Why are so many people depressed?

[Christ_empowered]

i dont know. i kinda think there is no such thing, not as a brain dysfunction or what have you. meds...the antidepressants often fail to outperform placebo in big trials for depression.

people dont have space, time, social connections, family...here in the US, a lot of people are less well off than their parents, jobs are insecure, there is very little safety net left....and...and...

blah blah blah. when i say to myself, now, 'i think i might be depressed,' i try to reframe it as 'ive been feeling sad and/or miserable lately. what gives?,' and honestly...

at times, i think it might be -my- medication (a drug for bipolar and/or schizophrenia) that's causing some of my problems. true story. even the newer ones can cause problems. but anyway...

the data on antidepressants is actually kind of...frightening. low response rates, even lower remission rates, lots of adverse effects. and feeling numb is a big one, because all of them lower frontal lobe activity a bit, some a lot (if i recall correctly, the ssri ones are big on taming frontal lobe activity...sort of like emotional novacaine). and long term, some data suggests brain damage, including the same stuff one sees with antipsychotics...facial tics, etc.

blah blah blah...once again, im kinda...out of love with psychiatry, obviously. life can be difficult. i highly doubt pills and dsm labels offer a meaningful, viable long term solution.

 

[Corn Pop]

i dont know. i kinda think there is no such thing, not as a brain dysfunction or what have you. meds...the antidepressants often fail to outperform placebo in big trials for depression.

people dont have space, time, social connections, family...here in the US, a lot of people are less well off than their parents, jobs are insecure, there is very little safety net left....and...and...

blah blah blah. when i say to myself, now, 'i think i might be depressed,' i try to reframe it as 'ive been feeling sad and/or miserable lately. what gives?,' and honestly...

at times, i think it might be -my- medication (a drug for bipolar and/or schizophrenia) that's causing some of my problems. true story. even the newer ones can cause problems. but anyway...

the data on antidepressants is actually kind of...frightening. low response rates, even lower remission rates, lots of adverse effects. and feeling numb is a big one, because all of them lower frontal lobe activity a bit, some a lot (if i recall correctly, the ssri ones are big on taming frontal lobe activity...sort of like emotional novacaine). and long term, some data suggests brain damage, including the same stuff one sees with antipsychotics...facial tics, etc.

blah blah blah...once again, im kinda...out of love with psychiatry, obviously. life can be difficult. i highly doubt pills and dsm labels offer a meaningful, viable long term solution.

Ian, you have given me strength when I have needed it the most, you probably don't even know it.

You are a very important person in my life.

 

[WIP]

It seems like most people I know are on some type of antidepressant. Ive been feeling really down lately but I’m hesitant to get back on antidepressants. I’ve been on them and I find they make me feel numb. I wonder if depression is more prevalent today due to changes in the way the world works or was depression just as prevalent years ago, but people just kind of fought there way through it?

I realize there are legitimate instances where people do struggle with mental illness and depression but I think for many there is a growing problem of entitlement, particularly in the United States, and because life comes with no guarantees and people aren't getting what they feel entitled to many are getting depressed as a result. It's almost as if people have the idea that everyone else owes them and life is supposed to be a walk in the park.

I saw this attitude in the work ethic of new employees at my work place. I see it in my mother-in-law who expects and even demands that her children guarantee her the lifestyle she desires even though she's not physically capable and can't afford it financially anymore, regardless of how much strain it puts on the finances and marriages of her children. I enjoy watching small claims court proceedings on television and I see it in the litigants. I can't count how many times, if I was the judge, my reaction would be, "Get out of my courtroom with your petty crying!" And now I see it in the riots, vandalism, jealousy against those that have more, blatant disregard for civil authority, and false cries of racism and other prejudices. We are a society of cry babies without a doubt and we expect someone else to solve our problems for us rather than having to work for it.

 

[Seasoned by Grace]

A great topic for our time .

I have studied mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, PTSD, bi-polar, and so forth for years, and followed online the continuing research (I'm a research kinda person) and on-going conclusions in the medical community that are experts in their field. I have dealt with anxiety and PTSD for 50 years.
Probably as far back as 10 years, many of the scholars in the field of mental health predicted that in the future, mental health issues would become the #1 medical health CRISES in the U.S., and around the world, because of the ongoing, and growing trend of mental health disorders.

Well, here we are today, 10 years later, and mental health is considered the #1medical health crisis around the world, especially here in the U.S.

People have so much to deal with today with so much uncertainty, especially because of COVID-19, that brings job losses, businesses closing, whole families being evicted from homes or apartments, no food and having to depend on food banks, utilities starting to be turned off as Govt. help has ended, whole families facing homelessness, unemployment benefits either ending or being drastically cut back, and people running out of money.
Their lives have been turned upside down, and there is little help available, or anyone or any place to turn to as funds dry up.
It's a smoldering catastrophy, and the pressure is more than a lot of people can handle.

According to recent statistics, over 46 million people are being treated for mental health disorders, and the numbers are growing, and the experts say the number is probably twice that high as many don't get the treatment they need to cope with today's pressures, so their turning to alcohol and drugs as an escape from situations they have no control over.

