I think depression is stupid.

[Kraziee65]

To let you guys know, I don't have depression, nor did I ever. So maybe I just don't "understand", but I seriously think depression is stupid. If you have depression you most likely live in a first world country that has internet and medicine and good education systems. So why are you crying about it? We could just ship you off to some random third world country and make you appreciate the things you have in life. Hell the freaking people of said third world country are more happier then you are! They don't get everything they need, yet they're still happier, they still have the will to live life! So why on God's green earth are people complaining about depression! I honestly see people that claim they have depression as "You know I'm moody and have nothing to complain about, so I'm just going to complain about nothing my hole life". What's the deal with depression? Why of all things is this an epidemic?

[Skyline]

I'm not depressive, and I haven't ever been, but 3 of my friends are, and I can tell you it isn't as simple as you make it seem.
Sure, I don't think depression is the way on, but it turns out it's very hard to avoid for them. I have my moments when I feel down - sometimes I don't even know why - and all my emotions well up in me and I just can't stop myself from crying and feeling angry. I guess that for people with depression it's based on that principle, except they are constantly reminded (or thinking) of their problems.
So, I don't think it's fair to say "it's stupid" and "they don't know how lucky they are to live in a first world country". It's basically the same as going up to someone who's crying over a relative's death and saying "stop crying, it's stupid, think about all the African children who have nothing to eat." Seriously. First of all, it's good to let them cry off the frustration, and second of all, telling them they live in a good country will not help. The way I see it, you can only be grateful for something if you have lived without it.
Okay, so that's all I wanted to say. Sorry if I seemed a bit aggressive or whatever, it's just I feel quite strongly about it.

[Mahray]

Few things here. Depression is an illness. What you're doing is like saying to someone with cancer "Oh, but you live in a first world country, you should be happy". We don't choose to be sick, we don't choose to be depressed.

Depression is also often caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. That's right, your brain is screwing you over. So do you think that people are just making up having diabetes? That's your hormones screwing you over. Same thing, different organ.

I have a pretty damn good life. I'm in a secure career, I have amazingly supportive family and friends. I struggle with depression. My sister is on antidepressants, pretty much for life. With them correcting brain chemicals, she functions at a really high level (full-time mother, priest, and study). Without them? She can barely function.

[Forging Galaxies]

Depression is the way I understand it, is a disease, a chemical (which is your depression) in your brain that sorta just expands and dominate your mind.

Depression can be caused by a number of reasons:

1) The loss of a love one

2) Your life is going downhill (meaning you're not getting any jobs or anything that you need)

3) Or just like I said, you may be classed with a disorder regarding depression.

In most cases, the third reason is probs most common to my belief (or not).

I can understand why someone who never gets depression can see is depression as "dumb" but the way you view it is plainly out of ignorance, there's alot more to it than what you know about it. A lot more.
That's like hearing your friend saying she got a puppy and you say "Oh that's cute" but when you see the puppy, you squeal and adore it. What I'm trying to say is that sure, depression sounds bad but when you truly are experiencing it, it's a lot worse than you can ever imagine.


Just one thing, I don't understand what you mean that people in the third-word countries are happier than people the first world countries with depression such as myself. It's a funny statement, they do have it worse than us. (in my opinion)
I wouldn't say first-world countries are relatively "happy" places, it depends where you are going, you can go to the wrong alley and still get trouble mixed in with life. I know I'm being vague here but still...
Hell, just to prove it myself a point of my own. When I hear the news and hear any third-world countries have horrible problems and basically innocent people dying, I really get depressed by that because there's nothing I can do. (as a result, I stay away from the news, unless they start actually giving good news )

My depressions are largely based on self-doubt, the feeling of being a failure (due to a number of private reasons) because of that, I feel like I failed someone and other stuff followed by being plain lonely. I feel like a failure because I want to be at the point where I can help people, especially in third-world countries. Say what you want about my depression but my heart is in the right place and you must remember that depression is an unbalance chemical in your brain (Look it up, I'm not an expert of saying it medically), it gets worse.

Please remember that the mind is not always so as simple as your body. Especially even today, scientist are still trying to understand the "brain".

I'm sorry if I sound brutal or anything close to that. That's likely due to literally having woke up to replying on this thread.

(On a side note, there's a chance you may have depression in your life. A high chance, hopefully you'll begin to understand what's it like).

