Is depression a natural reaction to an insane world?

[Unbeliever]

This is a thought I have been pondering for a while.

The default to view depression as "something wrong", or a "brain chemical imbalance" or as "a disease" or something that "needs to be fixed" or requires "medication" or "therapy" appears to be the most common response of practically everyone. 

From doctors, to psychiatrists, to therapists, to the general population, to the depressed individuals themselves... the universal belief appears to be that "the person needs to get help".

But what if... the living in depressed state is correct? What if it isn't an "imbalance" or isn't something "wrong"? What if being depressed is the only natural state to be in for an intelligent, empathetic, compassionate, informed, thinking individual to exist in the current state of our world?

What if to NOT be depressed about is the true indication of mental sickness?

I'm not saying that being depressed is fun in any way... most people on this forum would be well aware that it sucks. But that is not what I'm saying. 

What I mean is... could existing in a state of depression be completely natural for someone living in a place where so many things are obviously terrible... both on a personal level and in the world as a whole?

My reasons for this perspective are numerous. Far too many to write in only 2500 words. But basically...

The real world is an extremely depressing place for any person that cares at all about anything outside of themselves.

Eg. If you care about animals... the reality is many beautiful species are already lost forever, many others are so close to the verge of extinction that even if everyone worldwide decided to do everything they could to save them... they would still be lost. At home there are people that still buy people animals as christmas gifts, refuse to desex their pets, the massive amount of pets put down in pounds annually. There is backyard animal cruelty, the dog racing industry using live bait, shooting race horses with legs, women's hormonal treatments for menapause, the meat industry, birds choking on our plastic half a world away, overfishing. The list goes on and on.

It is reality and it is depressing. Care about animals and feeling "depressed" about it IS correct. And that is one tiny subject in a plethora of subjects.

3 billion people in starving poverty, the water wars, religious fanatics, corrupt governments, womens rights violations, slavery, wars, child rape, etc etc

It's the people that are not depressed that worry me.

[Peppermintbach]

Hi Unbeliever (and all),

I’m sleep Deprived and slightly delirious but I just wanted to chat.

I’m not sure if you will even read this but I just wanted to visit to say hi 🙂 Anyway, I miss our chats (few in number as they were).

You brought something different to the forum. A truly unique voice. It’s why Verona (see above) wrote even though no one had posted here in 6 months.

Hope you’re doing okay. Sending well wishes to you. Thank you gratefully for this thread 🙂

Pepper

[bigstar]

I'm totally going to enter the dialogue as a new interlocutor; and I am ready to impart my knowledge on the subject of depression.

Physically speaking, depression has clinical signifiers. By clinical, I mean, there are observable changes that are common to most people suffering from an acute depressive episode. Loss of appetite, inability to sleep et al. There are also MRI differences between 'functional' brains and depressed brains. Of course the argument of if depression is a response to an insane world is unanswerable. It's a what comes first? chicken or egg scenario. What comes first--the situation or the chemical?

One could suggest, like most religions and philosophers have suggested, that life is made up inexorable suffering; that god gives the cross, but not the strength to bear it-- in religious imagery the cross represents the burden of life that we all carry and we must learn to endure it and keep carrying it until we under up dead hanging off of it(really grim imagery--I know right???)

I have been philosophically depressed I suppose. The mindlessness of modern society--its alienation and absurdity, its 'greed is good' mentality, its insatiable urge for growth and progress and so on makes most perceptive people depressed--and they usually go find meaning in more noble pursuits such as art and charity and community work and so on. They can deal with the melancholy that comes with disenchantment through lifestyle changes, exercise, healthy social circles, pets and things like that. But then there is the other depression. The sickness as I call it. The one that is in your stomach, your heart, your toes, the one that makes you feel like your body is on fire and the self is slowly dying in this internal fire of ineffable despair that isn't a response to a situation externally, but something gone wrong horribly inside. This is unequivocally an illness of the worst order as serious as anything else and is life threatening and by no way is a philosophical enlightenment bought upon by the insanity of the world we live in. It is rather an organic disease that wreaks havoc on every single organ in your body.

