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I have certainly experienced many awful things in life, but I have not become depressed. Maybe I am just resilient, but I don’t think I am that unusual. It is

I have certainly experienced many awful things in life, but I have not become depressed. Maybe I am just resilient, but I don’t think I am that unusual. It is interesting that the response to my post has been to vote it down to oblivion. I posted hoping to see if the 2/3rd clinical depressed number is just a self selecting aberration, or HN really has become this bad.

ineedasername 6y ago
You may have a misconception of the causes of depression. I am sorry awful things have happened to you in life, but fortunately, as your example shows, negative external stimuli are not a 1:1 correlation with depression. Unfortunately, positive circumstances are also not a 1:1 correlation with the lack of depression. While stress, trauma, tragedy, loss, adversity may all push some people into depression, there are plenty more who, for no discernible external cause, find themselves in irrational states of despair or other forms of depression, and it is no more solvable through self-motivated resilience than the hallucinations of a more tangible mental illness like schizophrenia could be solved through resilience. Perhaps a useful way of thinking about it if you don't quite understand depression ( though maybe not neurologically accurate ) is to also think of depression as a form of involuntary hallucination. Only instead of an auditory or visual hallucination, the brain is producing an emotional hallucination. As for the downvotes, it's probably because the tone of your comment, perhaps unintentionally, comes off as skeptical & dismissive of the miserable reality that many people experience first hand. Finally, & unrelated, it looks like you do some very fascinating work!
- danieltillett 6y ago
  I am sceptical that 2/3rds of all people are clinically depressed. This really does not seems close to reality. Thanks for the positive comments on my work. Yes I have been very lucky to have had the chance to work in some really interesting areas.
damnencryption 6y ago
A few members in my distant family died in the last few months. One of whom I was close with (grandparent) but it barely affected me negatively yet I had been forced into shell for months due to otherwise small things in the past. It's not the severity of the outcome. I recovered faster from those. I require medicine when that happens and the triggers are always small non obvious. Please don't judge people based on the severity of their situation as to whether they are suffering or not. It doesn't help. It misleds bystanders reading your comment into a pit instead of seeking help. As for the comparison to the world getting better, it's not linear and same for everyone. While on average, people are living better life than they did before. Life for people in some countries have gotten worse, not better. Maybe life for people which this forum self selects have gotten worse in the last few years. Also see: https://ourworldindata.org/optimism-pessimism https://ourworldindata.org/optimism-pessimism
- danieltillett 6y ago
  I guess I am an optimist by nature and I certainly prefer to look at the positive rather than the negative. I am not sure it is helpful for most people to focus on the negatives in their lives rather than the positive. I have yet to see anyone’s life improved by brooding on what is wrong rather than what is right. I wasn’t actually judging anyone’s situation, just questioning how we have got to the situation where 2/3rd of the people answering the poll claim to be clinically depressed. If this is correct something is seriously wrong with HC.
  - damnencryption 6y ago
    Your post came off that way. And yes, it is not helpful to look negatively. I think people with depression understand this too. They can't help it. If they had more control over their thoughts and life, it wouldn't be a disease or require medical treatment. As per the link I posted in the comment, pessimism has been rising in developed and rich countries. So I wouldn't be surprised to find more pessimistic people on tech forums today. Tech filters out middle class people likely in developed countries or parts of the world. HN is dominated by Americans who have had a rough year. Protests, political unrest, they are currently leading in covid cases worldwide, etc. Other comments explain different reasons, I agree with them too so I won't repeat. One thing I noticed is the rate of not depressed at all votes. It gradually increased towards late night in US.

ineedasername 6y ago

You may have a misconception of the causes of depression. I am sorry awful things have happened to you in life, but fortunately, as your example shows, negative external stimuli are not a 1:1 correlation with depression. Unfortunately, positive circumstances are also not a 1:1 correlation with the lack of depression. While stress, trauma, tragedy, loss, adversity may all push some people into depression, there are plenty more who, for no discernible external cause, find themselves in irrational states of despair or other forms of depression, and it is no more solvable through self-motivated resilience than the hallucinations of a more tangible mental illness like schizophrenia could be solved through resilience. Perhaps a useful way of thinking about it if you don't quite understand depression ( though maybe not neurologically accurate ) is to also think of depression as a form of involuntary hallucination. Only instead of an auditory or visual hallucination, the brain is producing an emotional hallucination. As for the downvotes, it's probably because the tone of your comment, perhaps unintentionally, comes off as skeptical & dismissive of the miserable reality that many people experience first hand. Finally, & unrelated, it looks like you do some very fascinating work!

danieltillett 6y ago
I am sceptical that 2/3rds of all people are clinically depressed. This really does not seems close to reality. Thanks for the positive comments on my work. Yes I have been very lucky to have had the chance to work in some really interesting areas.

damnencryption 6y ago

A few members in my distant family died in the last few months. One of whom I was close with (grandparent) but it barely affected me negatively yet I had been forced into shell for months due to otherwise small things in the past. It's not the severity of the outcome. I recovered faster from those. I require medicine when that happens and the triggers are always small non obvious. Please don't judge people based on the severity of their situation as to whether they are suffering or not. It doesn't help. It misleds bystanders reading your comment into a pit instead of seeking help. As for the comparison to the world getting better, it's not linear and same for everyone. While on average, people are living better life than they did before. Life for people in some countries have gotten worse, not better. Maybe life for people which this forum self selects have gotten worse in the last few years. Also see: https://ourworldindata.org/optimism-pessimism https://ourworldindata.org/optimism-pessimism

danieltillett 6y ago
I guess I am an optimist by nature and I certainly prefer to look at the positive rather than the negative. I am not sure it is helpful for most people to focus on the negatives in their lives rather than the positive. I have yet to see anyone’s life improved by brooding on what is wrong rather than what is right. I wasn’t actually judging anyone’s situation, just questioning how we have got to the situation where 2/3rd of the people answering the poll claim to be clinically depressed. If this is correct something is seriously wrong with HC.
- damnencryption 6y ago
  Your post came off that way. And yes, it is not helpful to look negatively. I think people with depression understand this too. They can't help it. If they had more control over their thoughts and life, it wouldn't be a disease or require medical treatment. As per the link I posted in the comment, pessimism has been rising in developed and rich countries. So I wouldn't be surprised to find more pessimistic people on tech forums today. Tech filters out middle class people likely in developed countries or parts of the world. HN is dominated by Americans who have had a rough year. Protests, political unrest, they are currently leading in covid cases worldwide, etc. Other comments explain different reasons, I agree with them too so I won't repeat. One thing I noticed is the rate of not depressed at all votes. It gradually increased towards late night in US.