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A comment on Researchers treat depression by reversing brain signals traveling the wrong way. Parent comment

Re:Researchers treat depression by reversing brain signals t... by fpgaminer on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @02:07PM (#35979056)
This line of reasoning reminds me of a common misunderstanding of depression I've seen from people who've never been clinically depressed (1). It's an understandable mistake, albeit potentially dangerous (2).

Depression isn't on the happiness-sadness scale. It's quite tangential to that. In fact, perhaps quizzically, you can be happy and depressed. It's fairly common for people who learn about the loss of a loved one to recall how happy them seemed the day before.

Depression treatment, therefore, doesn't make one "less sad". And consequently it wouldn't make a healthy patient "more happy".

(1) I don't mean this in a negative way towards the comment I'm replying to. Nor am I implying that the commenter believes this. I just noticed a pattern and I'm responding in the spirit of education.

(2) It's okay to not understand depression; not everyone has to be an expert on everything. It only becomes dangerous when providing ill formed advice. Which is unfortunately common when it comes to depression.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Researchers treat depression by reversing brain signals t... by endisneigh on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @03:37PM (#35980153)
The point I was trying to make isn’t about happiness or sadness per se, rather they depression has mental analogs that presumably are improved after treatment.
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Re:Researchers treat depression by reversing brain signals t... by carabiner on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @03:43PM (#35980255)
It doesn't need analogs. Depression is mental.

Legitimately what dialogue are you attempting to start?

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Re:Researchers treat depression by reversing brain signals t... by endisneigh on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @04:31PM (#35980882)
Sure it does. The dialogue is around the usefulness of depression as a category and status to attribute to someone.

If someone wants to commit suicide what difference does it make if they’re depressed or not, for example.

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Re:Researchers treat depression by reversing brain signals t... by mtlmtlmtlmtl on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @05:27PM (#35981464)
I think the more accurate way to conceptualise this is that treatment works by interfering with processes in the brain that cause depression, not that it cancels out the depression by adding enough euphoria/mania/happyness to compensate.

Antidepressants don't typically cause mania in healthy people, but they could paradoxically cause depression.

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Re:Researchers treat depression by reversing brain signals t... by endisneigh on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @05:49PM (#35981696)
I was referring more to the article in the OP that “reverses bad signals”.
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Re:Researchers treat depression by reversing brain signals t... by pawelmurias on Thursday May 18, 2023 @08:54AM (#35987176)
You can experience depression as being chronically super sad
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