Depression is NOT a Real Disorder

I would like to add to this thread what I know about depression (I am a nursing student and just finished a detailed study on stress). For what it's worth:

Briefly, when we react to stress our body tries to protect us by releasing cortisol and epinephrine (adreniline) which increases our heart rate, blood volume and pressure, inhibits our digestive system, increases our respiratory rates, sweating, increase our glucose levels for energy, all to help us either fight or flee what is causing us stress. This worked for us when our lives depended on whether we ate or it ate us. We don't live like that any more (most of us anyway) but this fear/stress response is still part of our biology. Many of us deal with stress okay, but constant stress will keep us with our stress button "on" all the time, hence we have a constant supply of cortisol in our system (cortisol keeps our stress response going over the long haul). Cortisol will keep our neurotransmitters constantly pumping serotonin from one synapse to another, causing increasing anxiety. The more serotonin, the more anxiety. Serotonin reuptake inhibitors can help, but the body, always trying to compensate for what it believes to be a correction in imbalance (homeostasis), will increase the number of receptors on the receiving neuron to keep the serotinin levels high. It's just how some (not all) brains respond to stress. This is why some medicaitons will work while others don't, or nothing works ( I have had this problem, can't take most meds for anxiety, they make me worse). Constant anxiety leads to constant depression. It sucks and is severely debilitating.

(Kinda of off subject but I was once given an injection of a high corticosteroid in the ER by a well intentioned doctor which proceeded to flip me out, this is how I know first hand the relation of cortisol and brain chemistry).

The best thing to do is find ways to decrease the stress, because if you can decrease the cortisol, you will decrease the serotonin, which will decrease the depression and anxiety, which will help you feel better. What will work for each and every one of us is personal. I find swedish massage to be one of the most direct and immediate ways to decrease stress, and meditation, guided imagery, hypnotherapy for stress reduction, and doing anything to break out of a rut basically helps me the most. I also have been helped by buspar of which I take a small dosage of daily (nursing school is extremely stressful!!!)

Don't know if this info helps anyone or not, but just wanted to pipe in on what I understant about stress and it's relationship to depression.

reply to post by PETROLCOIN


Obviously you haven't suffered or know anyone who has from Depression.

If you did, you wouldn't have created one of the most ignorant threads I've seen on ats.

reply to post by PETROLCOIN


You painted the picture very clearly, friend. I suffer from something called "dysthymia", which is a longterm clinical depression. Though not as severe as acute depressive syndrome, doctors tell me it will probably remain for the rest of my life. I do not medicate, because I prefer natural means of coping. Meditation, certain music, reading, writing or simply crying until my eyes are literally dried out. These things help me.

I too am amazed by the level of insensitivity and ignorance about depression in the world. People who don't deal with it on a regular basis think those who suffer with depression are self-absorbed, self-pitying weaklings who don't deserve to be a part of "their" world. I find this in the workplace all too often. It only intensifies the pain that comes with your daily dose of worthlessness. Sometimes I'm lucky enough to find a little solace in the fact that I know the feelings will pass, and I know that I am better than those who choose to look down on me. I don't lift myself up above them, but in my little head I know that I will make it through and that if they had to deal with what I feel, they wouldn't be so quick to judge.

Good thread.

reply to post by SeventhSeal


Just a friendly hint... reading the OP will probably lead you to rethinking this post. The thread title is very different from the OP.

~Heff

reply to post by SeventhSeal


You haven't read the thread
Have you?

Hefficide beat me to it.

This is the way the world works. . .the greatest authors of books telling us how to raise our children are not parents. The best selling books regarding tips on farming are written by professors.

Experts are a dime a dozen. . .you know, for the first time I don't even care if I have a post removed. Instead of debating something that should be a topic that binds us all, why not just embrace the fact that we're simply just human. . .a seed of perfect imperfections.

