# No doctor, I do not have "depression." **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 26, 2010, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-doctor-i-do-not-have-depression/561959 "2010-11-26T06:40:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-doctor-i-do-not-have-depression/561959/101 "2010-12-04T03:26:32Z")
[QUOTE=heathen earthling;13212598 @ **Lakai** - I am not **mookieblaylock** , it looks like your reply might be directed to him. I don’t really care about personal rejection issues any more, girls _should_ have the freedom to reject guys they aren’t interested in.[/QUOTE] Who said they shouldn’t? ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-doctor-i-do-not-have-depression/561959/102 "2010-12-04T03:44:39Z")
> [@heathen\_earthling](#): > > @ **Lakai** - I am not **mookieblaylock** , it looks like your reply might be directed to him. I don’t really care about personal rejection issues any more, girls _should_ have the freedom to reject guys they aren’t interested in. It was directed at you. You think that what you feel is the correct way of feeling. I was trying to show that you’re feelings aren’t always correct. Even when you think they are based on rational thoughts. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-doctor-i-do-not-have-depression/561959/103 "2010-12-04T04:21:09Z")
Actually, the correct response to some girl calling you a “fat asshole” when she rejects you is, “WTF, bitch?” 😉 Seriously, though – even though the world may suck sometimes, that doesn’t mean we have to give up and say, “Screw it, I’m just going to lay down and wallow in misery”. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-doctor-i-do-not-have-depression/561959/104 "2010-12-04T05:21:04Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > Hey, Mookies at it again. And my opinion hasnt changed a jot. > [Today I saw a loser that made me so mad - The BBQ Pit - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=543516) > > Was this really a year ago? Jeez, maybe Mookie just really hates Christmas music… You come in here at post #90 to link to your year-old pitting of the OP? It looks like there’s more than one person in this thread whose life could do with a little fine tuning. [/Moderator hat on] Really, don’t do this. The past 89 posts include 3 from the OP and 86 from everyone else. I think by now everyone who wishes to can form an opinion about the OP, about the people who posted about the OP, and about the people who posted about the people who posted about the OP. Stirring up the slime with a year-old pitting is just being mean for the sake of meanness. ---
**Author:** ![mookieblaylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@mookieblaylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mookieblaylock)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-doctor-i-do-not-have-depression/561959/105 "2010-12-04T05:32:58Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > Hey, Mookies at it again. And my opinion hasnt changed a jot. > [Today I saw a loser that made me so mad - The BBQ Pit - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=543516) > > Was this really a year ago? Jeez, maybe Mookie just really hates Christmas music… Hey, a year of trying to get better and not one stitch of progress. Shows how fucking great I am, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-doctor-i-do-not-have-depression/561959/106 "2010-12-04T05:40:54Z")
About once a month I get a patient who, after no more prompting than “How are you doing?”, unloads on me about how horrible his life is, how he just doesn’t think he can ever be happy, etc. He’ll describe the symptoms of major depressive disorder to a T. I listen attentively, I offer whatever insights I may have, and then I suggest that medication might be an option for him. He then gets furious that I would suggest that he’s crazy and needs pills. Look, here’s my business card. Under my name there, does it say “Guy Who Waves Magic Wand And Makes Everything Better?” No. It says “Internal Medicine”. I manage chronic diseases for a living. I mostly do this by prescribing medicine. Sure, I have a few other tricks up my sleeve–lifestyle counseling, the occasional procedure, referrals to other practitioners–but by and large, I fix problems with pills. I’m not saying pills are the answer for everybody, but if you don’t want me to approach your depression as a chronic disease, I can’t help you. When I ask how you’re doing, say “Fine” so we can get on with fixing your high blood pressure. **mookieblaylock** , you do appear to be going to a mental health professional, which is good. But unless you’re willing to at least entertain his approach to your symptoms, why are you wasting his time and yours? He might not be the right practitioner for you. His approach might not be the right one. If you have a taste in your mouth this bad, you’re probably better off going someplace else anyway. But here’s a crazy idea–the next one you go see, _just do what he says_. Try to accept his insights and follow his prescriptions. And if he really does suggest meds, try that, too. Frankly, your approach to your life and your emotional health appears to be working for shit–why not try somebody else’s? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-doctor-i-do-not-have-depression/561959/107 "2010-12-04T05:45:13Z")
