2 ms·

How would you "medically disprove" the notion that some people are unhappy because the circumstances of their lives are bad rather than biological defects?

tptacek 4y ago
Nobody needs to disprove the notion that some people are happy for reasons having nothing to do with clinical depression.
- emodendroket 4y ago
  OK. And the notion that psychiatry has been used to simply stamp anyone agitating for political change as insane is also attested (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Protest_Psychosis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Protest_Psychosis for instance). So what's your objection to this line of inquiry?
  - tptacek 4y ago
    I don't know what you're trying to argue here, but it doesn't seem to have anything to do with the claim at the root of the thread, and I apologize but I'm not interested in the tangent.
nl 4y ago
Unhappy is dramatically, completely different to depression. I've been both and they don't even feel that similar.
- dr_dshiv 4y ago
  Sadness or distress vs not feeling anything and not having motivation?
  - nl 4y ago
    Yes, this is roughly in the right area.
    - dr_dshiv 4y ago
      I wonder how a week of low dose amphetamine usage, like adderall, might help disrupt no-motivation mood loops. A friend of mine (cycling through many antidepressants) seems like he would respond well to this. As in, he would feel better and be able to “shift gears.” Not to get more work done, but say, enjoy going to an art museum. And feel what it is like to be enthusiastic again.
- emodendroket 4y ago
  If we change the word "unhappy" to "despairing" does it make sense?
  - nl 4y ago
    I don't know - it's your argument. If it helps, unhappiness/despair seem like different degrees of the same feeling. Depression is a different feeling. The closest analogy I can think of is that "amused" and "satisfied" are both positive feelings, but they are different and you can't treat the cause the same even if some of the symptoms are similar.
    - emodendroket 4y ago
      “Exogenous depression” is supposed to be experienced by about a fifth of people at one point or another. What if many persistent cases of depression were actually exogenous? That might be more interesting than parsing the difference between despair, hopelessness, anhedonia, and depression.
  - NavinF 4y ago
    No
    - emodendroket 4y ago
      Thanks for your contribution to the discussion.

tptacek 4y ago

Nobody needs to disprove the notion that some people are happy for reasons having nothing to do with clinical depression.

emodendroket 4y ago
OK. And the notion that psychiatry has been used to simply stamp anyone agitating for political change as insane is also attested (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Protest_Psychosis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Protest_Psychosis for instance). So what's your objection to this line of inquiry?
- tptacek 4y ago
  I don't know what you're trying to argue here, but it doesn't seem to have anything to do with the claim at the root of the thread, and I apologize but I'm not interested in the tangent.

nl 4y ago

Unhappy is dramatically, completely different to depression. I've been both and they don't even feel that similar.

dr_dshiv 4y ago
Sadness or distress vs not feeling anything and not having motivation?
- nl 4y ago
  Yes, this is roughly in the right area.
  - dr_dshiv 4y ago
    I wonder how a week of low dose amphetamine usage, like adderall, might help disrupt no-motivation mood loops. A friend of mine (cycling through many antidepressants) seems like he would respond well to this. As in, he would feel better and be able to “shift gears.” Not to get more work done, but say, enjoy going to an art museum. And feel what it is like to be enthusiastic again.
emodendroket 4y ago
If we change the word "unhappy" to "despairing" does it make sense?
- nl 4y ago
  I don't know - it's your argument. If it helps, unhappiness/despair seem like different degrees of the same feeling. Depression is a different feeling. The closest analogy I can think of is that "amused" and "satisfied" are both positive feelings, but they are different and you can't treat the cause the same even if some of the symptoms are similar.
  - emodendroket 4y ago
    “Exogenous depression” is supposed to be experienced by about a fifth of people at one point or another. What if many persistent cases of depression were actually exogenous? That might be more interesting than parsing the difference between despair, hopelessness, anhedonia, and depression.
- NavinF 4y ago
  No
  - emodendroket 4y ago
    Thanks for your contribution to the discussion.