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I appreciate where you are coming from, but I think it is wrong to dismiss the chemistry component. Having had close family members diagnosed with depression (a

by pge 14y ago

I appreciate where you are coming from, but I think it is wrong to dismiss the chemistry component. Having had close family members diagnosed with depression (and having lost a friend to suicide), I found myself amazed at the degree to which chemicals in the body do play a role. I have seen two cases of dramatic behavior changes in people who had no change in external life experiences (and extraordinarily happy life circumstances at that with strong and deeply caring support networks), and medication immediately corrected the behavior changes. I do not mean to discount your primary point - I agree that we all need to take care of each other, but all the caring in the world cant change brain chemistry, and sometimes that really is where the problem is.

chongli 14y ago
If it's only chemistry, why is it so much more of a problem in the developed world? Is there an unstated implication of a potential environmental cause?
- onli 14y ago
  It could be statistics - maybe people with depression in the undeveloped world simply die without having the depression diagnosed. But to my knowledge the current(?) model of depression says it is both. There is the clinical depression without noticeable external factors, and there are those depressions which are quite obvious a reaction to an unbearable situation. The clinical depression can manifest itself again and again and will most likely never vanish completely. The situational depression normally goes away if the situation changes - but sure those people need help to achieve that. Of course, that leads to the conclusion that both causes shouldn't mix, and it doesn't mean there can be no factors like genetically predetermined likelihood for situational depression. To the first commenter: Saying that it is brain chemistry does not mean we shouldn't help those people. It is the other way around: In saying "this is a serious illness", we make it impossible to say that the depressed is responsible, why didn't he simply change his life? No one can do anything against his brain, apart from medication and maybe - and that is a big maybe - psychiatric help.
  - npsimons 14y ago
    It could be statistics - maybe people with depression in the undeveloped world simply die without having the depression diagnosed. Very much this; when you are dealing with starvation and life threatening physical diseases, mental illnesses get short shrift. There may also be a factor that fighting for survival tends to "cure" depression, but that's not a treatment I would advocate. Is it chemical? In some cases, definitely yes. Could we do better as a society, both on being more accepting and supportive but also changing some fundamental things about our culture (more social/economic mobility, more leisure time, less consumerism)? Inarguably, yes. There's no easy solutions.
- illuminate 14y ago
  "why is it so much more of a problem in the developed world" Hierarchy of needs masking chemical depression, I'd imagine.

by pge 14y ago

chongli 14y ago

If it's only chemistry, why is it so much more of a problem in the developed world? Is there an unstated implication of a potential environmental cause?

onli 14y ago
It could be statistics - maybe people with depression in the undeveloped world simply die without having the depression diagnosed. But to my knowledge the current(?) model of depression says it is both. There is the clinical depression without noticeable external factors, and there are those depressions which are quite obvious a reaction to an unbearable situation. The clinical depression can manifest itself again and again and will most likely never vanish completely. The situational depression normally goes away if the situation changes - but sure those people need help to achieve that. Of course, that leads to the conclusion that both causes shouldn't mix, and it doesn't mean there can be no factors like genetically predetermined likelihood for situational depression. To the first commenter: Saying that it is brain chemistry does not mean we shouldn't help those people. It is the other way around: In saying "this is a serious illness", we make it impossible to say that the depressed is responsible, why didn't he simply change his life? No one can do anything against his brain, apart from medication and maybe - and that is a big maybe - psychiatric help.
- npsimons 14y ago
  It could be statistics - maybe people with depression in the undeveloped world simply die without having the depression diagnosed. Very much this; when you are dealing with starvation and life threatening physical diseases, mental illnesses get short shrift. There may also be a factor that fighting for survival tends to "cure" depression, but that's not a treatment I would advocate. Is it chemical? In some cases, definitely yes. Could we do better as a society, both on being more accepting and supportive but also changing some fundamental things about our culture (more social/economic mobility, more leisure time, less consumerism)? Inarguably, yes. There's no easy solutions.
illuminate 14y ago
"why is it so much more of a problem in the developed world" Hierarchy of needs masking chemical depression, I'd imagine.