That type of depression requires chemical intervention, absolutely, and thank god there is medication that researches have spent endless hours of research trying to find to help the ones who get the nasty brain sickness have a chance at getting better and reclaiming their lives.

[blondguy]

Hi Bigstar

Thankyou for your post and kudos to you for your last paragraph

Being a partially chemically based illness Depression requires medication as heart disease, diabetes or high blood pressure does

My kindest

Paul

[Speak Your Truth]

Oh boy this thread is amazing.

While there are a lot of good things happening in the world, at the same time I am so painfully aware of what a sad, dysfunctional, un-thinking world we live in.

I am dealing with anxiety and depression and feel so incredibly lost, alone and lonely it’s really quite unbearable at times and I wonder how I will keep going.

I am sure my anxiety and depression wouldn’t be nearly as bad if I had love in my life. It’s such a lonely world to be in.

[Just Sara]

Hi SYT;

Your post was sad to read. I'm sorry you're in the space you're in. Love is indeed a precious commodity when it comes to MH issues. The addition of 'feel-good' brain chemicals alone improve our quality of life.

Being a contributor to this thread for a while, I haven't noticed much talk of 'love' from anyone, so your thoughts are really worthy of comment.

Depression's an insidious illness. But is it a 'reaction' to an insane world? In my experience, it was my 'internal' world that caused and increased symptoms more than anything. Due to this, I couldn't 'cope' with the world around me.

Luckily I discovered the cause of my depressive state and moved on to address anxiety symptoms which I found were also caused/triggered by internal fears, experiences etc. Being in recovery now, I view the world in a very different way.

Love was something that was on my list of causative factors; love hurts as they say. I've come to understand love as being more intrinsic, unlike sexual or common 'attraction', that's a different set of chemicals.

Love begins with 'self', not what's 'out there'. As kids we love unconditionally because we don't know any better. But, there has to be conditions for survival.

For instance, I loved my parents even though my home was dysfunctional and violent. I wasn't respected or cared for in a way that promoted my mental/emotional/physical/spiritual well being or my future as an adult. So, I carried these lessons into my adult life and found others who reflected those same sentiments. Ergo; more dysfunctional relationships.

'I' am the common denominator in my world. If I don't demand respect and acceptance of myself, then others who seek out women like this will 'find' me. The same works in reverse. If I love, respect and accept myself, then those who possess these qualities will also 'find' me. Laws of attraction in action..

I hope this makes sense. What do you think?

Sez

[Speak Your Truth]

Thank you for your reply Sez

I’ve been reading through the posts on this thread and really feel quite incredibly intimidated at the moment - especially reading Unbeliever’s posts and your own Sez. You are both incredibly deep thinkers and highly articulate. I’m lost for words in response.

[Just Sara]

I'm so sorry SYT;

I do tend to ramble on. Writing helped me come thru the bad bits; it side tracks unhealthy thoughts and behaviour.

I'm also sorry about you feeling intimidated; it's not what I intend when I write. I'm sure others feel the same.

So, staying in line with the topic; do you find the news makes you feel worse? And, would you like to comment about Love and the world around you?

I'm really interested ok...

Sez

[Speak Your Truth]

Hello again Sez

You don’t need to apologise for ‘rambling on’ as you call it (I didn’t think you were) or anything else.

When I said I was intimidated I meant by the deep thinking and high level articulation of both you and Unbeliever. You are both obviously highly intelligent people.

I consider myself ‘intelligent’ but could not express myself at that level.

As for the news, love and the world around me ... I need to think about all of that so I will reply in another post.

bye for now, SYT

[blondguy]

Hi Speak Your Truth

Its always great to have to on the forums. It really doesnt matter how well we express ourselves as we are all equal on the forums. Your posts are just as important as anyone else's or mine for that matter 🙂

My kind thoughts for you always

Paul

[Speak Your Truth]

Thank you Paul - Birdy has been the only one to reply to my thread for some time now, so it’s good to have a post from you here.