Bleh, other users can give better explanations than a lousy brain here that's still waking up. Follow their advice.

[Doodle.]

Depression is often caused by chemical imbalances which we have no control of. People don't wake up one day and say "hmmm, I think I'll be depressed today, that will be fun"

Living in a first world country doesn't automatically mean you're living a good life. People are homeless, abused, struggling with an illness etc.

The brain is incredibly complex, we still know very little about it. It will decide to fcuk up on us occasionally.

You may find this interesting:

http://www.health.harvard.edu/newswe...depression.htm

[YoungK9]

In many third world Countries, mental health isn't recognized so to speak. There's a lot of stigma about mental illness, & there isn't much in the line of getting help. Here in the US,& parts of Europe, it is, recognized as illness. People are diagnosed with depression,& they receive help. In third world countries not so much. Many don't even have that good of health care period, so the likeness of being diagnosed there is not very likely.

Money doesn't make everyone happy. Neither does internet. Or other luxuries. Of course, these things CAN make people happy, but, just because that one item makes you happy, it doesn't mean it will for someone else. Believe it or not, people in first world countries have it hard too. Maybe not to the same extent people in third countries do.

Depression is illness like any other. You wouldn't tell some with diabetes to just get over it, would you? No. I think not. It's the same with depression. It can be life threatening too. People don't choose to have depression,& who would? There are millions of people in the US with diagnosed with depression,& many more not diagnosed with it. You can just get happy, or get over it, when you have depression. I wish I could though! Depression sucks. So much.

You really need to have had depression, to know it is truly likely. I understand if you haven't experienced this, or that, it can be hard to understand. That doesn't mean you can be "ignorant" so to say. You don't need to have(or had) depression, to be educated.

[Most Likely]

Depression is an illness. We don't feel good for the way we feel anyway. You think for us it's just simple "crying" about stuff? It's not exactly the feeling of sadness and unhappiness, at least not literally. It's more about feeling dull and empty. It's hopelessness, it's a lot of things.

WE KNOW WE ARE LUCKY CAUSE WE HAVE X Y Z. Depressed doesn't mean stupid. Knowing this makes us feel no better, because it makes us feel like our illness is irrational, and that we're just spoiled (it was this way in my case). So it's perpetuum mobile.


Your statement was super ignorant, I have to say.

About talking that others have/dont have something.



Others take drugs, fuck randomly and have kids at the age of 14. Does that mean I should be like them?

Think before you write something.

[hocus pocus]

The reason why you don't understand depression because you have not been through it yourself. Sure, you can educate yourself or try to understand but unless you go through it you won't ever understand it. As others have stated, all of the money in the world can't buy happiness.

Living in a first world country doesn't automatically mean you're living a good life. People are homeless, abused, struggling with an illness etc.

I couldn't agree with this more. OP, so many people put on brave faces and everyone is fighting a battle that you don't know about. This is why every single person on this earth deserves to be treated with kindness and respect because you don't know what happens behind closed doors. You never really know someone fully and I think it is unfair to make assumptions like that. In some cases, it is assumptions such as these that make people who suffer feel worse.

You have the right to have an opinion though.

[Kate*]

It's obvious based on your post that you don't understand and as someone who has suffered from this illness, and yes it's an illness for half of my life I'm torn between understanding that you just don't get it and being offended. It is often caused by a chemical imbalance and can affect ANYONE at any time in their life. It doesn't have to be triggered by anything, it can just happen and a lot of the time the person who has it knows that they have nothing to be upset about and wants to be happy yet they can't help feeling completely miserable for no reason. We aren't crying over what we do or don't have or because we think we're entitled or because we're selfish, it happens to us because of a physical problem with our brain. If you'd like to understand it then I'd be happy to explain it to you, but if your goal in asking "what the deal is" is just to rant or try to snap those who suffer out of it when you can't understand because you haven't lived it then that's something else.

Before bashing something you should do research on the topic. You would be a lot more informed if you did. Depression is a mental illness and as such has to do with a chemical imbalance in the brain. People who suffer from depression can't help how they feel just like someone with asthma or cancer can't help what happens to them. They can change some of the situations in their lives which can better things but it won't make the depression go away completely. That is why there are professionals like psychiatrist who treat depression with medicine.

