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wwaswas - MemberI've not read the whole thread but this series of tweets expalins where the auther in the OP got his 'statistics' from and it's basically bollocks. He picked a number from a 2009 self published book that used one 2004 study as a vague basis.
https://twitter.com/StuartJRitchie/status/951210391908114438
Frankly, this is 'vaccines give you autism' all over again as far as any scientific credibility is concerned.
Just because the author in the OP is using hyperbole to make a point or hype his book it doesn't mean that there is some/a lot of truth in what he is saying. Or bollocks.
But let's assume it is absolute bollocks for a second, and that there are no physical, environmental or cultural causes contributing to depression. What then is depression? It's a disease which causes a chemical imbalance in the brain. How do we fix that? With drugs. Do drugs cure depression or just manage the symptoms?
It's a disease which causes a chemical imbalance in the brain
not sure if that is what you are saying, but I don't agree with that, except maybe in some cases.
Too many things can tip someone into depression, one being grief, and there have been posts on here where someone has failed with drugs and something else, like reading that 59 seconds book I mentioned, has broken them out of it.
If it were a disease then how could it come on with grief, and go away because someone has changed their outlook on life?
TurnerGuy - Member
It's a disease which causes a chemical imbalance in the brainnot sure if that is what you are saying, but I don't agree with that, except maybe in some cases.
I wasn't saying that, you guessed correctly. I was saying that if we act as though depression = brain chemistry malfunction, and drugs are the answer does that address the cause.
Eg if you repeatedly broke your hand punching brick walls the doctors would quickly want to know why you keep breaking your hand. Are anti depressants just a plaster cast on some broken bones, are they pain killers to help you ignore the pain, or will they stop you from punching the wall in the first place.
I realise this is a very clunky analogy, but my earlier post which you are questioning was a response to wwaswas calling the OP's article bollocks. Even if the book featured is plagiarism or misses the point somewhat it's wrong to dismiss it as bollocks.
“If it were a disease then how could it come on with grief, and go away because someone has changed their outlook on life?”
I suspect it’s more complex than that. There are different types of depression that manifest in different ways. Some people can’t sleep, some can’t stop sleeping, some lose their appetite while others comfort eat. Bipolar disorder has a genetic component so the depression aspect of that may be considered at least partly inherited in some people.
It all boils down to the fact that depression and other mental health conditions are poorly researched, poorly understood and often poorly treated. Especially when you look how far we’ve come with certain types of cancer and HIV.
[url= https://www.theguardian.com/science/brain-flapping/2018/jan/08/is-everything-johann-hari-knows-about-depression-wrong-lost-connections ]Is Everything Johann Hari Knows About Depression Wrong?[/url]
Taken from the twitter feed quoted above, which is worth a look.
I suspect it’s more complex than that. There are different types of depression that manifest in different ways.
This is true. Struggling with pain and disability at a young age (30yrs) resulted in my being investigated for depression. The psych diagnosed it as 'reactive depression'. I think similar to (or part of) PTSD. This made sense because my whole life, mobility, independence, marriage, career, health etc had just crashed down in one fell swoop. I told the psych I was dealing with it 'in my own way' and she just gave me a relaxation tape. I think the intense focus and militant struggle towards beating the disease is the thing that got me through. Yet I have old friends and family who have seemingly always struggled with nasty insidious depression, that one where they identify with it, and focus on it, it becomes part of life for the long haul. Whether this is chemical imbalance and/or introspection/over-sensitivity gone critical and normalised I'm not qualified to say. But I suspect it may be a feedback loop.