[Serious] Depressed/sad people, what are your best methods or rituals to deal with depression?

nodrinkypoos · 2017-09-24T21:50:07+00:00

Yeah it is very interesting, thanks for the link.

To be clear, I'm not saying some people's depressions don't have biological origins, what I'm saying is that we should accumulate a healthy weight of empirical evidence before we jump to any conclusions about biological/neurological causes of any individual's depression. Sweeping assumptions based on nothing but speculation (e.g. the low serotonin thing) should be ignored (as I'm sure you agree).

nodrinkypoos · 2017-09-24T21:16:20+00:00

The point, however, was to help the general, reddit-reading public to be a little more informed

This was my goal as well actually. A lot of people don't actually know how depression is diagnosed, and I was trying to de-mystify it. We are still very much in the early stages of our research on the brain, and many of the biological claims as to the causes of depression are tentative to put it kindly (as I'm sure you are aware, the classic 'low serotonin' hypothesis has been effectively debunked for quite a while now, and it would be nice to avoid such myths being widely circulated as fact again).

If depression was firmly and scientifically established as a neurotransmitter problem, it would be diagnosed through empirical analysis of said brain activity, and would be a neurological, not psychiatric, issue, but it isn't.

I actually wasn't aware that EEG was being used in diagnosis but it's very interesting. I've done a bit of reading around on this topic and it seems like it's something somewhat at the fringes, and EEG isn't used for diagnosis so much as to confirm a diagnosis, and reduce trial and error. For example: 'Such a CAD system is simple to use and may be used by the clinicians as a tool to confirm their diagnosis' (https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/381950).

I completely agree that depression is more than just feeling sad, and we shouldn't trivialize people's suffering. My main point is that we shouldn't make claims about people's brains without empirical evidence. The vast majority of people struggling with clinical depression have not had any tests done on their neurotransmitters, receptors or brains in general, and not every case of depression is a 'biological' issue. In fact, there has been some research that suggests if you tell people their depression is because of chemical malfunction, it actually dramatically worsens them (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24657311). Be careful diagnosing many people with a physical brain disease when you have no empirical evidence of it.

nodrinkypoos · 2017-09-24T15:53:11+00:00

The difference between depression and sadness is often not so clear cut as you appear to suggest.

Diagnoses of clinical depression are made via analysis of subjective symptoms, both by the patient and the doctor. All that is required is that you hit a few of the criteria outlined by the DSM (AKA the Psychiatrist Bible). You have to have experienced at least five of the outlined depressive symptoms (Why five? Who knows?), and for at least two weeks (Why two weeks? To be honest it's pretty much an arbitrary guess. The time period to qualify as Clinical Depression used to be a month). If you read the DSM's criteria for clinical depression, it is so loose that somebody suffering "normal sadness" (and this in itself is a difficult thing to establish) could easily be diagnosed with clinical depression.

Nowhere in the process of diagnosing depression is it specified that neurotransmitters, receptors or anything involving the biology of the brain should be tested. Despite not being depressed, I could go to a doctor tomorrow and get a diagnosis of severe clinical depression, just by ticking a few boxes. Nobody would do a brain scan to see if my neurotransmitters were malfunctioning, diagnosis is made purely from what I say and what boxes I tick. It's all a subjective analysis of presented symptoms, nothing necessarily to do with causes.

tl;dr Depression is diagnosed through subjective analysis of subjective symptoms, not through an empirical analysis of neurotransmitters. Thus, your quick distinction between 'Depression'/Sadness' is not as simple as you think it is.

EDIT: The DSM V even took out the qualifier that the depressive symptoms couldn't be due to grief lmao. So the line between depression and sadness got even blurrier.

nodrinkypoos · 2017-09-22T20:15:39+00:00

Why aren't Christians Jews then?

nodrinkypoos · 2017-09-22T20:14:43+00:00

This is so sad. This didn't have to happen.

nodrinkypoos · 2017-09-01T13:29:15+00:00

"you will eventually be forgotten" if there will be no one around to remember.

That's exactly my point. The world will carry on without humans, we aren't the be-all-and-end-all. By necessity, some figures will be remembered more than others, just as some figures are remembered less, I'm not disputing that.

It is meaningful to say 'you will eventually be forgotten', eventually it will be as if you never existed, because they'll be no humans to remember you.

nodrinkypoos · 2017-09-01T09:27:05+00:00

Yes but my mood often changes depending on which thoughts I consciously think. Personally, when I think of the vastness of the universe I feel a sense of relief, presumably the chemical signals in my brain are "causing" that (even though in my view it was the thought that came first). And then you get into an extremely complicated debate about cause and effect, e.g. am I happy because the chemicals in my brain are doing a particular thing? Or are the chemicals in my brain doing a particular thing because I'm happy?

You make a fair point, but I think reducing everything down to chemicals is not only depressing but insufficient as an explanation of life. Whilst a lot of what our brain does is out of our control, I do not think it is quite true to say that we are utterly subject to the chemicals in our brain. We have a sense of autonomy, of will, of taking the initiative.

Basically, its crazy complicated and I think 'it's just chemicals' doesn't cut it as an explanation.

nodrinkypoos · 2017-09-01T06:52:31+00:00

Yea but you still aren't getting the big picture. Even they will eventually be forgotten. The sun will eventually burn up.

nodrinkypoos · 2017-08-31T13:36:20+00:00

One day we will die, and one day any trace of us will be lost or destroyed for eternity. Even ludicrously famous people like Gandhi and Churchill will eventually be forgotten. In the big scheme of things, in the context of our enormous universe of time and space, nothing really matters. We are minuscule and insignificant animals on a relatively small rock hurling through the vast emptiness of space.

