tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post5256380920307935008..comments2024-03-22T11:55:50.335+13:00Comments on Not PC: “I suffer from depression”Peter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-69724446274873632452013-05-06T15:51:07.667+12:002013-05-06T15:51:07.667+12:00Anonymous: Emotions are not "mood disorders.&...Anonymous: Emotions are not "mood disorders."<br /><br />Ben H.: God knows how you're able to respond without even reading what's been written above, and at the two linked articles. Maybe start there, huh?Peter Cresswellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-91930307029478176222013-05-06T15:26:33.908+12:002013-05-06T15:26:33.908+12:00God knows how a moron like 'Dr' Hurd got a...God knows how a moron like 'Dr' Hurd got a medical qualification if he can't grasp the difference between a pessimistic mindset and clinical depression.<br /><br />"Emotions are not the product of genes, or of an organic brain condition"<br /><br />I can't believe somebody with access to the internet could be this ignorant. It is a well established fact that people with clinical depression are lacking in neurotransmitters such as serotonin. <br /><br />Likewise there is a clear difference between a normal brain and the brain of a person suffering from schizophrenia. I suppose you would also tell a schizophrenic to harden up and think normally. Ben Hnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-39125369370372915302013-05-06T13:45:39.374+12:002013-05-06T13:45:39.374+12:00The literature linking gene activity with depressi...The literature linking gene activity with depression is overwhelming. <br /><br />If you're making the claim that mood and emotions aren't organic, determined by genes and other cell functions then you're throwing out almost all scientific knowledge about mood disorders and replacing it with what sounds like religious dualism. How is thought or emotion non-organic? Why do drugs affect our moods and thoughts if that's the case? Why do anti-depressants work? <br /><br />A lot of people die of this disease. They commit suicide instead of seeking medical treatment. It's irresponsible of you to post material telling people to avoid treatment because they can fix themselves. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-91021155185134244582013-05-06T12:32:16.373+12:002013-05-06T12:32:16.373+12:00By "more in line with reality" I mean (t...By "more in line with reality" I mean (<a href="http://www.drhurd.com/index.php/Daily-Dose-of-Reason/Psychology-Self-Improvement/Are-Depression-and-Self-Pity-the-Same-Thing.html" rel="nofollow">to quote Dr Hurd again></a>), "be both self-interested and rational in one's perspective about facts of life, others and existence. I recognize that for a person who's truly in a state of low motivation or depressed mood, this is not an easy task. But it helps to at least have the right goal in mind."<br /><br />As I said above, this is the OPPOSITE of trying to stoically repress your emotions, which is enormously self-destructive.<br /><br />"If you're depressed, and if in that state of mind you tell yourself (or another tells you), "Stop feeling sorry for yourself!" it sounds like you're condemning the person simply for feeling sad about himself or his life. This removes from discussion any possibility of discovering what the causes of the mood are; what thoughts and ideas are giving rise to the mood; and whether those thoughts and ideas are really tenable and factually valid, or not."Peter Cresswellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-40808065681967536432013-05-06T12:26:24.924+12:002013-05-06T12:26:24.924+12:00Anonymous: It's not lack of sympathy for the c...Anonymous: It's not lack of sympathy for the condition to suggest "taking responsibility for your emotions" is the way to get out from under it--nor is it psychobabble. <br /><br />Quite the opposite.<br /><br />The underlying premise here is that organic brain conditions reflect something amenable to an organic, i.e., medical cure. Whereas non-organic psychological conditions should not be medicalised--whioch is what does lead to all the psychobabble. <br /> <br />Emotions, in particular, should not be medicalised. Emotions are not a product of our genes, or of an organic brain condition. They are the product of previous thinking. <br /><br />Nowhere does the author suggest that devalues the reality of the condition; what he suggests is that a cure begins with the recognition that one is able to change one's thinking, whereby "re-programming" one's emotions.<br /><br />This is not to stoically deny or repress emotions, but to realign one's emotions to be more in line with reality.Peter Cresswellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-1000170787979527992013-05-06T11:56:04.642+12:002013-05-06T11:56:04.642+12:00Like almost everyone who has "suffered from d...Like almost everyone who has "suffered from depression" - and yes, it is suffering, terrible suffering, just as horrible as any kidney stone or slipped vertebrae - I think that "depression" is a lousy name for the illness. <br /><br />It implies that you're a bit sad, a bit down. In Darkness Visible William Styron proposed the term "brainstorm" as an alternative, and that's what it feels like. The neurotransmitters that control your moods are malfunctioning, and it means your brain is constantly flooded with powerful negative emotions. Sadness, sure. But also fear and anger and loathing and guilt. <br /><br />Try thinking about the last time you were truly terrified for your life, or the last time you were so furious you wanted to kill someone. Now imagine that you walk about feeling like that for days and days and days, for no reason. That's depression. <br /><br />Your brain is a complex physical organ. It's subject to disease. If a critical organ like your brain stops working because of a major illness you don't try to fix it with psychological babble about "taking responsibility for your emotions", you go to the damn doctor before the disease kills you. <br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-79200771276899000012013-05-06T11:43:52.198+12:002013-05-06T11:43:52.198+12:00“There’s nothing good or bad but thinking makes it...“There’s nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so". Shakespeare.<br /><br />With a health service devoid of meaningful goals, what incentive is there to heal other than the management of risk?<br /><br />With philosophical underpinnings in stoicism, Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy DOES offer a process by which a therapist might approach an examination (and modification) of a clients beliefs and emotions.<br /><br />This from a local REBT organisation:<br /><br />http://www.rational.org.nz/prof-docs/Intro-REBT.pdf<br /><br />Or just read Hamlet?Shane Pleasancehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06144367923437327037noreply@blogger.com