There is more I could say on this topic but I'll leave it at that. Hope you have a fantastic day.

[Astrophile.]

You're entitled to your opinion, but I just want you to know that it's not as black and white as you think it is. Money cannot buy happiness, and I doubt that it will ever be the case. I have a lot of things going for me, but I still suffer with depression/bipolar. It's a mixture of a chemical imbalance and environmental factors (such as abuse/neglect) that have caused me to struggle so much. You don't understand it, and that's fine, but think before you speak because it might cause people to become offended-- like I'm sure a lot of people here are.

[Kintsukuroi.]

You may have your opinion but depression is an illness just like cancer or any other disease. It can be caused by a mixture of things, a chemical imbalance in the brain and the environment you live in(traumatic events, upbringing etc) You wouldn't say to someone who has asthma that they are choosing to be sick, it's the same with depression or any other mental illness.
Money doesn't buy happiness. Yeah you can buy "stuff" that can make you feel happy but that doesn't change the fact that you are depressed. Just because you live in a first world country doesn't change the fact that people suffer from depression. People can be abused, sick or depressed just because of the chemical imbalance in their brain.
My parents both have a lot of money, we live in a big house, have nice cars and a boat, take vacations, we have a lot of stuff and I appreciate what I have. But I am depressed. Yeah on the outside my life looks really good, and you can judge all you want but you don't know what I have suffered through. People who suffer from depression are really good at hiding it because of judgemental people like you who tell is we have no reason to be depressed. Don't judge us by what our life appears to be, because you don't know what someone is suffering from.
You are free to speak your opinion but next time do a little bit of research and think twice before you post it on a help site where there is people suffering from depression and other mental illnesses. You have greatly offended me, and I'm sure you have offended others on this site. I'm sorry if this came across rude but it's judgemental people and their comments who piss me off.
Have a nice day.

[gdheiwmow]

As someone who is antipsychiatry and antipsychology, I don't agree with those saying it's a mental illness or "chemical imbalance". However, as someone living in a first world country, I have experienced depression and know that it is not so simple as you make it out to be. Depression isn't just feeling sad. It has a wide range of symptoms as well. I know that when I first had this problem, I could barely get out of bed in the morning. My limbs felt like lead weights and the veins in my head pounded so hard I got headaches every day. It's definitely something that will break your spirit when you are in physical pain and stress all day every day.

Aside from the physical health problems it brings, many people feel extremely stressed out with work, school, and their social or private life. Students are being overworked and getting less sleep than they used to. Economic problems force workers to increase their work load. Japan even had to invent words for this because it has become such a common occurrence- karoshi (worked to death) and karojisatsu (suicide from being overworked).

People also, as typically imagined, get this after spending long periods of time being isolated, bullied, neglected or abused, etc. Sometimes, it even happens as one is approaching old age or incurable/costly illness. Just because we have better technology, healthcare, education and so forth doesn't mean the problems don't exist. Also, you say that they don't get everything they need and are still happy. This is oversimplification, and might I add Guyana has the 4th highest rate of suicide in the world, according to Wikipedia. The US is at 34, UK at 37. Clearly the people of third world countries are not all rainbows and smiley faces like you seem to be implying.

[Amandaapandaa]

You sound so much like my mom when you express how "wrong" depression sounds. I cant even try talking to my mom about depression without her thinking im pretending. not everyone has a happy life. A lot of us have gone through mental struggles. Just because you haven't gone through depression doesn't mean you can just judge people by their depression disorder.

Please think things through before you post threads that are offensive to people with struggles.

Amanda

[DanTheMan :P]

Thats because you've never experienced it. People don't kill themselves for fun.

[Kraziee65]

I'd like to apologize for my behavior in this post. I am human and I do get angry at times.

[weaved1]

According to your logic OP (which is heavily flawed by some attempt at superficial guilt-tripping?), this means because someone has it better than us and are happier, we can't be happy too, we don't have the right to.. same way with depression; just because someone has it harder, doesn't make your situation any different.

I mean, I agree with you on some level, there are just depressed people out there who just don't want to help themselves...

Originally Posted by Mahray

Few things here. Depression is an illness. What you're doing is like saying to someone with cancer "Oh, but you live in a first world country, you should be happy".

