Do you think "depression "is a late 20th century "illness"?"

[donnie080208]

I know BL is a place where many understand the horrors of true depression but ive had debates with people who say (non bipolar) depression is all circumstances.(i.e.unhappiness)
I had months where i dont leave the house, dress , wash much etc.. but this is due to paranoia and anxiety/agoraphobia etc..and this makes me suicidly depressed..
Anyway back to the main point , can people with great jobs, no childhood trauma's etc.. be going about their lives and all of a sudden wham! their housebound, depressed or must they loose their job/wife first.
Also ive read chemical imbalances ,dont exist with depression (see tom cruise) and are a "scam" by large drug companys who make the anti-depressants. My personal opinion is depression is over diagnoised far too much but i do regard it as an illness on its own.(non manic)

 

[Help me please]

No doubt a lot of it is enviromental and also our horrible diets. I'm certain mental illnesses have always existed though. Think about the poor people a few hundred years ago who knew they had no way to improve their lives. They lost children due to the conditions they lived in and not a thing they could do to change that. They must have been depressed too!

Not sure depression is over diagnosed now just we know more about the symptoms and can define it better. I've know people who have fabulous lives but are depressed.

 

[villian]

I believe many psychiatric illnesses are way over diagnosed, however depression is definitely a legit disorder from my experience -- I personally believe it is more then likely related to a chemical imbalance at least part of the time.

I think diet and exercise should always be the first step at fighting it though, our generation is entirely to quick to get on psych meds in my opinion.

 

[donnie080208]

I do think simple unhappiness is labled as depression with many people these days, 40 years ago depression as an illness, was virtually unheard off. Is it modern society making many crack-up or is unhappy simply diagnosed as a mental illness? (anti-d's are onr of the most prescribed meds=money)
I do believe this to a certain extent but for many diagnosed with major depression there is clearly something chemical going on in there. I know churchhill had his blackdog but wasnt that circumstancial due to WW2 presures and somewhat" natural" and not an illness in itself

 

[MeddieFrac]

I agree with previous posters that we are just now starting to understand depression better, therefore the rise in the diagnosis of the illness. The more we understand about it, the better we can recognize it and then diagnose and treat it.

I'm not sure what I am suffering from but it surely feels like depression. I go for many days without washing/bathing, wearing the same outfit (luckily I tend to not produce any foul odours and many people say I smell manly and good after not bathing.) Also I rarely leave the house and some days I spend completely isolated in my room. I've got alot of anxiety and I try to treat it with oxycontin, but am having to quit oxy due to money issues, and have made some psychiatric appointments the upcoming month.

I am currently on Paxil, Wellbutrin, and Klonopin (which I'm abusing,) but I have been on over 20 different medications, the only ones truly helping are benzodiazepines, so maybe the root of all my problems is anxiety.

Anywho, I doubt that depression is just a recent illness; I'm sure it's been around since the dawn of human life, but only now are we putting more research and money into treating it, hence the rise of depression diagnosis.

EDIT: I have been diagnosed wth Major Depressive Disorder; Treatment Refractory. That meaning, it runs so deep in my mind that there may be not alleviation of symptoms no matter what they give me (except for Xanax, that helps alot but I tend to abuse it LOL and it is very fun to abuse. And I know just what to say to any doctor to get Xanax, or any other medicine I want, because I am somewhat intelligent and manipulative, hehe.)



Just drank some Gin with 5mg of Klonopin and I feel better now, thank you very much!

Also, it is day 1 without any oxycontin/roxicodone, and I don't feel much withdrawal thanks to Klonopin and maybe thanks to the anti-depressants also. But alas, chances are once my hook-up gets off work today I will score maybe a few more roxies one last time, hehe.

I wouldn't mind drinking some grapefruit juice then waiting 30 minutes and orally taking 180mg of roxy one last time; that would give me a very good buzz, but not a high. To get a high takes 200mg+++! Can't afford that. I owe alot of medical bills from when I went hiking and get an infected blister which led to cellulitis and a foot the size of a god damn football! Lol!

Oh god, I am really fucked up off Gin and K-pin, HAHA, I need to stop with this post. Sorry everyone, I am stopping now HAHA

 

[villian]

That meaning, it runs so deep in my mind that there may be not alleviation of symptoms no matter what they give me (except for Xanax, that helps alot but I tend to abuse it LOL and it is very fun to abuse. And I know just what to say to any doctor to get Xanax, or any other medicine I want, because I am somewhat intelligent and manipulative, hehe.)

Sounds like your issue is anxiety more then depression, although they are commonly co-existing.

Benzos do *not* help depression, in fact they make it worse in the long term. (numerous studies have shown this)

Since you get so much relief from Xanax, this is why I'm guessing anxiety is the cause of alot of your problems. That also would explain why you don't like leaving the house and isolate yourself.