> [@mookieblaylock](#): > > Hey, a year of trying to get better and not one stitch of progress. Shows how fucking great I am, doesn’t it? Then this wasn’t the right therapist for you. Get another one. ---
**Author:** ![mookieblaylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@mookieblaylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mookieblaylock)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-doctor-i-do-not-have-depression/561959/108 "2010-12-04T05:49:08Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Then this wasn’t the right therapist for you. Get another one. Well, at this point I’ve been through so many therapists that I can only assume that there is no right one. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-doctor-i-do-not-have-depression/561959/109 "2010-12-04T05:56:18Z")
> [@mookieblaylock](#): > > Well, at this point I’ve been through so many therapists that I can only assume that there is no right one. I don’t think so. And for that matter I’m not sure how much progress you’re going to make in therapy with the attitude you have you keep saying any diagnosis is just an excuse for the fact that you suck and it sounds like you think the therapy is a joke. It’s hard for anything to work when you feel that way about it. ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-doctor-i-do-not-have-depression/561959/110 "2010-12-04T06:04:33Z")
> [@heathen\_earthling](#): > > Perhaps I would be a lot happier if I took anti-depressants, but I do think I would be at all the same person, and I really do not want to become delusional or ignorant of reality. So, better off to just accept what is, find some comfort in the exceptions (not _everything_ in life is worthless, there are some people and things that make me happy). I’m a depressed person and taking medication does not make me delusional or ignorant or reality. It doesn’t even make me happy, it does make me not miserable. My miserable, self hating mood no longer overpowers my enjoyment of nature, beauty, my family and everything else that makes this life bearable. My actual knowledge of the world and it’s people, the nature of our lives, the problems of the country, did not go away because I’m not depressed. Anti-depressants don’t erase your self, they let you be yourself whether you’re happy, melancholy, critical, grouchy, or any other personality type. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-doctor-i-do-not-have-depression/561959/111 "2010-12-04T06:43:13Z")
> [@mookieblaylock](#): > > Well, at this point I’ve been through so many therapists that I can only assume that there is no right one. My guess is that you went through so many because you didn’t want to take them seriously. You probably treated their advice like you’re treating everyone’s advice in this thread. Don’t expect them to be like Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting. If you act like Matt Damon did in the movie then no one will waste their time with you. That doesn’t mean you’re worthless. If you take therapy seriously then you can change. It’s an option that you will always have. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-doctor-i-do-not-have-depression/561959/112 "2010-12-04T12:51:06Z")
> [@Zulema](#): > > I’m a depressed person and taking medication does not make me delusional or ignorant or reality. It doesn’t even make me happy, it does make me not miserable. My miserable, self hating mood no longer overpowers my enjoyment of > nature, beauty, my family and everything else that makes this life bearable. My actual knowledge of the world and it’s people, the nature of our lives, the problems of the country, did not go away because I’m not depressed. > > Anti-depressants don’t erase your self, they let you be yourself whether you’re happy, melancholy, critical, grouchy, or any other personality type. Thank you. Anti-depressants are not some kind of hardcore goddamned “happy pills.” You’d think they’d work faster than they do if they were; most anti-depressants need at least a couple weeks, often longer, to start making things not look quite so bad to a depressed person. That kind of thinking is like a person with chronic pain (the physical kind) saying that life is pain and so why should they take anything at all to try to manage it. Well, because even if you buy that interpretation, sometimes alleviating the symptoms can give you a better life or at least more choices in it. I’ve dealt with bouts of depression on and off during my life, sometimes from external causes and sometimes not. Therapy is great but **you have to work at it**. Even when you feel like shit, you have to take at least tiny steps to proceed. Meds can also be great assistance - if you’re in a terrible state, the boost they give can get you to the point where you’re actually able to see what you have to do to improve, and to start working on that. To anyone who hasn’t found