To some degree, yes they should be happy that they are in a nation with a wide array of cancer treatments.. I mean, my mom's sister passed away, and she lived in a third world country. It was the lung cancer that obliterated her daily life and she couldn't afford treatment half the time. When my dad sent money over, which were in the 4-figures.. it was too late. So f*ck me sideways and ship me to Africa but if I get caught with cancer early, and already have my chemotherapy, surgeries and other things scheduled.. boy I would be one happy f*cker. Positivity can sometimes slow the rate of decay in your body.

@Idyllic

The reason why you don't understand depression because you have not been through it yourself. Sure, you can educate yourself or try to understand but unless you go through it you won't ever understand it. As others have stated, all of the money in the world can't buy happiness.

Are you saying psychiatrists who aren't depressed/never been before are entirely incompetent to asses the illness and its prognosis? throw the "takes one to know one" away.


edit;; @op, no need to apologize. I can see where you're coming from. Depressed people can get extremely annoying at times. It's practically a cluster of negative vibes ensnaring you until you're on the edge when you feel down, but never be angry at the depressed, help the depressed. I didn't take anything personal within this thread, unlike some others but I'm more than happy to discuss this with you in PM. take care

[hocus pocus]

Are you saying psychiatrists who aren't depressed/never been before are entirely incompetent to asses the illness and its prognosis? throw the "takes one to know one" away.

Firstly, a lot of people on this post have similar views that I do so I'm not sure why you're singling only a few of us out. As it has been stated on this thread, everyone has the right to have their own opinion, so I can have and "throw away" whatever knowledge I please.

See, a lot, but not all mental health professionals have been through and fought something negative in their lives that makes them want to go into this field. If you haven't been through it perhaps you can try your hardest to understand but until you have been through the agony you will not understand fully.

If you would like to debate on this topic I suggest you make a thread in Current Events & Debates.

I'd like to apologize for my behavior in this post. I am human and I do get angry at times.

And that's okay, we're all human and we all get upset sometimes.

[weaved1]

Hey! I apologize if you feel victimized.. I couldn't be bothered going through everyone's post and just felt like shedding light upon a few things.

Even if OP were just doing this to take the piss outta us depressed ilk, I just process it and see where he is coming from. I very much don't mind what OP has said. It's a good topic and it's refreshing, reminds me when I reflect upon myself and try to evaluate things. Let's not take things too personal here.

[Laurasaurus]

Hello all! While I'm aware that this is a very sensitive subject and you all have a right to your own opinion, please remember to always speak courteously and politely to other users. This forum is meant to be a safe place for users to express their feelings about depression and suicide and anything related, and it needs to stay a safe place. I'm not saying that anybody has been hostile or impolite as of right now, but please keep it that way.

As far as your opinions on depression, I'd say that you might want to try empathizing with people suffering with mental illnesses a bit more. They are a hell all their own, and people suffering from them need support and understanding more than annoyance and disapproval (that most likely stems from lack of information on the subject).

[cookiesamilk]

I could rant forever about this topic, but to keep myself from getting worked up about nothing, this is all I'll say:

Saying someone shouldn't be sad because someone else has it worse is the exact same thing as telling someone they shouldn't be happy because someone else has it better.

[blurryface]

Consider this: telling someone with depression to "just get over it" or "be happy" is like telling someone with a broken leg to walk it off, or someone with a stab wound to stop bleeding. It is very real and it is very debilitating. Perhaps I've repeated what everyone else said up there, but I felt the need to put in my two cents. Having an opinion is a great thing; however, there are opinions, and there are facts.

[golauren]

This is the most ignorant post I have ever read. Yes, I live in America and I have a lot of things that a lot of other people don't have but I do struggle with depression. Just because I struggle with depression doesn't mean I'm not thankful for all the nice things in my life. Depression isn't something you choose, it's a chemical imbalance, it's out of our control. And just because someone has it worse than I do means that I have to be happy every day of my life? Do you honestly think someone would choose to be depressed? Do your research.

