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In the city I live, people couldn't even be convinced to wear a cloth mask for basically any reason, and people picketed an elementary school because the distri

by Taywee 5y ago

In the city I live, people couldn't even be convinced to wear a cloth mask for basically any reason, and people picketed an elementary school because the district implemented a mask recommendation. I can imagine your scenario, it's an interesting enough thought for some dystopian fiction, but I don't think the clear one-to-one analogy between an infectious disease and crippling depression work in any way at all. In the COVID case, it's an infectious disease with some possible long-term damage, high rate of infection, relatively moderate risk of death, and a scramble to try to contain or slow the spread. I don't see how any of that can be compared to depression, a non-contagious disorder that very often destroys all quality of life in the sufferers. Honestly, I don't see any gain in this incredible pessimism. A brain implant seems to have some potential to allow some people to have hope in successfully living a life that isn't controlled by a cloud of grey, and the first worry is in a dystopian government using it to brain control the public, because there is a pattern of behavior in how governments desperately tried to control a pandemic in the past?

kongin 5y ago
> but I don't think the clear one-to-one analogy between an infectious disease and crippling depression work in any way at all. >> Depression isn’t contagious in the same way the flu is, but moods and emotions can spread. Have you ever watched a friend laugh so hard that you started laughing? Or listened to a co-worker complain for so long that you started feeling negative, too? In this way, moods — and even depressive symptoms — can be contagious. >> We’ll explain how it works, what the science says, and what to do if you feel like you’ve “caught” depression from a loved one. >> Researchers call it a variety of things, including network phenomenon, social contagion theory, and group emotional contagion theory. https://www.healthline.com/health/is-depression-contagious https://www.healthline.com/health/is-depression-contagious You're killing grandma by being unhappy.

by Taywee 5y ago

kongin 5y ago

> but I don't think the clear one-to-one analogy between an infectious disease and crippling depression work in any way at all. >> Depression isn’t contagious in the same way the flu is, but moods and emotions can spread. Have you ever watched a friend laugh so hard that you started laughing? Or listened to a co-worker complain for so long that you started feeling negative, too? In this way, moods — and even depressive symptoms — can be contagious. >> We’ll explain how it works, what the science says, and what to do if you feel like you’ve “caught” depression from a loved one. >> Researchers call it a variety of things, including network phenomenon, social contagion theory, and group emotional contagion theory. https://www.healthline.com/health/is-depression-contagious https://www.healthline.com/health/is-depression-contagious You're killing grandma by being unhappy.