Human Depression

I don't know if anyone has noticed, but why is it that when we as human beings are depressed, we do, listen, and watch things that would normally make us depressed, and that in the current state of mind make us only more depressed?

I used to never understand this in the slightest way but now that I am in a depressed state, I catch myself doing it quite frequently. But I still do not understand why.

Any thoughts? Or anyone have a clue as to why?

Peace and Unity

JMA

 

It's probably some kind of, "Hey, look, other people have got it worse than I do," factor which cheers you up in a perverse way -- by depressing you.

 

Depression is a deadly cycle. The symptoms themselves usually make their root cause worsen. For example, depressed people are distanced from a certain range of normal human emotions and tend to sleep more than is normal. But because they sleep more, they waste bigger and bigger chunks of each day, become less and less productive in their lives, and hence become even more depressed about how useless they are.

 

It's a chemical imabalance.

 

Not necessarily. It can be a chemical imbalance, but there's depression that's simply cognitive in nature (having nothing to do with chemicals).

 

It's not purely a chemical imbalance, and I agree with Knightwriter insomuch as there are many emotions and ouitside conflicts that are at play.

The only advice I can give, is to try and let go of whatever is bothering you, which prompted this question to my father...

Me-"Dad, how will you know if you hold pain in or let it go?"

Dad-smiles and says, "You'll know."

And he's been right, at least for me. Easier said than done, of course, but it can work.

Ciou-See the Sig

 

This really isn't a political discussion, but you really can get depressed when you see the state of the world today.

There must be a worldwide shortage of serotonin.

 

Or the seasons, don't forget the seasons, though I LOVE Fall.

Ciou-See the Sig

 

Sometimes depression is chemical, but sometimes it's not. The misunderstanding stems from the fact that there are two classes of problems we lump together under the header of depression.

For the great majority of people who experience depression, it's due not to chemical imbalances but rather to stressful life events. It's this class of depressed people that has temporary problems because of the seasons, depressing TV shows, or the state of the world today.

 

When one is depressed they normally are so used to it that they don't enjoy happiness, which is why they wallow in even more depression. Sad.

 

I think the chemical imbalance is because of depression. There have been cases where depression causes the chemical imbalance to occur.

 

Even worse is when people who are severely depressed realize they have depression and would like to get out of the cycle, but lack the psychological strength to seek change. It's time like these a friend or family need to step in and help that person. Offer their support and love and stick to it and no matter how frustrating it may be.

On a little more of a personal note, I had been battling depression for almost 13 years before I finally got so fed up with myself I acted on my thoughts to change. I tried to going on medication but that didn't work for me (most of the meds made me very sick), so I ended up taking a long, very difficult road to rediscovering myself. I'm still trying to sort things out, but I can tell you that the depression I once had doesn't affect me near as much as it did.

 

Just remember: Adversity is guaranteed. Stress is only your bad reaction to it. Don't let yourself succumb to stress, and you won't have a problem. The way I look at it, God is always looking out for me, and for anything to be beyond what I can handle is unfair, and since God is always fair, nothing is beyond my capacity.

 

It's Summertime (throbbing orange pallbearers)

It's summertime - and I can understand if you
Still feel - sad -
It's summertime and though it's hard to see its true
possibilities -

When you look inside - all you'll see
When you look inside - all you'll see
Is a self-reflected inner sadness -
Look outside - I know that you'll
Recognize it's summertime

 

I spent the last two years in a deppressed state...which I can gladly say I've pulled myself out of. It really is a self-inflicted process that goes in circles, each time getting worse.

Skip a homework assignment and you'll have to spend that much more time in class not knowing what's going on. So you skip class because it seems like it's too much. Now you're starting to sink. Then you come back, REALLY don't know what's happening, so you just stop alltogethor. Which causes more deppression.

What I did was lower my workload. You almost have to face the fact that you're starting over or nothing is gonna happen. I took a few classes, have been breezing through them, have had more fun in life, have been happier...etc...

Just as deppression can be caused by a trigger, I would think that a trigger can end it...or at least set you up to get out of the saddened, repeating cycle.

 

I've noticed that sometimes depression is a result of inactivity. If you are involved with things that you enjoy and actively pursue, that can help a person. Creative endeavors are good way to unleash stress and to rediscover yourself. Learn to draw, start writing a novel....

 

Inactivity is both a cause and result of depression. Part of the cycle, I think. Breaking out of it is vital to getting better.

