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Depends on whether the depression is situational. People don't like to admit that sometimes people are sad because their situation, and not because of somethin
by empath75 8y ago
Depends on whether the depression is situational. People don't like to admit that sometimes people are sad because their situation, and not because of something inherent to themselves. Sadness -- even persistent sadness -- can sometimes be a healthy response to an unhealthy environment, that drives you to try and change your situation for the better.
The problem is when the sadness becomes the crippling kind that prevents you from acting to change the situation that's making you sad to begin with. It can be helpful, I think, to take anti-depressants long enough for you to be able to enact positive change in your life.
My wife was taking anti-depressants as she finished up college, then she went traveling, met me while we were both backpacking, we got married, have two kids. She weaned off the anti-depressants while we were engaged. She gets transitory anxiety attacks every once in a while, but she's told me she's never had a relapse of depression. I think she was just bored and lonely and stressed in college -- a temporary situation.
This is all just my personal opinion, i'm not a psychiatrist.
- mrguyorama 8y ago>Sadness -- even persistent sadness -- can sometimes be a healthy response to an unhealthy environment, that drives you to try and change your situation for the better. Depression is sort of different than generic sadness as it DOES NOT drive you to improve your situation, due to the severe hopelessness it causes. It's the massive problem with depression, and why medication can be so helpful. Depression can cause you to stop functioning, even at your situationally reduced level, essentially fucking you over even worse. As you show, it was an external event that kicked your wife out of her rut. Sometimes that required kick is helped by medication
- empath75 8y agoI don’t disagree. I think people are too often diagnosed with depression when they’re actually having a normal reaction to a bad situation, but I’m very familiar with the kind of depression that is long standing and seemingly unconnected with your current situation. I was just trying to give an example of how medication could only be needed temporarily.
- Debugreality 8y agoI think you forgot to talk about the other option - it can be situational or chemical as happened to my wife who became depressed as a side effect of another hormone drug. Once chemically unbalanced there is no firm finish line, she may be on anti depressants for life or her chemical base line may tip back to normal and she can get off them...