[Philomath]

First off, I am not offended by your post though I can see why some people here maybe.
I am glad you put this here because maybe it shows you are wanting to learn and if you are wanting to learn, there is a possibility that you have an open mind and want to change how you think about this.
No person, no matter if they have been depressed or not, can truly understand another person exactly (even if they have had almost exact experiences) because everyone thinks differently, has their own views about things and is different.
So while a therapist that has experienced negative events in there life and has decided to help others that have been through the same or similar situations, they cannot even understand perfectly.
Helping someone that is depressed requires compassion, empathy and listening. It requires medication where necessary to fix chemical imbalances and other therapies as well if the person is not agreeable to medication or wants to take a more hollistic approach.
I am willing to talk to you about this farther through PM if you would like.
I do not mind explaining things (if I can find the right words) and I am always glad when someone wants to understand me better before they go judging and criticizing.
Your post may have come across as judging but I view it is a rather direct, uneducated way of saying you want to learn more. You may not have worded things as nicely as some may have liked but there we are again: back to our experiences, they shape how we react, comprehend and take things.
I prefer to take an open approach before I go and tell someone they are ignorant because if someone has no idea about something, the only conclusion they can form is based off of their lack of education and telling them they have "lack of knowledge or information" would only be pointing out the obvious (definition of ignorance).
It is like people that are blind (as I am) that get upset when someone tries to help them. They start cursing or getting angry and tell the person off. The thing is, people try to help us because they think we are in capable and cannot see themselves in our situation. Do I blame them? No, I do not because I look at myself and I try to imagine myself in there place. If I saw someone walking down a road with a cane and knew that meant they could not see and I were sighted, I would get worried too and my humanly instinct to assist them would turn on and I would want to help. Not out of trying to cause a problem but out of wanting to make a difference.
Do I think that ignorance is right, no. But can I be mad at people for not knowing what they just do not know, no. Some people just have never learned what I have learned or what someone else has learned and some people have not had the same oppurtunities I have had or have not had to help them come to the same conclusions and understanding about certain things.
I think that now this is all I would like to say here.
Again, I am open to a PM about this if you would like to talk farther.
Do not feel bad about posting because I did something like this about a year ago in an online group I was in with other blind people. My goal was to help them but most of them told me off and got mad but overtime some of them realized that I was trying to make them think. Though our posts are vastly different, I believe we had the same goal: trying to understand others and become better people.
I know that some people here will read this and probably think I am crazy but this is just how I thought about this post (and all of the replies to it which I read and thought through).

[Dream]

The main cause of depression is loneliness, and loneliness is not stupid. Humans are hard-wired to be social, but our society is extremely isolating.

[weaved1]

Originally Posted by Dream

The main cause of depression is loneliness, and loneliness is not stupid. Humans are hard-wired to be social, but our society is extremely isolating.

That's a clever way to see it. I'm sick of the same old "chemical-imbalance" bullshit that people try purporting here. I know depressed people for the sole reason that they depressed is because are fat and do nothing about it. Chemical imbalance? probs not

[Dream]

Originally Posted by weaved1

That's a clever way to see it. I'm sick of the same old "chemical-imbalance" bullshit that people try purporting here. I know depressed people for the sole reason that they depressed is because are fat and do nothing about it. Chemical imbalance? probs not

That it is a chemical imbalance is a tautology. It is rhetoric to get people to use anti-depressants.

If they're fat, then their diet is likely contributing to their depression as well. Diet is a huge factor in depression.

[weaved1]

Originally Posted by Dream

That it is a chemical imbalance is a tautology. It is rhetoric to get people to use anti-depressants.

If they're fat, then their diet is likely contributing to their depression as well. Diet is a huge factor in depression.

Most probably. it goes hand in hand.. fat because they are depressed and depressed because they are fat.. ha.

either way, the chemical imbalance figure of speech only fills one fraction of the whole complexity of depression.

[OhMyLorde]

I just wanted to say I've been extremely depressed for a year now. I didn't choose to be this way, I didn't make it up to get attention, in fact I hate lots of attention. It's just the way I am. Please don't rant about how it's stupid, it's really not. Maybe it's more common in 1st world countries because of the pressure to be perfect and also our technology we can communicate in a more broad spectrum. In 3rd world countries all people are accepted and cared for and there's no perfect body type. We also don't hear about it as much because of lack of technological communications. Life is hard with depression and I can guarantee you nobody wants depression just like nobody wants cancer. So please, in the future do not lash out on mental illnesses, it's just the way some people are. I understand we are all imperfect and you may have just gotten off track at the time of this, and that's okay, we all do at times. Just please next time maybe don't say depression is stupid, it's hard for those depressed to hear especially if they already feel lonely and society makes them feel worse. Thank you and have a lovely day.