 

Confirmative (I just made that word up ),

You have to find something or change something. If a deppressed person heard this alone...I think it would be easily dismissed.

Really...
get a new job...
pick up an instrument...
change your class schedule...
socialize more...
something.

It's one of the best ways.

 

There's one other thing, though: catharsis. Some people wallow temporarily in depression in order to get to "know your enemy". It's the only way to defeat it. This is particularly true of grieving - you can't just let it go, you have to go through the process or else you'll always be vulnerable to depression surrounding that loss, and you won't know what it is when it comes, or how to fix it. In my experience, wallowing makes the grieving or temporary depression pass more quickly, and it also seems more cleansing to me. I don't wallow in ways that cause me to let other people down or become a filth-encrusted hermit, LOL, but in my spare time I will drag out the most appallingly depressing songs and play them until I feel catharsis.

 

I am not sure why depression happens. I have suffered on and off forms of depression since I was about 16.

Sometimes it was really, really bad... as bad as you can get, sometimes it is rather mild, other times you are perfectly fine.

Is it a result of nature... ie: is it something you are predisposed of when you were born, ie: a chemical imbalance in the brain, or is it a result of nurture... how you were brought up by by your family, school and peers.

Or is it a mix of both?

 

Depression - in psychology, a mood or emotional state that is marked by sadness, inactivity, and a reduced ability to enjoy life. A person who is depressed usually experiences one or more of the following symptoms: feelings of sadness, hopelessness, or pessimism; lowered self-esteem and heightened self-depreciation; a decrease or loss of ability to enjoy daily life; reduced energy and vitality; slowness of thought or action; loss of appetite; and disturbed sleep or insomnia. Depression differs from simple grief, bereavement, or mourning, which are appropriate emotional responses to the loss of loved persons or objects. Where there are clear grounds for a person's unhappiness, depression is considered to be present if the depressed mood is disproportionately long or severe vis-à-vis the precipitating event. When a person experiences alternating states of depression and mania (extreme elation of mood), he is said to suffer from a manic-depressive psychosis (q.v.).

Depression is probably the most common psychiatric complaint and has been described by physicians from at least the time of Hippocrates, who called it melancholia. The course of the disorder is extremely variable from person to person; it may be fleeting or permanent, mild or severe, acute or chronic. Depression is more common in women than in men. The rates of incidence of the disorder increase with age in men, while the peak for women is between the ages of 35 and 45.

Depression can have many causes. The loss of one's parents or other childhood traumas and privations can increase a person's vulnerability to depression later in life. Stressful life events in general are potent precipitating causes of the illness, but it seems that both psychosocial and biochemical mechanisms can be important causes. The chief biochemical cause seems to be the defective regulation of the release of one or more naturally occurring monoamines in the brain, particularly norepinephrine and serotonin. Reduced quantities or reduced activity of these chemicals in the brain is thought to cause the depressed mood in some sufferers.

There are three main treatments for depression. The two most important are psychotherapy and drug therapy. Psychotherapy aims to resolve any underlying psychic conflicts that may be causing the depressed state, while also giving emotional support to the patient. Antidepressant drugs, by contrast, directly affect the chemistry of the brain, and presumably achieve their therapeutic effects by correcting the chemical imbalance that is causing the depression. The tricyclic antidepressant drugs are thought to work by inhibiting the body's physiological inactivation of the monoamine neurotransmitters. This results in the buildup or accumulation of these neurotransmitters in the brain and allows them to remain in contact with nerve cell receptors there longer, thus helping to elevate the patient's mood. By contrast, the antidepressant drugs known as monoamine oxidase inhibitors interfere with the activity of monoamine oxidase, an enzyme that is known to be involved in the breakdown of norepinephrine and serotonin. In cases of severe depression in which therapeutic results are needed quickly, electroconvulsive therapy has proven helpful. In this procedure, a convulsion is produced by passing an electric current through the person's brain. In many cases of treatment, the best therapeutic results are obtained by using a combination of psychotherapy with drug therapy or with electroshock treatment.

 

You know what's depressing?

Padme isn't lying here in my bed.

 

Gatherer, what did you take that from (unless you wrote it on your own)?

 

Uh oh.

The plagiarism police!

 

DM, that's twice you've made a spam post in this thread. Don't do it again.

I'm simply wanting to know where it came from.