What Depression Is Like

[Yaatee]

Depression is a disease like diabetes, heart disease and cancer.  It has nothing to do with your moral qualities.  Is there a reason not to treat diabetes, heart disease and cancer with medication?  Jesus did not use SSRI's and SNRI's because--obviously--they were not available then.  Prayer and meditation are good ways to control depression but if they are not adequate, one should consult one's health care provider regarding a correct diagnosis, counseling and medication.  Unfortunately, counseling is often not covered by insurance, but medication is.

 

Depression often has nothing to do with external circumstances.  People in dire straits often are not depressed, and people who are very well off, suscessful and loved---are.   We are now able to map the brain using functional MRI, or fMRI, and identify the areas of the brain involved with depression, and trace their response to antidepressants (I am not familiar with the "controversy" on phat).  Thus we can document the fact that depression is a disease with objective and reversible changes in the brain.

 

Although antidepressants are not perfect, in that some work and some don't on any specific individual, and it often requires 6-8 weeks to find out, they have been a Godsend to many, many people.

[CatholicsAreKewl]

Depression is a disease like diabetes, heart disease and cancer.  It has nothing to do with your moral qualities.  Is there a reason not to treat diabetes, heart disease and cancer with medication?  Jesus did not use SSRI's and SNRI's because--obviously--they were not available then.  Prayer and meditation are good ways to control depression but if they are not adequate, one should consult one's health care provider regarding a correct diagnosis, counseling and medication.  Unfortunately, counseling is often not covered by insurance, but medication is.

 

Depression often has nothing to do with external circumstances.  People in dire straits often are not depressed, and people who are very well off, suscessful and loved---are.   We are now able to map the brain using functional MRI, or fMRI, and identify the areas of the brain involved with depression, and trace their response to antidepressants (I am not familiar with the "controversy" on phat).  Thus we can document the fact that depression is a disease with objective and reversible changes in the brain.

 

Although antidepressants are not perfect, in that some work and some don't on any specific individual, and it often requires 6-8 weeks to find out, they have been a Godsend to many, many people.

Thanks for the post, Yaatee! I sent you a pm.  :)

[LittleWaySoul]

My husband doesn't give up God to take his schizophrenia medication. Just the opposite. He thanks God for the researchers who discovered it, for the company that paid for the research and development, the people who served as guinea pigs to test it, our federal government for approving its use, our provincial government that added it to our formulary, our insurance company that makes it affordable, the physicians who properly diagnosed him and prescribe it for him, the pharmacy that stocks it and delivers it to the clinic where he receives it, and most importantly, the nurse who braves his bare backside every two weeks to give him the four inch long needle.

God sent each and every person in that chain in answer to my husband's prayers. It would be kind of rude to God to throw that wonderful gift back in his face by turning it down.

 

I cannot express in words how much I love Red's original post and CatharineM's reply.

Thanks Red and CatherineM! :smile3:

[Pax_et bonum]

I'm wondering how we can help a friend who maybe has depression.... 

 

it is something related to losing hope? (for various reasons! not here to diagnose :)).

 

"It's weird for people who still have feelings to be around depressed people. They try to help you have feelings again so things can go back to normal, and it's frustrating for them when that doesn't happen. From their perspective, it seems like there has got to be some untapped source of happiness within you that you've simply lost track of, and if you could just see how beautiful things are... 

 

 

But people want to help. So they try harder to make you feel hopeful and positive about the situation. You explain it again, hoping they'll try a less hope-centric approach, but re-explaining your total inability to experience joy inevitably sounds kind of negative; like maybe you WANT to be depressed. The positivity starts coming out in a spray — a giant, desperate happiness sprinkler pointed directly at your face. And it keeps going like that until you're having this weird argument where you're trying to convince the person that you are far too hopeless for hope just so they'll give up on their optimism crusade and let you go back to feeling bored and lonely by yourself. 

 

 

And that's the most frustrating thing about depression. It isn't always something you can fight back against with hope. It isn't even something — it's nothing. And you can't combat nothing. You can't fill it up. You can't cover it. It's just there, pulling the meaning out of everything. That being the case, all the hopeful, proactive solutions start to sound completely insane in contrast to the scope of the problem.

 

It would be like having a bunch of dead fish, but no one around you will acknowledge that the fish are dead. Instead, they offer to help you look for the fish or try to help you figure out why they disappeared. 

 

The problem might not even have a solution. But you aren't necessarily looking for solutions. You're maybe just looking for someone to say 'sorry about how dead your fish are' or 'wow, those are super dead. I still like you, though.'"

 

 

Social interaction is often difficult and tiring, at least for me, but it's important to not let your friend be alone all the time. Watch a movie together, read or study silently, or doing something active together like go for a walk or shoot hoops--anything that doesn't require excessive conversation. He/she may not want to talk about it, but if your friend does want to talk, just listen and be sympathetic without offering advice unless it's asked. 

[Ice_nine]

depression suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks

[Laudate_Dominum]

That comic was cray. I know she's taken, or something, but wouldn't it be neat if her and the oatmeal made babies?

[brianthephysicist]

For Red,

 

[Winchester]

Sorry you get played by the devil.

Enjoy the smell of dead fish when God asks you why you chose a pill over Him.

 

the brain is an organ. It's apt to go haywire just like the heart, or the kidneys. So how about you shut your ignorant, backward mouth, [mod]EDITED~~~Language~~~Roamin Catholic[/mod]
 

[Winchester]

I'm a moron

 

Yep.

[add]

Seeing someone suffering from depression, Especially a loved one is depressing

[Lil Red]

the brain is an organ. It's apt to go haywire just like the heart, or the kidneys. So how about you shut your ignorant, backward mouth,[mod] EDITED~~~Language[/mod]
 

 

i :love: you. 

[franciscanheart]

prayer is not magic...

The cure for Depression is faith, the path to faith is prayer

It was a joke. :|

 

For Red,
 

MY FAVORITE CHARACTER MAYBE EVER. My affection for her grows by the day. [WHERE DID THE WINE GLASS GO?!]

[krissylou]

I've linked to this on Vocation Station before but it bears repeating.

 

http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2011/june-online-only/bipolarpriest.html

 

(The article is from an Evangelical magazine but it is written by a Catholic priest.)

[Lil Red]

I've linked to this on Vocation Station before but it bears repeating.

 

http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2011/june-online-only/bipolarpriest.html

 

(The article is from an Evangelical magazine but it is written by a Catholic priest.)

 

thank you for linking this. :) 

[LittleWaySoul]

I really really like this discussion.