4 ms·

Depression isn't "sad". Depression _can_ be a function of the environment, but it's still not "sad". Sad is a healthy, appropriate emotion. Depression is a num

by mrkurt 6y ago

Depression isn't "sad". Depression _can_ be a function of the environment, but it's still not "sad". Sad is a healthy, appropriate emotion. Depression is a numbness that makes it difficult to even feel sadness.

jac241 6y ago
Amen. Depression is a a feeling of worthless or loss of interest in things that is significant enough to negatively impact your life.
garbagetime 6y ago
Depression as you mean it is a proper state for a person to be be in when his life and the world about him seem to be very wrong. To delete depression rather than addressing the root causes seems strange and inhuman.
- BurningFrog 6y ago
  The root causes are often unfixable. So you try to fix the other side of the equation. Often it means adjusting unrealistic expectations. Like if I'm sad because I'm not a famous movie star. You could either make me a movie star, or make me accept that this is very likely not going to happen, and that's OK. Nothing inhuman about that.
  - squiggleblaz 6y ago
    The root cause of that isn't that you're not a famous movie star. It's that you have so ordered your life that all happiness depends on being a famous movie star. There's parts of that equation that can be changed: teaching you how to have reasonable goals might be one of them. Ignoring the fact that you're sad because you're not a famous movie star and giving you a happy pill is the inhuman step. It's the old adage in spades: "Give someone a fish and they'll eat for a day; teach them to fish and they'll eat for the rest of their life." Happiness in pill form is not happiness.
jjeaff 6y ago
No, numbness is how some people experience it. Depressed mood (i.e. sadness) is how others may experience it. According to the DSM you must experience one of those two things as well as several more (lack of concentration, anxiety, etc.) for an actual diagnosis of depression. https://www.psycom.net/depression-definition-dsm-5-diagnostic-criteria/ https://www.psycom.net/depression-definition-dsm-5-diagnosti...

by mrkurt 6y ago

jac241 6y ago

Amen. Depression is a a feeling of worthless or loss of interest in things that is significant enough to negatively impact your life.

garbagetime 6y ago

Depression as you mean it is a proper state for a person to be be in when his life and the world about him seem to be very wrong. To delete depression rather than addressing the root causes seems strange and inhuman.

BurningFrog 6y ago
The root causes are often unfixable. So you try to fix the other side of the equation. Often it means adjusting unrealistic expectations. Like if I'm sad because I'm not a famous movie star. You could either make me a movie star, or make me accept that this is very likely not going to happen, and that's OK. Nothing inhuman about that.
- squiggleblaz 6y ago
  The root cause of that isn't that you're not a famous movie star. It's that you have so ordered your life that all happiness depends on being a famous movie star. There's parts of that equation that can be changed: teaching you how to have reasonable goals might be one of them. Ignoring the fact that you're sad because you're not a famous movie star and giving you a happy pill is the inhuman step. It's the old adage in spades: "Give someone a fish and they'll eat for a day; teach them to fish and they'll eat for the rest of their life." Happiness in pill form is not happiness.

jjeaff 6y ago

No, numbness is how some people experience it. Depressed mood (i.e. sadness) is how others may experience it. According to the DSM you must experience one of those two things as well as several more (lack of concentration, anxiety, etc.) for an actual diagnosis of depression. https://www.psycom.net/depression-definition-dsm-5-diagnostic-criteria/ https://www.psycom.net/depression-definition-dsm-5-diagnosti...