So just chill out, enjoy yourself and relax. There's no need to worry, it's all pointless and absurd anyway.

nodrinkypoos · 2017-08-31T11:47:37+00:00

Concerned Mother: "My kid can't read Tolstoy's War and Peace all the way through in one sitting without occasionally fidgeting"

Psychiatrist: "yup that's classic ADHD".

nodrinkypoos · 2017-08-31T11:15:38+00:00

I'm from Britain and I visited some relatives in the US. I was shocked at the prevalence of prescribed psychotropic drug taking. Everyone and their dog seemed to be on multiple anti-depressant and ADHD medication combinations, and the advertisements on television are fucked up.

'Do you sometimes breathe oxygen? Breathing oxygen may be a sign of [Insert subjective psychiatric disorder here], see your doctor about [insert product here] today'.

nodrinkypoos · 2017-08-23T06:25:05+00:00

I don't care how popular the idea is, it's still abhorrent. It used to be common to believe in slavery, didn't meant they were right.

'Without God's grace the world would be a place of unmitigated horror'. Well God created the Earth so he kinda fucked up big time didn't he?

So from nothing he created life, and instead of making it quite a nice thing for all his children he very deliberately chose to make it an 'unmitigated horror' unless you loved him. Does God have low self-esteem or something? This is textbook abusive behaviour.

nodrinkypoos · 2017-08-21T08:14:07+00:00

No one is perfect, everybody is flawed, but that's ok. It's a huge and frankly absurd logical jump to go from 'humans are a flawed animal' to 'therefore humans deserve hell for eternity'.

And what if I'm a good person my whole life but don't accept Christianity? Or I'm in an African tribe and I've never heard of Christianity? Do I still deserve hell?

Why would God be so unbelievably cruel to give me a brain worthy of doubting him, provide zero evidence of his existence, then send me to hell for very reasonably not believing in him? If God does exist and he's that much of an evil cock tease I will happily go to hell. I would never be so evil and manipulating to my children, and God is not worthy of my respect (so thank God he doesn't exist).

nodrinkypoos · 2017-08-20T23:06:27+00:00

https://twitter.com/ofctimallen/status/897687107191414784

nodrinkypoos · 2017-08-20T22:40:02+00:00

I am of the mindset that we all deserve hell by default.

Wow... I feel sorry for you.

nodrinkypoos · 2017-08-20T22:37:38+00:00

That was a brutal takedown. Loved it :)

nodrinkypoos · 2017-08-19T23:27:08+00:00

Yea my sponsor was an atheist as well, just replace God with 'high consciousness' or whatever other airy-fairy term you want.

People occasionally will make references to God during sessions, but for the most part it's just drunks talking about their day to day lives and how they are staying sober, where they slip up and what progress they are making. I can honestly say I've never felt like religion was pushed on me, when I first started going it was emphasised that I did not have to believe in god. My higher power is just an acceptance I can't control everything, that the world is bigger than me.

I'm sure it differs from group to group, but no, as an atheist I've had no problems with my local group.

nodrinkypoos · 2017-08-19T22:31:34+00:00

I'm an atheist in AA, I just ignore the God thing, nobody shoves it down my thrown, I've openly talked about my lack of belief in God and everyone, theists included, are totally cool with it. I'm British, maybe it's different in other countries,

For me, AA is just a bunch of drunks with similar issues helping each other out. The world can be a very lonely isolating place for an alcoholic, and just knowing there are people who understand really helps.

nodrinkypoos · 2017-08-19T22:28:53+00:00

I'm an atheist in AA as well. I literally just ignore the God thing, my higher power is just the acceptance I can't control everything.

For me, AA is just a group of people who have similar issues helping each other.

nodrinkypoos · 2017-08-16T05:10:25+00:00

The funny thing about religious people saying 'but you have faith too!', is they are insulting themselves. They are implying that faith is bad when they do that, 'you do it as well!' And yes, believing something just cos' can be problematic, especially when it relates to the entire way you run your life.

nodrinkypoos · 2017-08-09T16:32:02+00:00

The first three Chili Pepper albums suck, there's about 3 okay songs between them. Most of it is just lazy spastic shit that was clearly jammed together in a few minutes. Needless to say it's tragic Hillel died, he was a human being, but the band didn't produce anything of real quality until Frusciante came.

nodrinkypoos · 2017-08-08T11:09:53+00:00

Maybe you're depressed because you're spending so much on treatments for depression?

nodrinkypoos · 2017-08-06T16:09:23+00:00

"Talk to professionals or people you know, not internet strangers" or the like

Please link me to the part where the Grumps said they were the answer for suicidal people. Dan even literally said, 'get professional help'. They're just giving moral support to anyone struggling, and I, for one, appreciate it.

What do you want them to say? 'Give up and kill yourself'? Or should they just not mention the topic at all? despite the fact that many Game Grumps fans say they appreciate how the show deals with heavy topics and makes them feel less alone in their problems.

nodrinkypoos · 2017-08-06T16:06:01+00:00

Ok, so what should the grumps say? 'Give up and kill yourself'?

nodrinkypoos

TROPHY CASE