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I’m of the belief that a lot of depression is addiction and accumulated tolerance to the pleasure of being sad. Feeling intense sadness feels really good as you

I’m of the belief that a lot of depression is addiction and accumulated tolerance to the pleasure of being sad. Feeling intense sadness feels really good as your brain releases chemicals to make you feel better. When feeling sad, a lot of people will tell themselves the worst possible worldview they can conceive to get a surge of deeper sadness and thus relief. That being said, people tend to listen to music that validates their feelings regardless of the feeling so this isn’t surprising.

sedeki 8y ago
Does the brain really release feel-good chemicals? I’m not sure I believe that, but I am no expert. :) Some relatives to me, who are depressed, tend to immerse in self-pity, and that feels good to them. It’s like they live in their own bubble, with a biased interpretation of the world, and they are in the middle of it.
- b_tterc_p 8y ago
  Anecdata of one, yes, it feels very pleasurable, though it may be difficult to recognize this as it’s contextualized in sadness and negative thoughts. I’m referring to mostly mundane exaggerated teenage emotions mind you. Unless I’m just an emotional masochist, but I suspect not.
okmokmz 8y ago
This is absolutely ridiculous. Feeling intense sadness does not feel really good. People do not do things to "get a surge of deeper sadness and thus relief". This reads like someone who has never truly experienced depression, or even known anyone who was genuinely depressed. The implications you are making are offensive, unfounded, and incorrect
- b_tterc_p 8y ago
  I’m not saying people seek out being sad to attain pleasure. I’m saying that when people are already sad, pushing the buttons in your brain to explore that sadness results in a positive feeling. Science is already on board that crying releases oxytocin and endorphins. I’m merely suggesting that crying is not absolutely required for the brain offer a similar comforting response when sad. I further posit that given humans have a tendency to get addicted to any source of endorphins from phone screens to spicy peppers, they can and do get addicted to this one. If you want to triple down on strictness and say only crying gives pleasure from sadness... sure whatever. I’m not going to make that my hill to die on. Edit: and note that if someone did accumulate tolerance to natural calming emotional counteragents, that sounds like a very compelling setup for depression.

sedeki 8y ago

Does the brain really release feel-good chemicals? I’m not sure I believe that, but I am no expert. :) Some relatives to me, who are depressed, tend to immerse in self-pity, and that feels good to them. It’s like they live in their own bubble, with a biased interpretation of the world, and they are in the middle of it.

b_tterc_p 8y ago
Anecdata of one, yes, it feels very pleasurable, though it may be difficult to recognize this as it’s contextualized in sadness and negative thoughts. I’m referring to mostly mundane exaggerated teenage emotions mind you. Unless I’m just an emotional masochist, but I suspect not.

okmokmz 8y ago

This is absolutely ridiculous. Feeling intense sadness does not feel really good. People do not do things to "get a surge of deeper sadness and thus relief". This reads like someone who has never truly experienced depression, or even known anyone who was genuinely depressed. The implications you are making are offensive, unfounded, and incorrect

b_tterc_p 8y ago
I’m not saying people seek out being sad to attain pleasure. I’m saying that when people are already sad, pushing the buttons in your brain to explore that sadness results in a positive feeling. Science is already on board that crying releases oxytocin and endorphins. I’m merely suggesting that crying is not absolutely required for the brain offer a similar comforting response when sad. I further posit that given humans have a tendency to get addicted to any source of endorphins from phone screens to spicy peppers, they can and do get addicted to this one. If you want to triple down on strictness and say only crying gives pleasure from sadness... sure whatever. I’m not going to make that my hill to die on. Edit: and note that if someone did accumulate tolerance to natural calming emotional counteragents, that sounds like a very compelling setup for depression.