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The legitimacy of depression as an illness. (10 Viewers)

SnowFox

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I tell people with athsma and diabetes to get over it all the time. Especially if it is caused through their own actions. ie fat people with diabetes from being fat, smokers with athsma. Makes me feel great about myself really. Therefore why should i make allowances for people with depression when it is caused by their own actions? ie being shit at life etc (you know what i mean).
No I don't know what you mean.
Go on, tell me that being sexually abused by my older brother and having a heroin addict as a father and watching my auntie die on my front lawn from an overdose and having my best friend commit suicide is all my fault, and I am simply being shit at life.

You are absolutely pathetic.
He did say "you know what I mean."

He is clearly saying if the individual bought it upon themselves, then its their fault and he would pass no sympathy what so ever onto that individual.

Read properly before posting, although in your case im going to say the depression wasnt bought upon by your own actions, but you were the idiot for calling someone pathetic because they dont care if the person brought it upon themselves.

Im pretty sure he would feel sympathy if it wasnt bought upon themselves.
 

KillerIsMe

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He did say "you know what I mean."

He is clearly saying if the individual bought it upon themselves, then its their fault and he would pass no sympathy what so ever onto that individual.

Read properly before posting, although in your case im going to say the depression wasnt bought upon by your own actions, but you were the idiot for calling someone pathetic because they dont care if the person brought it upon themselves.

Im pretty sure he would feel sympathy if it wasnt bought upon themselves.
The pathetic comment is for him assuming that everyone who has depression has bought it on themselves, and saying you know what I mean like depression is not legitimate at all.

People who 'bring it upon themselves' generally don't do this at all. These are the people who say 'omg i'm so depressed' but then do not seek help and never intend on doing so because they clearly do not have depression and are attention seeking, which is 90% of people who claim they have the illness.
 

SnowFox

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Did you even read what he said?
Obviously not.

The pathetic comment is for him assuming that everyone who has depression has bought it on themselves, and saying you know what I mean like depression is not legitimate at all.

People who 'bring it upon themselves' generally don't do this at all. These are the people who say 'omg i'm so depressed' but then do not seek help and never intend on doing so because they clearly do not have depression and are attention seeking, which is 90% of people who claim they have the illness.
What he means by "bring it upon themselves" are people who intentionally doing self harm, I.E. Asthma sufferers smoking, Diabetics eating the wrong food, people who are NOT suffering from Clinical Depression, but just feeling "down" because they are not doing the right things in life and not fixing it.

I haven't read anywhere he said he denied its legitimacy, so open your bloody eyes and learn to read.
 

simmowrites

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We live in a country where suicide outweighs murder and deaths from motor vehicles. Approximately 2000 people commit suicide every year, times that by 30 and thats how many people attempt suicide each year. Thats 168 people per day that are trying to take their life. Internationally, these statistics are much the same, with minor variations.
I think the debate about whether this is an actual illness is insignificant, the fact is that depression and suicide is a legitmate problem in society, which is not helped by a lot of the taboo's and ignorance about the issue (ie: "emo's").

Depression has been described as a 'season of prolonged sadness, helpessness and hopelessness, either trigerred by something traumatic, or that comes on for no apparent reason.' I think everyone can relate to feeling like that at some point. I hate the fact that I hear sniggers and comments every single day about 'emo's' or think that depression is just some joke that people use as a way to get attention. Yes, some people do that, but can you pick which one it is? Is it worth ridiculing this person for your own pathetic entertainment, only to have them take their life?

Just last week a family friend committed suicide. He was a father, a son, a husband and a friend, amongst other things. He was special to so many people, who will always be left with the unanswered questions. Nobody knew about the loneliness he felt inside, despite being surrounded by so many people who cared about him.

I have had friends and family who have attempted suicide and suffered depression themselves. Although they did not actually die from this as a result, the long term affects will never go away, not for them or for the people that cared.

But this story is not unheard of. These people are statistics, but behind each one is a story. I don't think it is up to anybody to judge whether or not what they had was in fact a disease or an illness, because unless you actually go through what they go through everyday, you have no right to ridicule or criticise or pass judgement.
 

simmowrites

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People who 'bring it upon themselves' generally don't do this at all. These are the people who say 'omg i'm so depressed' but then do not seek help and never intend on doing so because they clearly do not have depression and are attention seeking, which is 90% of people who claim they have the illness.
Where did you get your facts from again?
 

amyianson

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Depression is a legitimant illness.

Those who 'claim ' to have depression, probably dont. Depression is a dark place and most likely not something advocated.

I also think it is too widely diagnosed by doctors, though it is impossible to define as everyone has a different level of mental resilience.
 

boris

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Depression is a legitimant illness.

Those who 'claim ' to have depression, probably dont. Depression is a dark place and most likely not something advocated.

I also think it is too widely diagnosed by doctors, though it is impossible to define as everyone has a different level of mental resilience.

exactly what i have been saying the entire time
 

tessbd

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I do not subscribe to the idea that medicines will solve your problems. They will put them away for a while, but from my studies I understand they usually have a high relapse rate. Having the skills to deal with your problems is a 'medicine' that you will always carry with you, and as time goes by its effect becomes more and more permanent until you become a functional member of society.
Agreed. Medicines, hwoever, do help and most doctors refuse to prescribe antidepressants unless they'll be used properly-that is, with a psychiatrist. not just a psychologist.