help from the usual talk therapy, I’ll suggest cognitive behavioral therapy, for breaking those harmful thought patterns and beliefs, and for getting out of the “wallowing” stage where you’re essentially digging yourself into a mental rut. A good place to start is a workbook to do at home yourself if you have enough motivation to do a small lesson on your own each day; the one I liked is [The Cognitive Behavioral Workbook for Depression: A Step-by-Step Program](http://www.amazon.com/Cognitive-Behavioral-Workbook-Depression-Step-/dp/1572244739/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291466206&sr=8-1) (Knaus and Ellis). I also know from personal experience, of being on the depressed end, that it’s often kind of fruitless to try to argue someone out of their depression, unless (sometimes) you’re very close to that person and can do a direct intervention. The depressed person gets trapped in thought patterns that are harmful, and those thoughts of being worthless and stupid and weak spiral in on them; you start thinking how worthless you are for even thinking/feeling that way, for instance. You turn into someone who says “but I can’t” and “you don’t understand” - even though a rescuer may not understand what a drowning person is going through, often that drowning person is the only one who can force themselves to stop flailing and just grab the rescue ring. To those who are depressed - you can improve how you feel and how you live your life, without being “fake” or “not your real self”. It will take effort, and even be **hard** at times, and you will hate part of the process. But it will be very much worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-doctor-i-do-not-have-depression/561959/113 "2010-12-04T13:13:01Z")
I read through the old thread that someone posted earlier. **Mookie** is someone who is perpetually wallowing in self pity, he enjoys wallowing in self pity. That and talking about himself. He doesn’t WANT to be helped but what he does want is peoples attention. Best to ignore him both here and IRL. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-doctor-i-do-not-have-depression/561959/114 "2010-12-04T14:15:23Z")
When I snapped off the top of my wristbone and was offered pain pills, I refused. I got through it with ice packs and a shot beore the doctor moved the bone and put a cast on it, then nothing but asprin and Aleve. Since I was in pain, maybe I should have just taken pain pills and not had the bone reset and worn a cast for ten weeks! Since I was in pain, I needed pain pills, right. I was in “situational pain” and pain pills would hasve been the medication that would have cured that problem. I could have functioned just as well with pain pills as a cast. Probably better! Though I would admit, this thread has changed my opinion on medicaion. Not enough to risk taking any, but it has made me more tolerant of other people who do so. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-doctor-i-do-not-have-depression/561959/115 "2010-12-04T14:19:36Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > You come in here at post #90 to link to your year-old pitting of the OP? It looks like there’s more than one person in this thread whose life could do with a little fine tuning. > > [/Moderator hat on] > Really, don’t do this. The past 89 posts include 3 from the OP and 86 from everyone else. I think by now everyone who wishes to can form an opinion about the OP, about the people who posted about the OP, and about the people who posted about the people who posted about the OP. Stirring up the slime with a year-old pitting is just being mean for the sake of meanness. To clarify, I posted it because it illustrated exactly just what is actually happening here (IMO of course). It is the exact same behaviour from Mookie that prompted the original pit, and the end result is likely to be exactly the same. It seemed to me that the context could be useful to people spending time typing advice for Mookie, advice that I believe will just be ignored. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-doctor-i-do-not-have-depression/561959/116 "2010-12-04T14:59:21Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > When I snapped off the top of my wristbone and was offered pain pills, I refused. I got through it with ice packs and a shot beore the doctor moved the bone and put a cast on it, then nothing but asprin and Aleve. How were the shot, aspirin and Aleve not “medication?” > [@](#): > > Since I was in pain, maybe I should have just taken pain pills and not had the bone reset and worn a cast for ten weeks! Since I was in pain, I needed pain pills, right. I was in “situational pain” and pain pills would hasve been the medication that would have cured that problem. I could have functioned just as well with pain pills as a cast. Probably better! So you’re saying that when your doctor above offered you pain pills, she was doing so as an _alternative_ to having the bone reset? :dubious: > [@](#): > > Not enough to risk taking any, but it has made me more tolerant of other people who do so. What possible difference does it make in anyone’s life whether you are “tolerant” regarding their personal medical issues? ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-doctor-i-do-not-have-depression/561959/117 "2010-12-04T18:03:54Z")
