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People must not want to hear the truth, hence your downvotes. Most forms of depression can be cured with self-care. "In health care, self-care is any necessary

People must not want to hear the truth, hence your downvotes. Most forms of depression can be cured with self-care. "In health care, self-care is any necessary human regulatory function which is under individual control, deliberate and self-initiated."

lukifer 6y ago
I think Johann Hari has the gist right: in the vast majority of cases, depression is a signal from the body of some biological/social/emotional needs that aren't being met, rather than necessarily being an immutable medical condition. For n=1, I've struggled with (manic) depression and anxiety most of my life. And while I've used a variety of strategies to cope (Seligman's "Learned Optimism" and a potpourri of Buddhist ideas were incredibly helpful), the secret sauce was getting off of sugar and junk food. When I'm staying on a whole-foods, keto-ish diet, mood swings and unwanted negative thoughts have their volume is turned down by 90%, making the remainder relatively easy to process. Everybody's different, so YMMV; in some cases, medication are an appropriate tool. But there are some universals that basically benefit every human: drink more water, get more sleep, go for a walk in the sunshine, eat your vegetables, and the less sugar (probably) the better.
- gramontblanc 6y ago
  The phenomenological impact of poor diet and harsh glycemic index ASDR cannot be overstated. 'refined sugars negatively impact mood and emotional well-being' might be one of the most rock solid universals of human nature. All medical interventions should include the no-brainer diet, vitamins, exercise, self-esteem interventions.
ookdatnog 6y ago
> Most forms of depression can be cured with self-care. That's a very strong claim to make so nonchalantly and confidently without referring to a source.
markroseman 6y ago
Simplistic in the extreme, especially given nobody has ever really enumerated all the (many, many) forms of depression in a meaningful way.
gramontblanc 6y ago
As the saying goes: have you tried self-conducted sleep deprivation, exercise, improved diet, vitamin d, sun lamps, having sex, talk therapy, or any of the clinically evaluated pharmchems yet? Why not?

lukifer 6y ago

I think Johann Hari has the gist right: in the vast majority of cases, depression is a signal from the body of some biological/social/emotional needs that aren't being met, rather than necessarily being an immutable medical condition. For n=1, I've struggled with (manic) depression and anxiety most of my life. And while I've used a variety of strategies to cope (Seligman's "Learned Optimism" and a potpourri of Buddhist ideas were incredibly helpful), the secret sauce was getting off of sugar and junk food. When I'm staying on a whole-foods, keto-ish diet, mood swings and unwanted negative thoughts have their volume is turned down by 90%, making the remainder relatively easy to process. Everybody's different, so YMMV; in some cases, medication are an appropriate tool. But there are some universals that basically benefit every human: drink more water, get more sleep, go for a walk in the sunshine, eat your vegetables, and the less sugar (probably) the better.

gramontblanc 6y ago
The phenomenological impact of poor diet and harsh glycemic index ASDR cannot be overstated. 'refined sugars negatively impact mood and emotional well-being' might be one of the most rock solid universals of human nature. All medical interventions should include the no-brainer diet, vitamins, exercise, self-esteem interventions.

ookdatnog 6y ago

> Most forms of depression can be cured with self-care. That's a very strong claim to make so nonchalantly and confidently without referring to a source.

markroseman 6y ago

Simplistic in the extreme, especially given nobody has ever really enumerated all the (many, many) forms of depression in a meaningful way.

gramontblanc 6y ago

As the saying goes: have you tried self-conducted sleep deprivation, exercise, improved diet, vitamin d, sun lamps, having sex, talk therapy, or any of the clinically evaluated pharmchems yet? Why not?