Depression Options

[*disco infiltrator*]

A couple of days ago on Channel One, there was a segment on growing cases of depression in teens. They showed many examples of teens who had been diagnosed as "clinically depressed", "depressed", or "mildly depressed", and went through the symptoms of depression and behaviors commonly linked with depression. The segment poured a can of gasoline on the part of my brain that controls anger and the teens presented in the segment all contributed to lighting the spark.

Depression is not a disease. More often than not, it is brought on by a traumatic or life-changing experience that the person is unable to cope with. Even if nothing terribly awful has happened to a person, they can still be upset about something, or just be changing their views and opinions on life. Being a teenager is a tough time for anyone. Some have issues with even existing.

Some of the symptoms they discussed on the segment were irritability, antisocial behavior, a lack of motivation, a change in grades, and an unwillingness to participate in activities one once enjoyed. These are all absolutely normal occurrences in a teenager's life. I know that I, myself, have been exhibiting a large amount of antisocial behavior lately, simply because I am becoming more and more critical of human nature and do not enjoy spending time with many people. That does not correlate to depression. The bounds of normality seem to be rapidly imploding in our world and the desperation for everything to be happy and good is getting tiresome.

When one thinks of diagnosing people with mental disorders such as depression or bipolar disorder, one must think of prime examples of the destruction that such a thing can cause. Brave New World is a wonderful literary example of this and it was written 40 or so years ago (maybe even 50, I'm not clear on the date of publication). People are supposed to feel sadness and anger, fatigue and doubt. Feeling these emotions and overcoming the effect they have is a large sign of maturity. It's OK to feel sad; the problem comes when one cannot move on from the sadness. But, even if the person is having trouble, there is no call to put the person on medication to make them feel better. They need to cope with sadness, loss, and disappointment in order to grow.

Everyone needs to stop diagnosing and treating.

[Jane Doe.]

Antidepressants have never been a wonder-fix given by psychs. Depression can be caused by so much more than a traumatic event---or it could be worsened, in addition to another physical or mental condition. Take me for example: I've suffered from anxiety as a child; it got worse to the point of panic attacks; then, depression hit, where EVERYTHING was affected in my life. Not just sadness. Lack of energy, lack of interest, oversensitivity, impending doom, paranoia, and then constant loss of memories (and hell, days)--and not just by being wrapped up in myself--I was just gone. And then the physical symptoms got worse and I was tested and oh, I have a thyroid problem. I was told that could have been a factor of my worsening condition.

Antidepressants do the same. They give the person "assistance" and the person thinks that since they are taking these things, they can get over it - that whole enabling thing I talked about. Once they have the idea that they can overcome it, they will. So, when antidepressants work, it's because of the person's willpower and because they were convinced that they could overcome the sadness

And what about therapy? Honestly, treatment for someone who is suffering from major depression is usually meds+therapy. Now, I've never been diagnosed with 'mild' depression; it's always 'major' and always followed up with intense therapy. I do see where you're coming from, Sammi, but not everyone can be slapped with a smiley face and told to deal with his/her shit. It is a condition, usually chronic, that needs to be treated early on or else it can worsen and lead to much worse conditions. So while it does annoy me when I see doctors on television talking about how so many teenagers are depressed, I do realize that they are doing what they should: they are treating symptoms early on, in hopes of it not worsening. Who is to say they may not be manic depressive or have a panic attack disorder? Not you, not me, but a doctor.
When I was younger, no one ever really took into consideration I could have something more than laziness; then my social worker came along, and she listened to me. So she told me that hey, this isn't normal, and you can get help. So two years later, after being on about 7 different medications for different conditions, I'm still alive. Had I not seen a doctor, a therapist, been diagnosed and treated, I would be dead. That is not to say I am 'fixed'; far from it. The medication only curbs the symptoms slightly, but they actually do help me function; but sadly, I have trouble when I miss a dose, but I deal with it.
I am trying to recover from my mental conditions, disorders (oh yes, I do have disorders.) and it would not have been possible without my doctors and therapists. Maybe you have the wrong idea of what depression is, but I just felt the need to give my opinion.
Ta.

[*disco infiltrator*]

Antidepressants have never been a wonder-fix given by psychs. Depression can be caused by so much more than a traumatic event---or it could be worsened, in addition to another physical or mental condition. Take me for example: I've suffered from anxiety as a child; it got worse to the point of panic attacks; then, depression hit, where EVERYTHING was affected in my life. Not just sadness. Lack of energy, lack of interest, oversensitivity, impending doom, paranoia, and then constant loss of memories (and hell, days)--and not just by being wrapped up in myself--I was just gone. And then the physical symptoms got worse and I was tested and oh, I have a thyroid problem. I was told that could have been a factor of my worsening condition.

And what about therapy? Honestly, treatment for someone who is suffering from major depression is usually meds+therapy. Now, I've never been diagnosed with 'mild' depression; it's always 'major' and always followed up with intense therapy. I do see where you're coming from, Sammi, but not everyone can be slapped with a smiley face and told to deal with his/her shit. It is a condition, usually chronic, that needs to be treated early on or else it can worsen and lead to much worse conditions. So while it does annoy me when I see doctors on television talking about how so many teenagers are depressed, I do realize that they are doing what they should: they are treating symptoms early on, in hopes of it not worsening. Who is to say they may not be manic depressive or have a panic attack disorder? Not you, not me, but a doctor.
When I was younger, no one ever really took into consideration I could have something more than laziness; then my social worker came along, and she listened to me. So she told me that hey, this isn't normal, and you can get help. So two years later, after being on about 7 different medications for different conditions, I'm still alive. Had I not seen a doctor, a therapist, been diagnosed and treated, I would be dead. That is not to say I am 'fixed'; far from it. The medication only curbs the symptoms slightly, but they actually do help me function; but sadly, I have trouble when I miss a dose, but I deal with it.
I am trying to recover from my mental conditions, disorders (oh yes, I do have disorders.) and it would not have been possible without my doctors and therapists. Maybe you have the wrong idea of what depression is, but I just felt the need to give my opinion.
Ta.

I have absolutely no problem with therapy. I said in an earlier post that other people, listening and giving advice and helping, can be one of the greatest reassurances of your own strength. A therapist is a great option for those who feel as if they have no one else to talk to. All I have a problem with is categorizing deep sadness as a disease and something that needs to be fixed. It's getting to the point where we feel as if we must fix every "problem" with us when really, these problems are normal occurrences (no matter how strong). There's a strong tendency for people to think that it's abnormal to have a bad day and that one must be happy no matter what. My own mother keeps trying to put me on antidepressants when I am so far from clinically depressed or anything, just because I'm somewhat of an antisocial misanthrope. The lines of normality are being drawn into a very small box and the mentality that everyone outside that box has a problem is a problem within itself.

I really don't think that any sort of sadness requires medication; perhaps for very, very serious cases, but then the person needs to be weened off of the medication, because the use of their own strength is the only thing that will make them happy.