> [@madrabbitwoman](#): > > For anyone who may be interested > > An online self hep resources : Moodgym - [http://www.moodgym.anu.edu.au/welcome](http://www.moodgym.anu.edu.au/welcome) > > Also: e-couch - [http://ecouch.anu.edu.au/welcome](http://ecouch.anu.edu.au/welcome) Thanks for the links! These look really good. Now, for **mookie** : I have seasonal depression, which means right now I’m not quite myself. But remember this: you pay the doctor. You hired him. If the doctor is not helping you, or is not giving you what you need to get through, FIRE HIM. That is your right. Yes, life totally sucks. I get that. Keep looking until you find the help you need. No online community will be able to help you. No doctor will be able to help you UNLESS you are first willing to help yourself. I will not come back to this thread, because of my current situation. But I can say I will be praying for you. Don’t give up. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-doctor-i-do-not-have-depression/561959/118 "2010-12-04T18:46:50Z")
> [@heathen\_earthling](#): > > Depressed person chiming in here. > > Here’s how I see it: If the world didn’t suck, why would it even matter what chemicals our brains were bathed in? You wouldn’t need a chemical to _make_ you think life is wonderful, or bias you into thinking that. You could just take an objective look at the world around you and arrive at that conclusion rationally. I’ve always been depressed, but I don’t feel like I am unhappy for no reason… I see overwhelming evidence in the way the world works to support the conclusion that life is cruel and pointless. It’s not a matter of my emotional state, it’s a matter of undeniable facts that are beyond my control. Non-depressed people seem to be deluding themselves. > > It’s obvious to me why so many people are not depressed: Such people are favoured by natural selection. Once people became intelligent enough to realize how pointless nature’s rat race was, surely some of them just couldn’t be bothered to survive. A few belonged to a mutant strain whose brains produced their own mind-altering drugs, altering the consciousness in a way that increased ambition and will to live, while clouding the ability to recognize what life really is. So these people chose to remain alive, force life upon their many children, and dominate the gene pool today. > > Perhaps I would be a lot happier if I took anti-depressants, but I do think I would be at all the same person, and I really do not want to become delusional or ignorant of reality. So, better off to just accept what is, find some comfort in the exceptions (not _everything_ in life is worthless, there are some people and things that make me happy). What a load of drivel. Happy people, even neutral-feeling people are not ignorant of the miserable, shitty, unfair things in life, or the fact that in a hundred years nobody will know or care that most of us were ever here. That’s really one of those “no shit, Sherlock” sort of things that go without saying. We’re just also aware of all the good things that are also in the world and consider them to outweigh, or at least be equal to, the bad stuff. And I have a hard time believing you really believe this little screed about happy people being delusional–if all rational people clearly, objectively see that life is shitty and not worth living, and you claim to be rational, what the hell are you still doing here? Either you’re full of shit, or you’re one of the delusional masses. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-doctor-i-do-not-have-depression/561959/119 "2010-12-04T20:47:00Z")
Or better – taking an anti-depressant doesn’t mean that you don’t get pissed, sad, etc. It doesn’t mean I couldn’t grieve when my grandmother died, or get pissed if I failed a test, or what have you. It meant I could put things into perspective. My mood wasn’t constantly grief. I was able to be happy when good things happened, or sad when bad things happened. And best of all, along with therapy, I’m able to cope now with the obsessions that were taking over. OCD fucking sucks, but now I’ve got it under control. I’m not saying I don’t still have to deal with it – but that’s just it. I’m CAPABLE of dealing with it. Anti-depressants and/or therapy don’t make life one big picnic. They make it so life ISN’T one big funeral. And **Annie** , I’m so thrilled that you’re becoming “tolerant” that I don’t like having seizures. That’s mighty white of you. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-doctor-i-do-not-have-depression/561959/120 "2010-12-04T21:27:20Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Do you want it in suppository form, or something? I know you didn’t mean this in the way I’m going to use it 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-doctor-i-do-not-have-depression/561959.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-doctor-i-do-not-have-depression/561959.md?page=7)