The legitimacy of depression as an illness. (7 Viewers)

[katie tully]

Naaaaaaah it's not as far as I can tell.

It's the legitimacy of peoples claims. I don't believe that unless you're suitably qualified, that you can say whether or not a person has depression. All you can do is offer to help them get the support or whatever they need ... But it doesn't mean that we don't have our own doubts about people who claim to be sooooooooooooo depressed ooooommmmmmmmggggggg.

 

[stolenhotelpen]

I'd hope anyone with a legitimate diagnosis of depression would know that their condition is real and they should listen to their doctor and ignore morons in the community or this thread.

People with depression; stop being so insecure.

Guilt is a symptom of depression, and often stems from the feeling of being a burden on others, which ultimately leads to feelings of insecurity that people are going to walk away and abandon them because they do not wish to/cannot deal with them anymore.

 

[Graney]

Reasonable point. That needs to be made clear. Depression as an illness is not being questioned.

Actually the whole concept of classifying illness, for depression and for all general health problems, physical and mental, was extensively questioned, and remains clouded with much uncertainty.

Refer to kfunk above for details, particularly that DSM-IV link, where the authority outlines the problems in this area, and various approaches that are under investigation to solving the problem of the ambiguity of what is an 'illness'.

 

[Graney]

Guilt is a symptom of depression, and often stems from the feeling of being a burden on others, which ultimately leads to feelings of insecurity that people are going to walk away and abandon them because they do not wish to/cannot deal with them anymore.

But knowing not to listen to the criticism of strangers is a simple matter of maturity.

If it was your friends or family questioning your diagnosis of depression, that's a seriously abusive and unhealthy relationship, and shouldn't be tolerated for a moment.

 

[stolenhotelpen]

But knowing not to listen to the criticism of strangers is a simple matter of maturity.

If it was your friends or family questioning your diagnosis of depression, that's a seriously abusive and unhealthy relationship, and shouldn't be tolerated for a moment.

Simply discussing, and determining the actual opinion of those on here.

 

[stolenhotelpen]

It may seem like a matter of maturity, but it's an irrational fear. Often comes down to the feeling that if people know, you may be outcasted etc etc, making things worse.

You sure settled that fair and square :uhhuh:

 

[Graney]

It may seem like a matter of maturity, but it's an irrational fear. Often comes down to the feeling that if people know, you may be outcasted etc etc, making things worse.

Well, a reasonably mature person would intellectually understand that they shouldn't be rattled by the predjudices of strangers, but I understand emotionally, no one can act perfectly rationally and independent of their environment, it wouldn't be human.

No man is an island.

And regardless, not everyone is perfectly mature, which doesn't mean the suffering caused by the taunts of strangers is therefore fair, it still sucks.

You sure settled that fair and square :uhhuh:

I wasn't going to reply, I don't care that much, but your attitude is really irritating.

I don't see what grounds you have for having a gripe with me and wanting to settle anything. There's nothing to settle.

 

[stolenhotelpen]

Well, a reasonably mature person would intellectually understand that they shouldn't be rattled by the predjudices of strangers, but I understand emotionally, no one can act perfectly rationally and independent of their environment, it wouldn't be human.

No man is an island.

And regardless, not everyone is perfectly mature, which doesn't mean the suffering caused by the taunts of strangers is therefore fair, it still sucks.


I wasn't going to reply, I don't care that much, but your attitude is really irritating.

I don't see what grounds you have for having a gripe with me and wanting to settle anything. There's nothing to settle.

My attitude? Haha, okay then. I never said I have a gripe with you, and I never tried to settle anything with you. You are right in saying there was nothing to settle. I made that last comment that you quoted from me because I thought they made a valid point that was succinct, and summed up everything I had been trying to get at, saying it in a different light.

 

[katie tully]

Nah to be quite serious, you come across as the irl equivalent of "no deeeeeer" and "succccccked in"

 

[Crestwood's_G]

a relative of mine killed themself because of depression, so yes its legitimate

 

[stolenhotelpen]

Nah to be quite serious, you come across as the irl equivalent of "no deeeeeer" and "succccccked in"

me?

 

[katie tully]

a relative of mine killed themself because of depression, so yes its legitimate

These are the kind of posts that are really quite irritating.

"My friend killed himself so yeah, depression is real~"

That's not what we're debating. Read the thread.

 

[katie tully]

me?

Keep up.

 

[Crestwood's_G]

These are the kind of posts that are really quite irritating.

"My friend killed himself so yeah, depression is real~"

That's not what we're debating. Read the thread.

im sure having ur uncle do it would fucking irritate u to u insensitive prick...of course depression is real...i suffer from it u idiot

 

[katie tully]

It wouldn't irritate me.

I would probably be angry at him for making me deal with his premature death.

 

[Riet]

female hysteria used to be a medically recognised illness too

but you're right, we better not question anything ever

Demonic Possession lol

 

[katie tully]

Demonic Possession lol

The good old days when psychotic breaks were treated with orgasms.

 

[KFunk]

I just stumbled across an article that I missed last year which discusses this very topic. It's a short, 2-page editorial from the American Journal of Psychiatry without any technical claptrap.

 

[katie tully]

In other terms, the context in which the depressive symptoms occur is not relevant to the diagnostic decision; what counts is the clinical picture.
The only exception to this rule is represented by bereavement. If the symptoms begin within 2 months of the death of a loved one and do not persist beyond these 2 months, the diagnosis of major depression should not be made, unless the symptoms are associated with marked functional impairment or include morbid preoccupation with worthlessness, suicidal ideation, psychotic symptoms, or psychomotor retardation.

This is the part that makes the most sense to me. When I think of a person with a true case of clinical depression, I associate it with a loss of function - socially, functionally, in all ways possible. Crippling depression to the point where the person is unable to get up in the mornings, almost in a paralytic state.

the fact that most bereaved people describe themselves as being what they would have expected to be given the circumstances, whereas depressed patients experience their condition as a “change,” “not usual self”

I'll have a look tomorrow, but there are actually quite a few good studies on the bereavement and depression in some Palliative Care journals.

Furthermore, whether an adverse life event has been really decisive in triggering a depressive state may be difficult to establish in several cases. This is well known since the
1960s, when Aubrey Lewis, testing a set of criteria aimed to distinguish between “contextual”
and “endogenous” depression, concluded that most depressive cases were “examples
of the interaction of organism and environment,” so that “it was impossible to
say which of the factors was decidedly preponderant” (10).

If anyone has a copy of this study I will buy them something shiney in exchange.

 

[Riet]

Tbh I never got those "couldn't get up in the morning." feelings, mind you I generally tend to be pretty apathetic about stuff. idk.