Not many people realise that antidepressants arent just to make you happy, they are there for a lift that is just high enough to let you get something out of the psychiatrist's treatment.

Without my meds, I got absolute shit out of my sessions because you're just past that. With depression comes this sort of separation to the world, a surreal kind of nature that means you make shitty decisions, of course added to the already crappy decisions you tend to make. You also can't really.. take anything in.

So medication is there to get you back into life just enough for therapy to help.
With my medication, i could get up most mornings, but still couldn't concentrate at school, for example.

So basically the medication is there to get you awake enough to actually try and recover.
 

tessbd

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We live in a country where suicide outweighs murder and deaths from motor vehicles. Approximately 2000 people commit suicide every year, times that by 30 and thats how many people attempt suicide each year. Thats 168 people per day that are trying to take their life. Internationally, these statistics are much the same, with minor variations.
I think the debate about whether this is an actual illness is insignificant, the fact is that depression and suicide is a legitmate problem in society, which is not helped by a lot of the taboo's and ignorance about the issue (ie: "emo's").
Yes but suicide can be due to multiple things that are generally not as doubted by society as long-term depression. e.g. post-natal; traumatic stress etc


Depression has been described as a 'season of prolonged sadness, helpessness and hopelessness, either trigerred by something traumatic, or that comes on for no apparent reason.' I think everyone can relate to feeling like that at some point. I hate the fact that I hear sniggers and comments every single day about 'emo's' or think that depression is just some joke that people use as a way to get attention. Yes, some people do that, but can you pick which one it is? Is it worth ridiculing this person for your own pathetic entertainment, only to have them take their life?
I think emos are freaking annoying.. i mean, and i cant identify them, the ones that just tag along for kicks.. they endanger those ones who are actually in need of help.. for example, rather than three people who obviously need help, they are now eclipsed by 20 of their friends who obviously are just in it for the attention. because of them, the 3 in danger are never helped because they are characterised by their mates, the majority of whom can safely just be ignored.


I have had friends and family who have attempted suicide and suffered depression themselves. Although they did not actually die from this as a result, the long term affects will never go away, not for them or for the people that cared.
agreed. most people never get over it. im happy to talk about most of my experiences with my mates, some of my doctors.. but then even almost 2 years on, just seeing the word "suicide" on paper makes me dizzy and panicky.
i know how to deal with panic attacks and blah blah blah, so noone say that i'm not trying to deal with it... but that initial reaction will never go away.


my main point:

with most people, even without the specific events and all, the really bad cases will be with them for life.
i will have depression for the rest of my life. most people say 'dont say that, itll get better'. but yes and no:
as an illness, it will be with me for most of my life, i know that, ive been told that, and i can feel that. hwoever, the symptoms probably will not be. i might have fluctuations or i might not, but that depressive feeling WILL be with me. but i'm okay with that, because i'm learning how to deal with the long-term and short-term effects.
those around me know how things will happen, and we'll prevent fluctuations as best we can, and hoepfully ill never have all of those depressive symptoms.. but i will always feel it.

people with depression might have 2 or 3 years of shitness then through therapy or medication or just time, it might pass. for a lot though, even when it passes, the residue will still be there.

its kinda hard to explain..
but basically, people with depression generally can reach a point where they can concentrate and feel and therefore live by themselves, hold jobs and relationships etc but they still wont be back to normal.


the thing i regret most from the past few years is how ive affected those around me. after i got out of hospital and talked to the boyfriend, i realised how it had affected him and thats one of the things that has actually kept me out of hospital for so long. i had no sympathy for myself, and i didnt care what i did to myself or what happened, but i felt so selfish afterwards because i realised how fucking stupid i was to forget how it was for those around me.

it's kind of like waking up out of a dream really gradually.
 

tessbd

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Those who 'claim ' to have depression, probably dont. Depression is a dark place and most likely not something advocated.
i agree. i also think, hwoever, that people need to be educated about what it actually is, because we get all of these mixed messages about what it is and its different forms. especially from those douchebags who say "been sad for 2 weeks? DEPRESSION!!"

i never wanted to talk about it when it was at its worst, but now that the crappiest bit is over i want to be able to help those who need it.

plus, in most situations, people need to understand it as an illness when it's at its worst. months after getting out of hospital i began to feel unashamed because i realised i wouldnt be ashamed if it was a broken leg or pneumonia..
 

tessbd

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And what is it exactly?
well, evidently, we dont know.. but there are still a hell of a lot of myths that should be ignored, and we should stop educating people by saying that "this and this symptom" which everyone has had at some point means you are tragically ill and should run full-speed towards a gp straight away.
 

tessbd

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ok well then we should be telling people what it ISNT
 

black_kat_meow

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well, evidently, we dont know.. but there are still a hell of a lot of myths that should be ignored, and we should stop educating people by saying that "this and this symptom" which everyone has had at some point means you are tragically ill and should run full-speed towards a gp straight away.
isn't that better than having others slip through the cracks and suffer in silence?
 

XPac2

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i think i already proved the legitimacy as depression as an illness in the other, more biased, thread over in general. read that.
 

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