Should we be so Quick in Labeling Depression as a Medical Condition!?

Originally posted by JohnnyCanuck

Originally posted by Portugoal
If people just realize that depression is a natural condition of humanity (being sad is natural) just as happiness, maybe they would begin to realize that happiness is right around the corner.

In clinical depression, the Great Bird of Happiness could drop a golden egg in your lap...and you still couldn't get out of bed. And bipolar? Nor is that a matter of will, and anybody who suggests otherwise simply has no familiarity with the either condition.

As my father said once, if they had had Paxil 25 years ago, his life would have been different.

So...again...there is a tendency to hand out pills too easily, but to insist that mental illnesses such as these are the result of a weak mind, is to blame the victim. That's pretty darn regressive.

Thank you for saying this ^^

I've been suffering from clinical depression and severe anxiety since the 9th grade. In my junior year I ended up missing the entire second semester because of it and in my senior year I missed a good portion of the first semester. I'm unhappy, have no interest in seeing anyone, or doing anything. Even with medication I still have days where I can't get out of bed. It's upsetting when people think I'm just sad or being dramatic, and saying that me realizing that "happiness is just around the corner" is easier said than done.

Originally posted by KrazyJethro
I've heard from a lot of people on this and simply do not buy it. Because one is generally irrational or has problems identifying underlying issues plaguing them does not mean it is a medical condition worthy of note.

I do not believe the following are diseases:

- Depression
- Belemia
- Anorexia
- ADD/ADHD
- Bipolar
- Restless Leg Syndrome

to name just a very few.

Mental illnesses are things that greatly diminish a person's ability to discern reality, which may or may not be a violent thing.

Mental weakness, on the other hand, is just that, and in America we are giving crutches to people who would otherwise have to find more healthy ways to deal with life's problems. Coping skills seem to be a fading animal.

Just because you've never experienced something doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

I've had Restless Legs Syndrome for as long as I can remember and I can tell you it's very very real. It's not a metal thing, it's a physical thing. I've been to the doctors but there's nothing they can do about it.

I'm a 22 year old firefighter in England, and I lead a good and mostly happy life. I have no other medical conditions and certainly would rather be able to say I didn't believe RLS was real too. Unfortunately though, the constant itching/tingling inside my feet and hands is undeniably there, it affects my life, makes it hard for me to sleep or relax. I'm constantly pacing up and down and I feel stupid for it, especially when people ask what I'm doing as I tell them I have RLS and they laugh and say it's not real.

Believe me... It's real and it sucks. It's not just because I'm an active person. It's a physical itching inside my feet and hands which only feels "scratched" when I'm moving them. It's horrible and for you to say it doesn't exist quite simply makes me angry.

as a general reply to anyone who is of the thought that depression is not a real illness , i want you all to hear my story . ... i was married at 18 yrs old , my wife was the same . we had a baby that died at 5 wks old of SIDS . this was the start of a lifetime of hell . i went numb for weeks , like a zombie . at his funeral i felt nothing . about a yr or so after i realized i didnt have any emotions in my body . my wife left me and i didnt care a bit . physically i felt like i was dying . i was dizzy , sore all over , chest pains , headaches from my body being so tense that i ground my teeth , and my heart raced as well as not being able to breath properly . i was so scared that i was dying that i wouldnt see a dr because i was afraid of what hed say . this happenend for about 10 yrs , nearly everyday . then it became a constant , non stop thing . this was my life for a few more yrs .
i went to work everyday , but with the help of alcohol . when i was about about 30 or 32 it all got worse , i was starting to have panic attacks , which increased constantly . within a yr or so i was in a constant panic attack . i couldnt figure out how i was staying alive . i couldnt breathe much , had chest pains , my heart felt like a ticking time bomb , my fingers and feet always numb , dizziness , and shear terror where now my life . every night i slept i prayed to die in my sleep . at 37 yrs old i was done . 20 yrs of hell , everyday , every minute .. i decided i was dying and got the courage to go to a dr. hadnt been to one since i was a young kid . i shook horribly in the waiting room and everyone was staring at me . once i got in he asked what was wrong . i started to talk and he asked why i was shaking ? my heart rate was 198/ min , bp was at 160/105 . dr did a check up and asked when this started . i told him 20 yrs ago . after the appt , he gave me a script for effexor .. he explained that i had very bad clinical depression . and he want me to start out on an snri because of the pain i was in and the severity of the depression .i told him i wasnt depressed because i have never been sad for over 20 yrs . he explained that everything i was going through were symptoms of clinical depression and literally begged me to start on the effexor . he also started me on diovan for b/p .
so , within a few days i felt my heart slow some , within a month my body was calming down and within a few months my dr upped my dose . today i am 41 and i feel so much better . i still get alittle jittery every now and again but i cant complain . piont of my story is that without medicine id be dead for sure . if you have never had these symptoms or real clinical depression , you have no clue what you are talking about , so shut up , read up on it then move on . its very real . very very real . i wouldnt wish it on my worst enemy and i mean that from my heart . and to anyone whos went through it god bless you , because hell cant be any worse .

Originally posted by Portugoal

Originally posted by Grossac

I'm glad you're not calling the therapeutic shots, because clinical depression and bipolar disorder...at very least from your list...are serious illnesses. Treatment of both has changed the very nature of many people's lives, and to suggest otherwise is wrong.

It's easy to change someones life when you drug them. Hell, if I take happy pills it will do the same to me. Just like coc aine, or any other drug.

Very true. But what I think he's trying to argue is that these are serious conditions. THEY ARE MEDICAL CONDITIONS. Only drugs can control the chemicals that cause this imbalance and depression. Or just a different mindset the way I argued. If people just realize that depression is a natural condition of humanity (being sad is natural) just as happiness, maybe they would begin to realize that happiness is right around the corner.

It dosn't work that way with servere depression. In normal depression, you eventually move out of it but with servere depression, it's a different ball game. As for medications and therapy, while in many cases this helps, there are cases where these don't work and such a person reaches a place where they learn to deal with it despite little to no alleviation for the rest of their life or kill themselves.
It seems to me, many people don't really understand the reality of mental disorders. Ever watch one of those pill commercials offering that pill and how everything turns around? That's a great way to make a serverely depressed person to laugh, because they know what a joke that is.

Got this article in caring.com when I was searching online about depression among aged people. Its a good article on how to help aged people who are suffering from depression due to many reasons.

Originally posted by Grossac
I think that 99% of those illnesses are fake. Anything to push pills. Watch the documentary "psychiatry an industry of death" and you will get the jist of it.

"psychiatry an industry of death" has the same level of objective credibility as the story of Xenu and the body thetans LINK that was revealed on SouthPark's "In The Closet" segment.
and both were produced by the same outfit...

The Fraud of $cientology < recently convicted of fraud AGAIN in france

[edit on 30-3-2010 by seataka]