate symptoms....and much of the time relief is temporary so I suppose I can see it gets old after a long time.


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19 Aug 2014, 3:32 am

Sweetleaf wrote:
kraftiekortie wrote:
I never think depression is a joke. I've experienced wanting to go in front of cars to kill myself.

I just feel people, at times, when they are able, should make use of their willpower to attempt to mitigate symptoms.


'When the are able' is key though, a lot of people think they can assume someone is able to do something....or can judge whether or not they are trying hard enough but judge and assume wrong. Also though much of the time all the willpower in the world isn't going to give you the ability to mitigate symptoms....and much of the time relief is temporary so I suppose I can see it gets old after a long time.


Depression affects willpower too, in my experience.


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19 Aug 2014, 8:08 am

Depression is not a joke, I also agree with what kraftiekortie is saying. Its not easy to mitigate depression--its a spiral and its something that affects the way you view and look at things in your life. That being said--it is chemical and it can be changed, just like things that are upsetting and negative can cause depression, things that are positive and uplifting can also help subdue it. Diet, exercise can also bring the chemicals that cause depression back into balance also.

Also should definitely in robin williams case, not confuse depression--with major depressive order (which he probably had), as in his situation he was diagnosed with parkinson's disease which is a disorder that effects the central nervous system and a disorder that has impacts on cognitive thinking and could've potentially affected his ability to even cope with his depression.



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19 Aug 2014, 8:16 am

Parkinson's is hard to pin down. There are times when it affects cognition; other times, it doesn't.

It must be frustrating for Muhammad Ali; he suffers from a Parkinson's-type disorder bought about by being punched constantly. Apparently, his cognition is 100% intact.



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19 Aug 2014, 8:31 am

kraftiekortie wrote:
Parkinson's is hard to pin down. There are times when it affects cognition; other times, it doesn't.

It must be frustrating for Muhammad Ali; he suffers from a Parkinson's-type disorder bought about by being punched constantly. Apparently, his cognition is 100% intact.


Wow, didn't know that about Ali. Thats really interesting.



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19 Aug 2014, 10:25 am

Greatsharkbite wrote:
Depression is not a joke, I also agree with what kraftiekortie is saying. Its not easy to mitigate depression--its a spiral and its something that affects the way you view and look at things in your life. That being said--it is chemical and it can be changed, just like things that are upsetting and negative can cause depression, things that are positive and uplifting can also help subdue it. Diet, exercise can also bring the chemicals that cause depression back into balance also.

Also should definitely in robin williams case, not confuse depression--with major depressive order (which he probably had), as in his situation he was diagnosed with parkinson's disease which is a disorder that effects the central nervous system and a disorder that has impacts on cognitive thinking and could've potentially affected his ability to even cope with his depression.


I am thinking the OP more means Major Depressive disorder not just the emotion of 'depressed' which in itself is not a disorder...Also though I have had diagnosed depression since I was 15, though I know i had it before then that is just when it came to light.

But I have tried all kinds of medications mostly anti-depressants to help the chemical imbalance(which I think is only part of the puzzle so to speak, not so sure brain chemical imbalance alone causes depression) none of those worked, I have been going to therapy off and on since 15, but consistantly the last couple years, I get plenty of excercise and while I eat as best I can....and it hasn't gone away....so changing it is much, much easier said than done some people find an anti-depressant that works great, some find therapy to be very beneficial.

Also depression is not as simple as upsetting/negative things causing it and thus positive/uplifting things simply subdue it....I have times when positive/uplifting things make me feel worse because I am too numb to enjoy any kind of positive feeling towards it but its quite apparent other people are gaining enjoyment from it. I mean that is a pretty crappy feeling 'I know I should feel good/happy...or even some joy or something but can't'.


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19 Aug 2014, 6:52 pm

Sweetleaf wrote:
I am thinking the OP more means Major Depressive disorder not just the emotion of 'depressed' which in itself is not a disorder...Also though I have had diagnosed depression since I was 15, though I know i had it before then that is just when it came to light.

But I have tried all kinds of medications mostly anti-depressants to help the chemical imbalance(which I think is only part of the puzzle so to speak, not so sure brain chemical imbalance alone causes depression) none of those worked, I have been going to therapy off and on since 15, but consistantly the last couple years, I get plenty of excercise and while I eat as best I can....and it hasn't gone away....so changing it is much, much easier said than done some people find an anti-depressant that works great, some find therapy to be very beneficial.

