People truly don't understand the physiological effects of depression

[bigj75]

Depression when it's gotten to the point of debilitating and over a period of time truly has a grand effect on a persons entire physical structure. Immune system weakens, cortisol levels are through the roof, stress hormones, loss of the ability to feel pleasure, etc. It will age you faster, make you more susceptible to illnesses/diseases. Your entire body functions less effectively as a result. It's a near constant distraction aswell so it even makes you less intelligent due to the inability to pay attention and learn at maximum capacity. What truly makes depression so horrific is that it's one of the most common mental disorders and one of the highest contributors of death. Yet its one of the least focused subjects in the medical field and society tends to deem it as a choice and self deliberate weakness on the people effected by it.

So when people tell you it's all in your head and you will get over it.
It's not just all in the head and after a certain point in time if left untreated will leave permanent physiological and mental damage .

 

[Smilla]

Great summation, Big.

 

[Libido Torpedo]

depression decreases your lifespan

 

[Libido Torpedo]

W A I T

 

[Ben]

Depression when it's gotten to the point of debilitating and over a period of time truly has a grand effect on a persons entire physical structure. Immune system weakens, cortisol levels are through the roof, stress hormones, loss of the ability to feel pleasure, etc. It will age you faster, make you more susceptible to illnesses/diseases. Your entire body functions less effectively as a result. It's a near constant distraction aswell so it even makes you less intelligent due to the inability to pay attention and learn at maximum capacity. What truly makes depression so horrific is that it's one of the most common mental disorders and one of the highest contributors of death. Yet its one of the least focused subjects in the medical field and society tends to deem it as a choice and self deliberate weakness on the people effected by it.

So when people tell you it's all in your head and you will get over it.
It's not just all in the head and after a certain point in time if left untreated will leave permanent physiological and mental damage .

Yes absolutely. When destruction comes from within, it can be more intense then what you can display on the outside. depresssion is a term that can cover too many deeper, specific problems, so we are given with "one size fits all" solutions. It requires detailed attention if its to be beaten, if it even can be for the individual. All too many times. It's too strong.

 

[Smilla]

I think this fits here. Curious to know what others think of Gabor.

I adore him.

He specifically says emphatically that the mind cannot be separated from the body, and is befuddled why we still treat them "separately", while acknowledging that servere stress, particularly originating from childhood trauma, wrecks havoc on the physical, resulting in autoimmune disorders and all sorts of shit. The cortisol factor is huge—it's our flight or fight response and when that response is damaged, our systems go awry.

Anyway thanks again for your post. Important information you shared tonight.

 

[Kev]

I don't think the medical field is ignoring depression, especially recently with all the media coverage on depression and suicidal people. However, I think depression is immensely more complex than other ailments and they are oversimplifying it. They call it a disease, when in fact depression is a symptom. A symptom of simply not enjoying life/existence, which is yet another symptom that could be caused by an infinite amount of combinations of reasons and factors. Just look at the numerous "why do you want to CTB" threads on here: people have all sorts of reasons they are unhappy with life. There are so many layers to depression. It's like cancer: there are just so many factors involved with contracting it and so many different ways it can manifest itself that it is very difficult to make advances in treatment effectiveness. A pill and talking with a stranger does not make someone not ugly, does not remove memories of traumatic events, does not undo the realization that life is completely meaningless, does not make someone suddenly successful, does not restore motor functions to a quadriplegic, does not bring back somebody's spouse, does not magically improve intelligence and academic performance, does not suddenly make a person a bunch of friends and give them a lover, and on and on...

 

[bigj75]

I don't think the medical field is ignoring depression, especially recently with all the media coverage on depression and suicidal people. However, I think depression is immensely more complex than other ailments and they are oversimplifying it. They call it a disease, when in fact depression is a symptom. A symptom of simply not enjoying life/existence, which is yet another symptom that could be caused by an infinite amount of combinations of reasons and factors. Just look at the numerous "why do you want to CTB" threads on here: people have all sorts of reasons they are unhappy with life. There are so many layers to depression. It's like cancer: there are just so many factors involved with contracting it and so many different ways it can manifest itself that it is very difficult to make advances in treatment effectiveness. A pill and talking with a stranger does not make someone not ugly, does not remove memories of traumatic events, does not undo the realization that life is completely meaningless, does not make someone suddenly successful, does not restore motor functions to a quadriplegic, does not bring back somebody's spouse, does not magically improve intelligence and academic performance, does not suddenly make a person a bunch of friends and give them a lover, and on and on...

Yes you hit it on the head i believe.

I know most you guys don't like jordan peterson (clinical psychologist). Lol but he has a good point that connects with what you just said. "The root cause of mental illness/depression/suicide is actually caused by the complexity of life becoming so overwhelming that you rather kill yourself than deal with the complexity/suffering. For instance life catastrophes hit you and just takes you out so badly that you rather die. Which also in turn increases your likely hood of drug and alcohol addiction which can spiral into more catastrophes. Everyone has their own biological weakness and once that weakness is met and broken by too many catastrophes then the person shows the symptoms of mental illness/depression. Mental illness/depression rarely just pop out of nowhere and require a pill to fix it. It has causes that led up to that point."

 

[RacilyDank]

I couldn't agree more. People just don't understand, but I don't blame them, I wouldn't understand if I wasn't going through it and I don't even understand it when I'm not.

Speaking as someone who has recovered and relapsed more than ten times, I can attest there is definitely more to it than the emotional side. It has physical, mental and cognitive effects. So much so that "depression" is a misleading term. Everyone has felt depressed at some point in their lives, it would be unnatural if they hadn't. Using the same word for when you're really sad about a life event and when your world is turned upside down because of what's going on in your head is not helpful.

 

[RacilyDank]

I appreciate I'm probably in the minority here as my depression was chemically induced. I'm grateful that I've recovered many times and lead a happy, productive life in between.

 

[Jerryman]

People like to solve physical problems (a wound to stich, a bone to fix together, some bugs to kill etc.) mental problems are not as easy to comprehend and thus you can't do these relatively easy steps. Because of this it doesn't get the focus it deserves.

The scale of the problem is huge, suicide kills the most people of healthy age. If a virus was killing the same number of people it would be declared a global emergency, headline news and enormous control measures would be put in place.

 

[bigj75]

People like to solve physical problems (a wound to stich, a bone to fix together, some bugs to kill etc.) mental problems are not as easy to comprehend and thus you can't do these relatively easy steps. Because of this it doesn't get the focus it deserves.

The scale of the problem is huge, suicide kills the most people of healthy age. If a virus was killing the same number of people it would be declared a global emergency, headline news and enormous control measures would be put in place.

Yes I agree mental problems are not as easy to comprehend as physical but it isn't that hard to figure out in my opinion. I've studied psychology for years though so I guess that's why I don'i see it as so complex to figure out.

 

[MachineGunDani]

It's killing me! I have no energy. Barely roll outta bed to make it to work, then I can't focus and I'm getting behind. Then I go home to sleep the rest of the time. People suggest exercise and get out of the house, I feel so mentally and physically drained that I can't and don't want to. I went to many therapist in the past, no one has been able to remotely help or give any advice I haven't tried before. But exercising does not make me feel better lol