What if it’s you?
Justin Erik Halldor Smith asks, Is depression a medical condition?
I was 10 or 11 when I first learned the word “depressed” from a Woody Allen movie, and I quickly grasped its usefulness. “I don’t want to go out, I’m depressed” just sounded more dramatic than “I don’t feel like it” or “Tinatamad ako”. Am I a true depressive? To say so would be disrespectful to the people with the real problem. I have these black moods, but I know that they will pass eventually, I just have to ride them out. But I see how it can get very bad, and pass beyond your control, and then you’re in the abyss. My friends tell me depression is chemical, and often you have no choice but to medicate. But what if depression is an inextricable part of your character, one of the things that make you you? Medication makes it easier for other people to deal with you, but is it still you?
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
September 24th, 2007 at 10:23
some people say that depression is our generation’s (X) affliction. and i am inclined to believe that owing to the fact that i didn’t have “depressed” titos, titas, nor friends of my titos and titas — but i have cousins and friends who are “depressed” in all aspects of their lives. in fact i know people who get depressed when they floss! there is also this school of thought that dismisses depression as burgis. which is not hard to subscribe to. since our generation is so burgis, ayan tuloy na de-depress tayo.
September 24th, 2007 at 11:03
Well, it’s easier to be angry, then to let the whole world know you’re depressed.
September 24th, 2007 at 14:33
taking antidepressants is described in the book “listening to prozac” as cosmetic pharmacology. so the meds do change your personality (making it more suitable and functional in the contemporary workplace or meatmarket) in the same way that cosmetic surgery makes your face or body more presentable and desirable in today’s social circles. another time, another place, it was okay, perhaps even attractive, to be fat and depressed.
September 24th, 2007 at 15:21
Depression, like art, has no gender, nor race. Neither is it an affliction. Like doh. LOL! And it defies any mediocre labeling. It is something which you were born with or into. Either you have it or you don’t. That is that.
What you are as a person is generally defined by it. Hence, who you are as a person is not your fault. Unless you’re faking it.
Education or culture only stifles it. In the final analysis, it is the ultimate killing machine.
And the more I talk about it, the more I feel it’s overpowering sense of victory.
So I stop.
September 24th, 2007 at 16:46
My creativity dramatically went bonkers when I medicated. I say beautiful things are much more noticeable when you’re in a not so beautiful circumstance. Hence when I began medicating, I found myself not noticing anything.
September 25th, 2007 at 07:33
i’ve been battling depression (lately, bipolar disorder) for 14 years. some friends suggest that i medicate. but in reality, i don’t want to get “cured”. being depressed (and suicidal) gives one an insight that “normal” people can only dream about ;) besides, if you’ve lived with depression half your life, getting rid of it feels like killing half of yourself…you won’t be you anymore…
some people (due to popular media) find it somehow glamorous to be depressed. it’s not. you waste a lot of time being lethargic and negative. it’s a trade-off, really, between insight/creativity and wasted time and energy…
those with extreme cases should get help, tho. it can be debilitating.
September 25th, 2007 at 11:19
Eversince I read what you wrote about the “abyss” where committing suicide is a macho way of wimping out or that depression is a component of self-pity (wherein you vowed to find these pathetic people and slap them…hahaha), I have concluded that the reason depression is part of us so we can exercise our ability to appreciate what we have against the odds of not having.
I hope that made sense. Yes, the blues can be a good creative force, too. :)
+++
September 25th, 2007 at 13:14
Interesting theory about depression and creativity. I myself am the opposite. I am most creative when Im not depressed.
(But then again maybe Im more creative when Im depressed but I just dont care.)
September 26th, 2007 at 09:37
Recommends the article: Down with Happiness
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.05/st_essay.html
September 26th, 2007 at 09:39
Is there a site the sells your books online?
September 27th, 2007 at 08:05
Everything today is being tagged as a medical condition. From being makulit to just being shy. And personally, I think medicating someone is the easy way out to deal with people. Dati, nag-e-effort to understand, hinahabaan ang patience. Ngayon, direcho sa drugstore, bili ng gamot.
You said it Jessica, “depressed” sounded more dramatic. At yun lang yun. Sometimes, people need affirmation that they ARE the center of the universe. At kapag hindi nakukuha, hayan “depressed”.
September 27th, 2007 at 09:35
if you are depressed… might as well spread it so that you are not alone… harhar! by spreading it, you might even transfer your whole depression to someone else making you a sunny person… if all else fails, grab a microphone stand and smash it on the barman… LOL!
September 27th, 2007 at 14:59
I do have my (unexplainable) bouts of depression – and it’s not just the cute “hay, nalulungkot ako” depression, it’s this burdensome kind of depression. But it’s ok, because after a couple of hours, if not a couple of days, I’ll also have my (unexplainable) moments of sheer joy. Is that really clinical, or am I just really, really moody? Astrologists would probably tell me that it’s the nature of my sun sign…and I’d rather listen to astrologists than to psychiatrists. hehe.
September 27th, 2007 at 18:49
someone told me that maybe a i have an adult ADHD. her basis? mid-sentence i would leave her and do something else and talking too fast that i don’t realize that all she’s asking was answerable by a simple yes or no. she said i make things complicated and they aren’t.
maybe i’m depressed.
September 28th, 2007 at 08:36
At times, i wanna believe, i am just imagining that i have these bouts of depression. I have them every now & then. And yes, they are unexplainable. Or maybe they really are explainable – i am just afraid to acknowledge the reasons why and it’s easier to say “it’s unexplainable” when friends ask me why. At times, I attribute it to mood swings. Also, it (depression) makes an absolute absolution to whatever it is that you fouled up (“depressed/depressive kasi siya…”). So i guess some people wear it like a badge – as if it’s like a fashion statement. But the thing really is I can’t even point my finger at it – it’s like it’s always been a part me.
September 29th, 2007 at 13:30
Depression is a medical condition. It is hard to explain, but doctors are constantly trying to find ways to detect it. The latest tragedy to have attempted to study this is the Chris Benoit murder suicide case.