Also depression is not as simple as upsetting/negative things causing it and thus positive/uplifting things simply subdue it....I have times when positive/uplifting things make me feel worse because I am too numb to enjoy any kind of positive feeling towards it but its quite apparent other people are gaining enjoyment from it. I mean that is a pretty crappy feeling 'I know I should feel good/happy...or even some joy or something but can't'.


Yeah, I was generalizing a little too much in that instance, majorly impactful negative events can cause a chemical imbalance, but there are of course other factors.

I was also generalizing when it came to things that could help mitigate it-- but specifically as someone who was really depressed that had a positive response to me when anti depressants did not.



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20 Aug 2014, 7:59 am

For people leading normal lives without any form of illness or disability, it's all too easy to look at someone struggling and try to involve "reasons." That person has food and family, why would they be depressed, etc. We live in a world where it's considered more socially acceptable to tell someone struggling to just think of the people who have it worse than it is to openly discuss suffering, so it's not well understood.



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31 Aug 2014, 12:06 am

downbutnotout wrote:
For people leading normal lives without any form of illness or disability, it's all too easy to look at someone struggling and try to involve "reasons." That person has food and family, why would they be depressed, etc. We live in a world where it's considered more socially acceptable to tell someone struggling to just think of the people who have it worse than it is to openly discuss suffering, so it's not well understood.

It's funny nobody gives that kind of advice to people with chronic illnesses that cause physical pain.

There's no need to have arthritic pain! Just stop focusing on the pain and think happy thoughts! If you have pain you must not be trying hard enough to not have pain! It's all a matter of perspective! Think of all the people who can't afford shoes! Do they complain that their feet hurt? :roll:

Your emotional mind can hurt for no outwardly visible reason just like your muscles and joints can hurt for no outwardly visible reason. Depression is like a flu you cant' sleep off. People that judge just need a small taste of what it's like. Then they'd never dare think the way they do again.



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01 Sep 2014, 11:57 pm

RustDogofAus wrote:
To those who think depression is a joke: You can go take a long walk off a short pier.
In this day and age we have concrete evidence to support that there are varying forms and levels of depression; it is not simply caused by a person having a bad day or just feeling a bit moody, but that it is a medical condition caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. I am outright sickened by the amount of people crawling out of the woodwork since Robin William's untimely and tragic death spurning their mouths saying that people with depression and those that have sadly taken their own lives are nothing more cowards and weaklings. Depression is not some fickle thing that can be blown away on a whim and there is no auto shut-off switch, it takes a great inner strength to overcome it.
To those who have depression: stay strong, keep fighting the good fight and I wish you all the best.


I wish more people had your mentality. People act like you can just wake up one day and be happy and confident, like there's some on/off switch for anxiety or something. More power to the people who grew up normal I guess.


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02 Sep 2014, 9:03 am

I want to turn back the clock and dealt with my depression before my break up. I would like to have made a better choice to who I saw for it than therapists blaming the girl that I loved.

Now I am really depressed because I let anxiety take over and not have faith in the relationship.



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02 Sep 2014, 2:10 pm

RustDogofAus wrote:
To those who think depression is a joke: You can go take a long walk off a short pier.
In this day and age we have concrete evidence to support that there are varying forms and levels of depression; it is not simply caused by a person having a bad day or just feeling a bit moody, but that it is a medical condition caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. I am outright sickened by the amount of people crawling out of the woodwork since Robin William's untimely and tragic death spurning their mouths saying that people with depression and those that have sadly taken their own lives are nothing more cowards and weaklings. Depression is not some fickle thing that can be blown away on a whim and there is no auto shut-off switch, it takes a great inner strength to overcome it.
To those who have depression: stay strong, keep fighting the good fight and I wish you all the best.


It surely is not a joke. I'm a lifelong sufferer and it sucks the big one. I hate being on medication but the alternative is worse.



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04 Sep 2014, 2:19 am

^can't really say that about depression meds I've tried...at least there's weed, most recent depression med I've tried has only given me really red sort of itchy eyes and granted sometimes my eyes are red due to cannabis use but not that bad. Didn't even take it today, says to discontinue if you get allergy like symptoms due to the chance of some horrible sounding skin disease/allergic reaction sort of thing...and aside from that I just feel worse physically in general since taking it and no better mentally so just don't think it has the potential to help.

I feel like they're going to start trying to pressure me into ECT or something since none of their medications are really working for me..and I certainly don't like that idea I don't care how much 'safer' it is now than back in the day or whatever I do not want want my brain zapped luckily I'd have to consent which I do not see myself doing. Don't think medicaid will cover anything other than that if that, some therapy and meds and most alternative things I have heard of seem rather expensive and I have limited income.


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Last edited by Sweetleaf on 04 Sep 2014, 5:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.