# Depression is a joke! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 3, 2015, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depression-is-a-joke/721508 "2015-06-03T07:19:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Ze\_Pr0fes0re](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8dc957/32.png) [@Ze\_Pr0fes0re](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ze_Pr0fes0re)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depression-is-a-joke/721508/62 "2015-06-04T14:34:00Z")
Not much is stopping me per se. What I’m saying is that depression is a joke. That’s the point. It’s a state of mind but people often have good reasons to being in it. Also I think suicide isn’t that big of a deal. We value life too much today. There are far worse things than murder, death, suicide and so on. Yet today people seem to think that is worse than let’s say betrayal, usury, loss of honour, etc. I don’t. And historically I am vindicated in my opinions. ---
**Author:** ![Ze\_Pr0fes0re](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8dc957/32.png) [@Ze\_Pr0fes0re](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ze_Pr0fes0re)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depression-is-a-joke/721508/63 "2015-06-04T14:39:35Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Well, there’s this guy who posted above: > And it’s something I’ve always suffered from, going back as far as I can remember (and I can remember back to the age of 2). Also, it’s a condition that afflicts both my sisters and my mother, and afflicted my grandfather as well. > > But please keep telling me how we all just need life coaches - your views are _fascinating_. This type of depression doesn’t make evolutionary sense, but I’ll concede that it’s a possible defect and that it can be fixed with medicines. I won’t debate you on this, If you say it’s so it probably is. But it is an extreme rarity IMO. In that case what could therapy possibly help with at all? Why is therapy prescribed at all to people with such depression as yours? How can you even remember how you felt at the age of 2? I mean that you actually felt depressed. The only stuff I can remember from my age back then is stuff Ive seen on video, and a few dreams a few years later and some very sparse moments from my very complicated life. But I can’t even differentiate between what is a dream and what is not. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depression-is-a-joke/721508/64 "2015-06-04T14:53:04Z")
The closest real life example of what I think the Op is talking about might be found in Alcoholics Anonomous. They focus on giving instructions on how you might fix yourself. Willingness and a sincere desire to get better are a key element in this. From my own experience I have found that bad behavior or bad attitude on my part is paid off with a bad chemical reaction, so in that sense a chemical inballance would be a real thing. In many cases changing behavior and perceptions on things will also change the chemical inputs we get dramaticaly. Mental health proffessions have a major challenge in dealing with patients because the patient is not always capable of giving his doctor accurate input. A better approach as I see it is to simply give a lsit of instructions on steps you might take to fix yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Ze\_Pr0fes0re](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8dc957/32.png) [@Ze\_Pr0fes0re](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ze_Pr0fes0re)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depression-is-a-joke/721508/65 "2015-06-04T15:00:51Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > The closest real life example of what I think the Op is talking about might be found in Alcoholics Anonomous. They focus on giving instructions on how you might fix yourself. Willingness and a sincere desire to get better are a key element in this. > > From my own experience I have found that bad behavior or bad attitude on my part is paid off with a bad chemical reaction, so in that sense a chemical inballance would be a real thing. In many cases changing behavior and perceptions on things will also change the chemical inputs we get dramaticaly. > > Mental health proffessions have a major challenge in dealing with patients because the patient is not always capable of giving his doctor accurate input. A better approach as I see it is to simply give a lsit of instructions on steps you might take to fix yourself. Yeah this is a good post. Personally I don’t think it’s worth it anymore but I can argue for that position rationally. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depression-is-a-joke/721508/66 "2015-06-04T15:04:28Z")
> [@Ze\_Pr0fes0re](#): > > This type of depression doesn’t make evolutionary sense, but I’ll concede that it’s a possible defect and that it can be fixed with medicines. I won’t debate you on this, If you say it’s so it probably is. But it is an extreme rarity IMO. I wasn’t aware “evolutionary sense” came into it. I’ve gotten married and had a child, so being depressed wasn’t a hindrance to reproduction which is all “evolution” requires (so to speak). > [@](#): > > In that case what could therapy possibly help with at all? Why is therapy prescribed at all to people with such depression as yours? Because other issues, which therapy can treat, can exacerbate the depression, and because therapy can offer coping mechanisms for the depression. I am not on medication but one of my sisters who is particularly afflicted is, and it has made a huge difference for her. It took years to find an appropriate medicine and dosage but she feels much better now (albeit not “cured” by any means). > [@](#): > > How can you even remember how you felt at the age of 2? > I mean that you actually felt depressed. I’m not saying I remember every moment of my life back to age 2 but I do have some very distinct and time-specific memories from my early childhood. For example, I can remember a muggy summer night in 1969, my father carrying me up the sidewalk from my friend’s house to our house four doors down. I can remember the heat, the humidity, the fireflies, the streetlight, the buzz and murmur of night insects as we travelled without speaking, and how I felt. It would have been a few weeks after my second birthday. (And no, before you ask, I don’t remember the moon landing.) That’s just an example; there are others. And while I certainly wouldn’t have called how I felt “depression” at the time (how could I understand what that meant?), I certainly remember the feeling and how I acted. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depression-is-a-joke/721508/67 "2015-06-04T15:07:36Z")
