2 ms·

I never said it was my job, but I know people whose job it is to help (though as someone who is planning to match to a psychiatry residency this coming year, my

by sp3000 9y ago

I never said it was my job, but I know people whose job it is to help (though as someone who is planning to match to a psychiatry residency this coming year, my job will be to help people with depression, among other things). You are right in that when offering advice one needs to be mindful in how they frame it, something that I find much easier to do in person than in an anonymous online forum, hence me not able to consider your personal circumstances when giving general advice. You, an individual commenting on Hacker News, might have already considered that diet, exercise, mindfulness and therapy might actually help, but believe me, many people out there don't consider these factors and don't know the overwhelming scientific evidence out there showing their benefit. In fact, the author of the blog post that we are commenting on himself said it took him a while to get around to therapy. Sometimes it takes uncomfortable prodding to get people to do things. Like I said, it doesn't work for everyone, but it has for enough people that I will always make sure to recommend it and make sure eating healthy and having an active lifestyle is something that is prioritized because the myriad of benefits it provides.

throwaway5650 9y ago
Do you see value to asking if a person wants help before offering advice? Is that something you usually do?
- sp3000 9y ago
  Of course I see the value to asking a person if they want help before offering advice. I don't go around telling random people around me to go exercise and meditate more. I don't even tell that to friends who I suspect might benefit from it. When I am on an internet forum talking about mental health, I do bring it up because the context seemed perfectly fine. I also bring up those topics when I am having conversations about health, which I have regularly, but in a very general manner... like recently with a friend I had a conversation about how mindfulness seems to be a very effective way to manage emotions and was asking for feedback on ways to make it more appealing to people. Do you see the value in advocating people prioritize their diet, sleep habits, exercise, and mindfulness more (while also trying to provide tangible ways they can do that)? Do you see the value in making it seem OK for people to go seek out therapy, and "normalizing" conversations about it? Because I notice there is still this ridiculous stigma many people have when it comes to seeking help for mental health, which prevents people from doing so, or even having conversations about it. And having a conversation about it is all I am trying to do here. I hope you have noticed that throughout this discussion I never gave my advice to you or anyone else on how they should deal with their depression.

by sp3000 9y ago

throwaway5650 9y ago

Do you see value to asking if a person wants help before offering advice? Is that something you usually do?

sp3000 9y ago
Of course I see the value to asking a person if they want help before offering advice. I don't go around telling random people around me to go exercise and meditate more. I don't even tell that to friends who I suspect might benefit from it. When I am on an internet forum talking about mental health, I do bring it up because the context seemed perfectly fine. I also bring up those topics when I am having conversations about health, which I have regularly, but in a very general manner... like recently with a friend I had a conversation about how mindfulness seems to be a very effective way to manage emotions and was asking for feedback on ways to make it more appealing to people. Do you see the value in advocating people prioritize their diet, sleep habits, exercise, and mindfulness more (while also trying to provide tangible ways they can do that)? Do you see the value in making it seem OK for people to go seek out therapy, and "normalizing" conversations about it? Because I notice there is still this ridiculous stigma many people have when it comes to seeking help for mental health, which prevents people from doing so, or even having conversations about it. And having a conversation about it is all I am trying to do here. I hope you have noticed that throughout this discussion I never gave my advice to you or anyone else on how they should deal with their depression.