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Here on C-D, it's possible to read about a lot of people who are having problems in their lives. We see them on this thread — and even more often on the threads dealing with interpersonal and romantic relationships. It often seems to me that a person describing a chronic problem — suffered by themselves or someone they have to deal with on a regular basis — might be related to untreated depressive disorder. I usually make a suggestion that the person might want to explore a checklist of questions designed to identify people with some form of depression.
Recently, I came across a website that has information about various depressive disorders that explains the problem, and what to do about it. It's in layperson's terms and has video graphics that depict what is going on in the brain of someone suffering from a depressive disorder. The website has several videos, one from Dr. Holly Atkinson of New York's Mt. Sinai Hospital. She explains the difference between depression and a down mood or grief reactions and points out that there are different types of depression ranging from severe unipolar depression to bipolar disorder to illnesses such as seasonal affective disorder and postpartum depression.
I come from a family where members on both my mother's and father's sides have suffered from this problem and I myself have been treated for drug-resistant unipolar depression since the 1980s. I am aware of the level of misinformation out there about depression. I am also aware of how many people are suffering who might be helped if they had more information about this syndrome which has genetic and environmental components that effect chemical imbalances in the brain.
Many people are under the impression that the depressed could pull themselves out of their mood on their own if they only tried. This is no more more likely than expecting a diabetic to talk themselves out of their illness. Depression is not a character issue. A sufferer can ignore it, or try to deal with it on his or her own, but doing so will have long-term negative implications for one's overall health and interpersonal relationships.
If you think you may be depressed yourself, or know someone you suspect may suffer from the disorder, you might want to check out the information presented on the website HealthiNation.com. Living With Depression Center
no i dont suffer from depression, i just wont let it in. when depression smiles at me, i smile back, grab it by the throat, and kick it in the testicles. and then i toss it into the trash heap and go back inside and wash my hands.
no i dont suffer from depression, i just wont let it in. when depression smiles at me, i smile back, grab it by the throat, and kick it in the testicles. and then i toss it into the trash heap and go back inside and wash my hands.
Well then, you've diagnosed yourself correctly. You don't suffer from depression. What you are kicking is a down mood. If you actually had depressive disorder, it would be kicking you.
There's a razor-thin line between a laugh and a cry, and that's why so many are unable to detect depression in others. More overt depressed types see others laughing, and not realizing that person is depressed, crying!
People react differently to depression. My brother has never shown any signs of depression, but he doesn't fool this often-depressed person, as he'll gorge on food and gain weight! My sister keeps a big bag of M&M's handy and will devour a whole sack of them in record time!
I lean more towards manic depression involving hyper-activity, thinking I'll just burn it away with activity.
I was having problems with Depression in high school, and even skipped school to see a Psychiatrist, who prescribed anti-depressants, which I took for awhile, and quit! I believe it was Freud, when encountering someone depressed, would ask the question: Whom are you angry with? As anger turned inwards, can turn into depression. At the time of my high school depression I learned it was anger with my Dad.
Today, you can brush shoulders with anger just about anywhere, workplace setting, reading the paper, watching the news, driving the car. I work in a Nursing home/Rehab center, and small wonder you run into so many depressed workers in this place!
I believe it was Freud, when encountering someone depressed, would ask the question: Whom are you angry with? As anger turned inwards, [it] can turn into depression.
I have heard depression described as "anger without enthusiasm".
That is often apt, but probably an oversimplification. For me, depression tends to visit more in the form of weariness. Life requires a certain amount of energy and effort to be expended, and if that expenditure doesn't seem to be availing you much, it becomes an often thankless slog. One is put in mind of the Vogons in [i]Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy", who, when hit with a "depression gun" fall down en masse and moan, "what's the point?" Is this angry, or just exhausted? Or too exhausted to even BE angry?
Or maybe it is anger at an unasked for existence. One finds oneself in some ridiculous circumstance, struggling seemingly against the very gods, and one response to that imposition is to just sit down and quit.
It never lasts long of course because most of us are hungrier and colder than we are hopeless. We get back up and earn our paycheck so we can buy food and pay the heating bills.
There's a razor-thin line between a laugh and a cry, and that's why so many are unable to detect depression in others. More overt depressed types see others laughing, and not realizing that person is depressed, crying! ...
Today, you can brush shoulders with anger just about anywhere, workplace setting, reading the paper, watching the news, driving the car. I work in a Nursing home/Rehab center, and small wonder you run into so many depressed workers in this place!
You first statement is very true. Many depressed people develop a quick sense of humor to deflect attention away from their mood and also because they tend to see to the very bottom of situations, which many people find funny. Ever notice how many comedians commit suicide? Robin Williams is just the most recent and most famous to the current generation. Many creative types are also chronic drinkers or drug abusers. It's often suspected that this behavior pattern is a way people try to self-medicate against their darker moods. But, in fact, in the long run substance abuse makes depression worse, not better.
In addition to nursing home workers being depressed (and I agree, that could be a very depressing job), people who never had depression in their lives sometimes develop it in old age. But I suppose they are more likely to be diagnosed and treated when they are in a clinical setting.
Last edited by Jukesgrrl; 10-29-2014 at 01:44 PM..
I have heard depression described as "anger without enthusiasm".
That is often apt, but probably an oversimplification. For me, depression tends to visit more in the form of weariness. Life requires a certain amount of energy and effort to be expended, and if that expenditure doesn't seem to be availing you much, it becomes an often thankless slog. One is put in mind of the Vogons in [i]Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy", who, when hit with a "depression gun" fall down en masse and moan, "what's the point?" Is this angry, or just exhausted? Or too exhausted to even BE angry?
Or maybe it is anger at an unasked for existence. One finds oneself in some ridiculous circumstance, struggling seemingly against the very gods, and one response to that imposition is to just sit down and quit.
It never lasts long of course because most of us are hungrier and colder than we are hopeless. We get back up and earn our paycheck so we can buy food and pay the heating bills.
What you are describing is a common form of low-level depression called dysthymia. All About Depression: Diagnosis
Or what the French call ennui. The doctor in the video I linked with described it. Because researchers now know a lot more about the physiology of depression, it's much more treatable than it was even 15 years ago. The milder forms of depression — those not complicated by severe environmental factors or mania (bipolar disorder being the hardest to treat) — often respond really well to low levels of medications like Zoloft or Wellbutrin. Patients become much more productive and suffer less from anhedonia, the inability to experience enjoyment from pleasurable experiences.
You first statement is very true. Many depressed people develop a quick sense of humor to deflect attention away from their mood and also because they tend to see to the very bottom of situations, which many people find funny. Ever notice how many comedians commit suicide? Robin Williams is just the most recent and most famous to the current generation. Many creative types are also chronic drinkers or drug abusers. It's often suspected that this behavior pattern is a way people try to self-medicate against their darker moods.
Spot on! I can be the stone-faced comedian at work (albeit dark, ironic, subtle humor) that can get the patients and staff rolling in laughter. But not everyone! With subtle dark humor you need to listen very closely or you'll miss the punch line! And, don't really care if the punch line is missed or not, I get a good laugh out of it anyway!
I think most know if they suffer from it and even recognize the blues when they have it. But no I do not wander I know I do not now or ever have suffered from it. The future I leave to the future as not much is assured.
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