> [@Ze\_Pr0fes0re](#): > > That’s all. What are your thoughts? My thoughts: you have done good self reflection work but still have unresolved anger issues to work out. ---
**Author:** ![Ze\_Pr0fes0re](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8dc957/32.png) [@Ze\_Pr0fes0re](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ze_Pr0fes0re)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depression-is-a-joke/721508/68 "2015-06-04T15:10:58Z")
My god man you must have a brilliant memory then since it’s extremely rare. I mean I can PM you with a memory I have that I do not want to put up here. I’m not sure if it’s from a dream or from reality but it’s very, very terribly. Think war and death caused by war. But I can’t actually remember how I felt. And we are talking about a few years above you. > **[Childhood amnesia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childhood_amnesia)** > > Childhood amnesia, also called infantile amnesia, is the inability of adults to retrieve episodic memories (memories of situations or events) before the age of two to four years. It may also refer to the scarcity or fragmentation of memories recollected from early childhood, particularly occurring between the ages of 2 and 6. The development of a cognitive self is also thought by some to have an effect on encoding and storing early memories. > Some research has demonstrated that children can remem... Anyway that’s really cool. Losing that inner child is one of the worst things that can happen and one way to keep it alive is through memories. So despite your depression you are very lucky in this regard. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depression-is-a-joke/721508/69 "2015-06-04T16:44:50Z")
> [@Ze\_Pr0fes0re](#): > > I don’t know exactly. I think that therapy can be good if you’re in denial about yourself. > But the question is perhaps why you had a low-paying job and why you were obese and what changed. > > Has your personality changed? Is that a good thing? Do you still feel like yourself? I absolutely still feel like myself, but I do understand this fear. Before I went to therapy, I remember being afraid that I might lose the good parts of myself along with the bad – that’s one of the reasons it took me so long to go. But therapy didn’t fundamentally change who I am; it just helped me deal with the destructive negative thought patterns that kept me from succeeding. I had a low-paying job and was obese because I had so much negativity and fear swirling around in my head that I presented myself as an insecure, frightened person that no one would want to hire, and the only way I could make myself feel better was to self-medicate with food. Once I learned to control the negativity and fear, I was able to take charge of my career and I no longer needed food to feel good. If insecure and frightened was the “real me”, then I say good riddance. I like the more confident, happier me much better. > [@](#): > > Also sometimes people just need someone to talk to, to reflect, bounce ideas, see where in life they can go. Maybe you tried to exercise but never found the energy to stay on scheduele because you didn’t see any light at the end of the tunnel. > After talking to your therapist you found it. > > A therapist can often act as a really good friend who gives you sound advice, like a priest too. Could you have spent the money on a career coach and still succeeded just as well? Maybe … I don’t disagree with this at all. It’s possible that a friendly ear and the right coaching might have helped me make similar improvements. There is no question that having a neutral, supportive person to talk to about my life was an important part of my success. But my therapist also had specific tools, not for weight loss or career advancement, but for handling my own thoughts. That was the key for me. Without those specific tools, I would have no way to deal with my anxiety, and my anxiety was the cause, not the result of my other issues. ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depression-is-a-joke/721508/71 "2015-06-05T04:24:01Z")
But what if **Gyrate** wants to remodel his bathroom all by himself? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depression-is-a-joke/721508/72 "2015-06-05T09:10:33Z")
> [@jimbuff314](#): > > But what if **Gyrate** wants to remodel his bathroom all by himself? Oh dear God, someone stop me if I try to do that. The result would NOT be good. I have many other talents but absolutely no DIY skills at all. ---
**Author:** ![Saro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Saro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saro)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depression-is-a-joke/721508/73 "2015-06-05T18:00:49Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > I’ve taken a maintenance dose of an SSRI for more than a decade. And while it’s not a cure for my depression, it absolutely is something that allows me to function. And like I’ve said, the depression has been with me for as long as I can remember being able to think for myself. It’s just a part of who I am; the dysthymia. You don’t understand how a person’s chemical balance may be “naturally” off-kilter and in need of medical intervention? I’ve done the same thing for just about a decade now. SSRIs, for me, are the difference between “I’m going to lie in bed and cry periodically throughout the day (or something similar), feeling terrible and worthless” and “I’m going to get up and go to work/school/whatever, feeling relatively okay”. Well, whether or not OP agrees, SSRIs and similar medications can be very helpful for people with chronic or severe depression, and I’m very happy that that’s the case. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depression-is-a-joke/721508.md?page=3)