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There's a story Andrew Solomon tells that's not unlike the Southeast Asia anecdote. Andrew traveled the world trying to understand how other cultures experience

There's a story Andrew Solomon tells that's not unlike the Southeast Asia anecdote. Andrew traveled the world trying to understand how other cultures experience depression as a way to deal with his own depression In one African village, he asked the residents what they thought of western depression treatments. They said "why don't you bring people outside, so they can feel the sun on their skin? Why don't you dance with them, so they can feel energy of others? Why, instead, do you shut them in a dark room, alone with a stranger, to talk about things that make them sad?" It's an interesting talk, and one that illustrates just how little we know about depression

jvogt 9y ago
> Why, instead, do you shut them in a dark room, alone with a stranger, to talk about things that make them sad? FWIW, this isn't really how therapy goes. At least from my CBT experiences, its a few minutes of talking about what we're currently struggling with, then decoding those topics to learn how we distort our experiences and memories towards the negative / stressful. Then usually the "homework" would be small actionable steps to build up habits to become aware of these distortions, as well as habits to make other healthy choices. Not discounting Andrew's story one bit, just putting a bit more light on what modern therapy aims towards.
- starpilot 9y ago
  The general idea is true though. For a depressed person, we aim to isolate them with a clinician instead of surrounding them with friends. We even use "therapy" as a kind insult: "You should go to therapy!" as if mental illness is something to be shamed. The overall notion is that there's something wrong with people who are depressed, and that we'd rather wash our hands of it than help them. We have similar attitudes toward the homeless and the incarcerated. It's a very puritan/Calvinist attitude, that "certain people" are innately bad, but pervasive in even progressively minded Americans.
  - d0lph 9y ago
    Friends/therapist is a false dichotomy, any good therapist encourages socializing. Depressed people are not mentally healthy, it's a condition that can lead to suicide. Being sad is not bad, but when someone is diagnosed with depression, or any mental disorder, it's because it's affecting their lives negatively. Also the rooms have do have lights in them.
Im_back_4_U 9y ago
Haha, spend some time working or training at a mental health faclity in the US, at least Western US. It is bizarre how little the system understands what people are. The Doctors do, the janitors too, but the policy makers and the "funders" are in fact insane. And it's accepted by the population as inevitable and logical. Crazy, crazy world.

jvogt 9y ago

> Why, instead, do you shut them in a dark room, alone with a stranger, to talk about things that make them sad? FWIW, this isn't really how therapy goes. At least from my CBT experiences, its a few minutes of talking about what we're currently struggling with, then decoding those topics to learn how we distort our experiences and memories towards the negative / stressful. Then usually the "homework" would be small actionable steps to build up habits to become aware of these distortions, as well as habits to make other healthy choices. Not discounting Andrew's story one bit, just putting a bit more light on what modern therapy aims towards.

starpilot 9y ago
The general idea is true though. For a depressed person, we aim to isolate them with a clinician instead of surrounding them with friends. We even use "therapy" as a kind insult: "You should go to therapy!" as if mental illness is something to be shamed. The overall notion is that there's something wrong with people who are depressed, and that we'd rather wash our hands of it than help them. We have similar attitudes toward the homeless and the incarcerated. It's a very puritan/Calvinist attitude, that "certain people" are innately bad, but pervasive in even progressively minded Americans.
- d0lph 9y ago
  Friends/therapist is a false dichotomy, any good therapist encourages socializing. Depressed people are not mentally healthy, it's a condition that can lead to suicide. Being sad is not bad, but when someone is diagnosed with depression, or any mental disorder, it's because it's affecting their lives negatively. Also the rooms have do have lights in them.

Im_back_4_U 9y ago

Haha, spend some time working or training at a mental health faclity in the US, at least Western US. It is bizarre how little the system understands what people are. The Doctors do, the janitors too, but the policy makers and the "funders" are in fact insane. And it's accepted by the population as inevitable and logical. Crazy, crazy world.