I have battled depression all of my life. I inherited it (the gene, trait, whatever) from my mother. She was put in the mental hospital at times and subjected to shock treatments of the day. It is a bottomless pit at times. It is invisible bars only visible to it's captives. It's the light at the end of the tunnel being an oncoming train. It is utter hopelessness.
I wrote a poem in the 90s that I will try to find and post that addresses this well.
People who have not suffered from clinical depression, only situational, have no idea of the suffering. I refer to them as "Peter Pans" when they try to offer advice. I know they mean well, but they just don't and can't get it. They should be thankful for their lack of understanding.
I take medication on a dailey basis and if I miss I fall off the clift. Sometimes I feel that all of my being and personallity is in a bottle in the form of a pill.
I function and hold down a job, but not without great effort. Everything takes great effort. We look at "normal" people and wonder how they motivate, function, and cope, seemingly with great ease. We watch with envy.
We wish other people could understand. I'll write more later
Seeashrink

Originally posted by loner007
Depression is depression whether its a chemical imbalance or situational.

...i halfway agree...

...below is how i see it (for myself, not anyone else)...

...people who know why they are depressed (death of a loved one, loss of a job, traumatic event) are classified as "situational"...

...people who cant identify a reason for their depression (other than i've always been this way) are classified as "clinical"... imo, they are unable to identify the reason because they are either unintentionally in denial of the event or were too young or too traumatized to remember the event... for some people, being able to identify the triggering event can facilitate improvement but for some it can be disasterous and there is no way to determine who falls onto which side of that deal...

...chemical imbalance is an easy but invalid and sometimes dangerous diagnosis, thx to faux science... all kinds of issues get labeled "due to chemical imbalance"... i've read lots of documentation that promotes the contrary but none of it changed my mind... at best, chemical imbalance is a poorly applied and described treatment criteria...

...i am anti-bigpharm for myself, mostly due to an experience with depakote (for situational depression)... it turned me into a zombie... i lost three months of my life - zero recall... the onset of renal failure saved my life... when i came back (from where ever i was), i was mad as hell when i realized what a pickle i was in - but - after raging for a while, i had to admit i had responsibility in what happened too... my mistake - i was so desperate for relief that i took the advice of a psychiatrist even though i knew at the time that he was regurgitating faux science... hard lesson learned...

...one of my dearest friends has massive issues (depression being just one) and she would not be here without the pharmacuetical recipe she's on (lots of different meds)... her youngest child (an adult) is anti-bigpharm and complained about her weight gain (a side effect to some of the meds)... it hurt her feelings real bad because he had no viable solution to control her many ailments... i told them both (seperate, at different times) that i'd rather have my friend over-weight and able to talk to me and able to interact here in the real world, than to have her skinny and disconnected... the son didnt like it but he stopped nagging her...

...depression is depression... the label(s) you stick on it, the meds you use and how ya got there may be important to your coping / healing processes or it may not... luck of the draw, at best...

While I make no dispute about the reality of clinical depression, I often wonder why it is that more than half of the people I know are on medication for depression and ADD. Say what you like, but I am inclined to believe that there often must be exaggerated diagnoses or even deliberate mis-diagnoses just to sell more med$. Regardless, I offer you all the best wishes toward your liberation from depression for the fulfillment of your future happiness! xox

Originally posted by SeventhSeal
Obviously you haven't suffered or know anyone who has from Depression.

If you did, you wouldn't have created one of the most ignorant threads I've seen on ats.

You didn't bother reading my post, did you? Because if you had, you wouldn't have said what you just said. It's quite obvious you only read the title.

Here is my explanation of the title, as stated earlier:

Sorry about the title being a tad bit misleading. I figured, though, if I made the title a statement I agree with, such as "Depression is a Real Disorder", it would not attract as many viewers. So instead I titled it a statement I am refuting.

If the world was different ( meaning not controlled by a bunch of power addicted people) there wouldnt be depressions. So its real ( define real lol ) but its fabricated nonetheless.
But thats just my 2 cents.

reply to post by Yamhead


Yes I have tried Chamomile tea and does work a little at times. Thank you for mentioning it - some may want to give it a try.

Originally posted by thorg

Depression does not only affect the person aflicted it affects everyone around them. My own experience with my wife was so hard to deal with. The whole time I felt guilty because I thought it was my fault. This went on for a decade untill she told me to leave and it was over. To this day I don't really know what happened to us. Living with guilt to this day I hope all people with this find a way to get better!

I`m so sorry.

I have been Recovering from Depression for almost 20yrs now.

Your wife`s Depression was not your fault.

Her experience was her responsibility.

