Re:Most people on antidepressants don’t need them
by prewett on Thursday October 20, 2022 @01:09PM
(#33277664)
Hopelessness and unfulfillment might be considered symptoms of depression if you think that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance. But if hopelessness and unfulfillment create an emotional response by imbalancing chemicals, then the depression is the symptom.
I can't see how hopelessness and unfulfillment would cause you to feel happy, and even feeling neutral seems a stretch. Seems like if you aren't depressed if you are hopeless and unfulfilled then something is wrong! It seems to me like American (Western?) society as a whole is pretty committed to avoiding dealing with hard realities--not just emotions--and we just want to take a "pill" to have it all go away. Anti-depressants have uses, but they aren't the solution any more than meth or pretending the problem doesn't exist or magical thinking are.
Re:Most people on antidepressants don’t need them
by gilded-lilly on Thursday October 20, 2022 @05:48PM
(#33281270)
I believe those types of problems can be mitigated or even solved by changing your perspective. Example, I can’t get revenge on those people who wronged me. But I can forgive them. And through that, I no longer care. It is in the past, and like children who have stolen a cookie from my jar, I have to forgive them. And so I’m released from my anger.
I’m not sure what the solutions to those other problems are, but I think there would be solutions of a similar vein.
some of these things (body/health issues, bad job/relationship, lack of friends) are causes which can be fixed with direct action. Some (aging, past behaviors, trauma, lack of family) can't be, but can be somewhat mitigated and be made less depressing with therapy. Others (lack of hope, anhedonia, lack of fulfillment) are not the cause of depression but the symptoms. to lump these all together seems strange to me.