So I think, the answer for those of us believers, should be, to be vigilant in being aware of anyone in our circle of friends, neighbors and relatives, to be there for people who need to talk, or need some kind of help that we can be there for, to hopefully make their lives a little easier and less stressful.
Nothing like a willing ear to just listen to people talking about their struggles to ease some of the stress of life, and maybe there will be an opportunity to speak about our faith and the blessings of knowing Christ.

God bless you all.
Seasoned by Grace

 

[Christ_empowered]

ugh. now, the severely mentally ill are the "welfare queens" and/or "welfare bums" of the 21st century. awesome. btw, the Nazis thought of the severely mentally ill as "defective..."

and proceeded to kill them, en masse. fun fact: before the Nazis went after the Jewish people, they did a sort of "test drive" on people with Schizophrenia, etc. and then applied their techniques to the Jewish people, the Roma, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, on and on and on.

in Marxist theory, there's this idea...'alienation of the worker.' its the point in capitalist development at which work becomes, in essence, dull and boring and routine...life itself becomes far less meaningful. I am -not- Marxist, but I do think its interesting...even nurses, doctors, professors, well educated people who were accustomed to creative, independent work...are getting burned out in large part because...well, they're now reduced to cogs in a vast machine, too. factor in stagnant (sometimes falling) wages for large segments of the population, growing job demands with minimal worker protections, rising health care costs, a disappearing safety net, and...

yeah. yeah. is it really -that- surprising that so many people turn to social media, turn to drink and drugs, opt for suicide?

im not here to demand a utopia, im just trying to point out....a) the 60s theorists are correct: the personal -is- political, because each of us lives and dies within a social, political, economic framework; and b) these are not just "personal problems," when they plague the entire group (town, state, nation, world)...these are social issues, and correcting major social ills generally requires major social and political and economic action.

or we can whine about lazy crazies livin off the tax payers.

 

[Seasoned by Grace]

.these are social issues, and correcting major social ills generally requires major social and political and economic action.

Christ_empowered my brother.
I can understand your frustrations, but in John 17:14 we are told that we are in the world but NOT OF THIS WORLD.

We are here as believers to reach the lost, and give them hope for a wonderful life to come, and not lose our focus on who we are, or be distracted or caught up in the cares of this world, which is not our home - Heb. 13: 14-16.

God bless you my brother
Seasoned by Grace

 

[WIP]

So I think, the answer for those of us believers, should be, to be vigilant in being aware of anyone in our circle of friends, neighbors and relatives, to be there for people who need to talk, or need some kind of help that we can be there for, to hopefully make their lives a little easier and less stressful.

This is what Scripture teaches. We are to take care of those in need. Too often it seems our churches look great distances for ministry when the needs are right in our own back yards. In part, I believe that is why God has distributed His church world-wide. If each of us, individually and as a church group, spent our efforts on our immediate neighbors the world would see His glory.

 

[Seasoned by Grace]

WIP
Your so right about many of the churches. They have simply lost their way, and no longer understand the purpose of the church, or the purpose of individual believers especially in our own communities.

It's a shame, but each of us who know the truth , have to live that truth daily in our love for those who are hurting, and try to bring them comfort, and the love they need from us, given to us by Christ to help a struggling world.

God bless you WIP
My name is OLIGOS

 

[Christ_empowered]

good points. truth? I'm still too, too worldly in my thinking. i also tend to over-analyze. critical thinking is a good thing, but slicing and dicing the "hot button" issues of the day is...not what Jesus calls us to do, is it?

blah. I also get frustrated. I truly -cannot- work. Never could. I tried. I tried while in college at 18 years old, I got bullied and quit (on campus job). I tried age 20-22, low wage work...bullied, physically sick, endless (and needless) torment. That's...one thing, about "Schizophrenia," or whatever It is...even "on meds" (and I am on my prescribed treatment, btw), getting into the groove, social stuff...nigh impossible, even if I can do the task at hand. Result? Torment. and...for what, really? Moving on...

a sometime neighbor (as in...sometimes he's here, often he's not...I like it better when he's not...) yelled at me, the other day, about living off the government, etc., and my 'liberal democrat parents,' etc. yeah, ok. they're fairly moderate (a) and...who is he?!?! so, its kind of a definite "issue" for me, when the modern day "least of these" are shamed and labeled...

by Christians.

ramble, ramble, ramble...

i'm...also a work in progress, like...whoa, so...sorry for getting on a "woke" soap box (I'm not actually "woke," btw...I don't go for radical chic...).

 

[jasonc]

to be fair ,if the church did take care of the poor ,the govt would ban it under the guise without a proper clean facility etc all the while the militaries dfac and barracks and married quarters are worse ,

I have ate one year expired food overseas,only when a large amount of soldiers got sick did they remedy the situation .

 

[evenifigoalone]

ugh. now, the severely mentally ill are the "welfare queens" and/or "welfare bums" of the 21st century. awesome.

There is no shame in having a disability. My dad was paralyzed from the waist down and unable to work. He may have been disabled in a more visible and immediately obvious way, but he was not a bum for living on disability. And neither are you.