Your responsibility was to look at what you were doing that was or was not helpful.

Thank You for your hope . . . I wish the same for you.

Please, forgive yourself.

I definately get what you mean

I've been on both sides of the fence and I will say this.

Anyone battling with depression and arguing its validity on an online forum can take the first step of curing themselves by cancelling their internet service.

I tend to disagree with the statement that people who can get themselves out of their depression are 'situational' and those who can't are 'clinical'. What I see are those who have given up hope and pointing towards the prosperous with an accusal that they never suffered the same, and thus a similar redemption is impossible. There is no debate that will sway my viewpoint on this matter, I am just stating my opiinion, having been on anti-depressants multiple times. So please save the rhetoric about how I am coming off insensitive or not understanding.

The number one way to not be depressed is to change. Everything. Whatever you are doing, whatever job you have, wherever you live. Change it all, and do something that you enjoy.

Originally posted by againuntodust
What I see are those who have given up hope and pointing towards the prosperous with an accusal that they never suffered the same, and thus a similar redemption is impossible.

I'm not claiming those who I refer to as "situational" have a less severe form of depression as those who I refer to as "clinical". As I stated in an earlier post, I am not downplaying any form of depression. I do not wish any form of depression on anyone. I simply see the two forms of depression as different in their ability to be cured with certain methods of treatment.

reply to post by SeventhSeal



The title of this thread is misleading - please go back and read the OP's opening post.

reply to post by PETROLCOIN




Wow, what a excellent post! One of the best I have seen on ATS in ages.

Very insightful.

Yes you are correct.

It's like 300 years ago if someone had a epileptic seizure they were burned at the stake as a witch when in actuality they simply had a real physical / medical issue.

I have found with depression that exercising every day really really REALLY helps.

Honest to god, just 35 minutes on a treadmill or elliptical machine, just walking briskly will help. When you exercise it gets those little endomorphs running around in you and makes you feel real positive.

It's hard to start exercising. My favorite activity is sitting in a big overstuffed easy chair in a quiet room with camomile tea and reading........so getting myself to exercise is in the beginning quite hard, but the more you exercise, the more you get that blood circulating the better your head will feel, honest.

Laughing is also good. When you are feeling down, look up jokes or watch funny videos.

Read uplifting books, stay away from the gloom and doom if it brings you down too much.

It is possible to "rewire" your brain, by trying very hard to concentrate on positive stuff.

Volunteer at a animal shelter, a homeless shelter, anywhere where there are those less fortunate than you that you can help. Random acts of kindness does wonders for the soul and when you meet and help others less fortunate than yourself, it can possibly put more perspective into your life.

But, and you are most correct, there are medicines out there that do help and in many cases, it is a actual medical problem with the hardwiring of the brain.

We are still in the dark ages when it comes to our brain, there is still so much to figure out about how it works.

Peace.


psychcentral.com...

reply to post by againuntodust


You mentioned a magic word there - "change". I have changed where I live, my career, my relationships so many times I've lost count. All I thought for the better at the time - it didn't work for my depression or anxiety. It may work for someone else but not me - I think because I always seemed to suffer loss and guilt from what I left behind when I did make a change.

reply to post by die_another_day

I suffer from clinical depression. One of the symptoms was anorexia. I dropped 80 pounds between Halloween and Valentine's. I wouldn't eat for days on end, and even when I did eat, I felt terrible about it. It's one of the things that was making me feel even worse.....when people hadn't seen me in a while, they asked if I had been seriously sick. The paranoia that comes with the anxiety made me withdraw even more. I have never been thin. I went from a size 20 jeans to a loose size 10. I ended up bawling in the dressing room and wanting to kill myself. It wasn't until I was treated and gaining my old self back that I realized that many people were looking at me because I was a size 10 jeans, but still a size 36FF on top.
Now I'm not depressed, but take two meds and am going to have to get one of them adjusted tomorrow. I am also back to being a size 20 jeans......Paxil gave me the munchies big time. I know I will be on meds my entire life; my depression was triggered by chronic pain, which I still have. My initial injury was whiplash from being rear-ended, which triggered migraines and muscle spasms. It has now officially been diagnosed as fibromyalgia, something other people will claim is not "real".
Anyone who wishes to do so: