Being depressed about depressing circumstances is not mental illness. Prove me wrong.
You are correct. Sometimes people say “depressed” when what they truly mean is “sad”. There’s plenty to be sad about.
EDIT: Battling chronic clinical depression since 1989. Depression makes no sense.
What about when the depression prevents someone from changing their depressing circumstances?
I’m not saying all depressing circumstances are changeable (see also the serenity prayer), but there are plenty of people who leave a bad situation once they get help, and then no longer need that help.
And then there are people who aren’t even in a bad situation they’re just anhedonic and struggling with depression.
And being optimistic in truly hopeless, depressing circumstances is delusional.
Especially when the root causes are outside of your control.
OK, so it’s not mental illness, it’s realism. How do you propose people deal with that situation?
I would start with therapies that help them identify what changes they need to make. Then, give the person treatments that have been proven to create better outcomes for people-in-depressing-circumstances (lifestyle and pharmaceutical).
Oh hey, I just invented mental healthcare for people with “realism.”
I’m depressed because we’re killing the planet and everything that lives on it.
Overachieving therapist: starts a cultural revolution for his patients’ wellbeing.
I was at a Christmas concert for kids. Soon as a grade performed, all the parents who saw their kids got up and left. Right up until the last class who performed for almost nobody. Society can suck
When I was in school they tried randomizing the performance order so you wouldn’t know when your kid was playing. When that didn’t work they decided to not release the children to their parents until the whole concert was over
When I was a kid parents stayed through the whole damn thing… I know that we’re a society strapped to the grindstone of perpetual labour for peanuts and all but we should remember our community and support system extends beyond just our families. If you want a nice society you got to make the effort to care about making it better.
I hate my chronic depression.
It turns me utterly inapt as a human being, can’t work, can’t eat, can’t shower, can’t even play games. All I can do is stay in bed and hope the day goes faster.
I hate that I sabotage myself to this state, I can’t possibly win this fight since I’m fighting myself, and I know all my weak points.
I hate that I know the way forward, the way to help myself, but I can’t possibly lift a finger to do so.
I hate that my own lack of will snowballs my depression into lacking even more.
I hate that antidepressants only make me want to end it all a little less.
I hate that my depression makes me procrastinate the homework that my psychiatrist gives me.
Why am I like this? Why can’t I work properly? I just want to be happy.
Don’t know if this helps but it’s not your fault. Sometimes your brain can just screw you over, and you can only try your best… willpower is a resource your brain gives you, not something you can decide whether you have. If you try your best to make yourself do it, and it wasn’t enough, then you can talk to your therapist about it or try again later. What you’re doing may seem like a small task, but if someone else had your brain they’d be having the same issues. Try to show yourself kindness, anyone can struggle when their mind sabotages them, and it’s not your fault.
I’d prefer that to these pills that basically don’t do anything
right? at best they are “you know, killing myself seems like a lot of work, and it would make my mom sad, and that’s not cool”
Yeah, the realization that the world wasn’t what I thought it would be was a slow journey for me. Initially, I felt I could keep up. I wasn’t doing it all but I felt like I was doing enough. It was like stacking blocks where the placement was imprecise. It seemed the differences weren’t that big of a deal and I was still progressing.
However, over time the small differences that had seemed acceptable began making it hard to keep going. I struggled to do what others appeared to accomplish without issues and sections of my life seemed to be caving in.
At 30, I was diagnosed with ADHD. Therapy and medication have helped me exist in a world that is indifferent to me. While I wish the world were different and I didn’t feel the need to take pills, they’re a tool that’s helped me better influence my circumstances. It’s still a struggle, but I’m better able to find fulfillment in the struggle.
The world sucks. Pills may not change that, but they may help you maneuver a society unapathetic and sometimes hostile towards you.
Robbed of your fortune
You get disappointments in life
You’re probably poisoning your body
I hope you’re alright
In a moment of fear
You dig in your heels
The pills won’t help you now
Once you’re crying
The Pills Won’t Help You Now – The Chemical Brothers
My depression is slowly turning into a general distain for all of life, and I don’t know what to do about it.