I used to be the alot like you in that I got a ton of relief from benzos and I have scammed dozens and dozens and doctors into scripting them for me.

The funny thing is, I *never* had anxiety before benzos. I know all about it now though.

The thing is though, they *will* stop working. I made it about 8 years before they totally conked out on me, and at the end of the time I was on such ridiculously high dosages I won't even mention them.

Just so you know though, you *will* have to deal with these problems eventually, so it's best to start trying to figure out your issues now, even if you are medicating them to oblivion.

Best of luck man, I know how this ends and it is not pretty.

 

[DeMiZe-420-]

when laziness, incompetence, and ignorance runs the world, yeah you could see depression as a 21st century illness

before the 20th century, suriving was the main focus in life

now, our world is based around finding fast, and easy answers to all our problems
but i think depression stems from being lazy, bored, and overall being stuck in the vices of the 21st century

 

[Lolie]

It's not a recent illness - you only have to look at how long treatments for depression have been available to see that it's been recognised as a disorder for a very long time.

What I do think is a late 20th century phenomenon is the depression industry. I also think that people's tolerance for frustration has a lower threshold than in previous generations. People want everything all at once and right now and are miserable when they don't get it, even though those expectations are often totally realistic.

I've seen it referred to as "effort shock" - people being totally unprepared for the sheer hard work it takes to achieve what they want and resentful of the effort required. And from what I've observed, many people expect a life which is free of pretty much any emotional discomfort at all - they never develop emotional resilience because there's a whole industry (not just medical, but also self-help) selling "cures".

The idea that life doesn't have to be perfect to be good seems to have disappeared, leaving many people locked in a constant clash between their expectations and reality - a clash which is likely to be won by reality almost every time.

The distinction between situational depression and endogenous depression has become very blurred as well and I don't think that has been a positive change.

I'm honestly glad that the working groups for DSM-V are going to make major changes to the diagnostic criteria for many disorders and eliminate some entirely. It needs to be brought in line with the purposes for which it's now used and the current version is inadequate for that, leading to a lot of misdiagnosis and unnecessary intervention - which in itself leads to a lot of people suffering undesired outcomes which would not have occurred had they been diagnosed correctly in the first place.

 

[donnie080208]

" I used to be the alot like you in that I got a ton of relief from benzos and I have scammed dozens and dozens and doctors into scripting them for me."



This is whats wrong with todays doctors imo, why is it "scamming" when there the only thing that gave you relief. So fucking what if there addictive, better to be addicted than stuck in the house unwashed , going mad for months at a time. Yes benzo's were overpresribed in the 70's in the u.k. and u.s.a. but nowadays it s gone to far the other direction imo, i.e.too hard to get scripted.
They dont mind giving people worthless anti-d's, mood stabilisers for years though even when many are unproven.

 

[jacqui]

i had a great job, good income, owned my own house etc but due to childhood bad experiences i turned to drugs at an older age in my life to cope with feelings of self hatred. i have suffered deppression my whole life, which i directly attribute to my negitive experences in life. For me i beleive that life experiences have led to my low self esteem, confidence etc and thus depression.

 

[ocean]

I think Depression, and other mental illness was around long before the 20th century.........
I can't think of many people by name, but how many historical writings/poetry were inspired and written about depression or mental illness. Emily Dickinson, for example, must have suffered from some sort of mental depression/agoraphobia, OCD......She wore almost all of one color everyday, she was a recluse and sometimes would go through periods where she would not even leave her room only seeing her sister. She was born in the 1830's.....
I do think, that the changes made to foods in the 1950's strongly effected/effects people's brain chemistry- So today's overwhelming number of people suffering from mental illness is a combination of nature, food, big business and media. I think mental illness is natural. I have read a number of things on how certain drug companies (which make medications for different mental illnesses) also make different preservatives and additives put into food- The FDA lets them get away with it b/c those big drug companies fund a lot. (One reason Stevia, an herbal sweetener was written off by the FDA, sugar and corn sweetener companies paid....Nothing to do with mental illness but the point being the FDA is in the pockets of who is paying.) Such and such preservative causes depression, you go buy they're medication.
I think the media has helped this crisis along, in obvious ways........

Anyway- point is, I think that it has always been around- Only now it is more spoken about and our eating habits increase the imbalances.....

 

[Help me please]

Hope this sheds further light on the subject:

Depression has always existed. King Saul is described as experiencing depression and committing suicide because of it in the Old Testament. Even before this theories on mental illness and depression existed. However, it has not always been seen as separate from other types of mental illness. Therefore, it is not possible to look at the aetiology of depression without paying some attention to the development of psychiatry as a whole.

More here: http://priory.com/homol/dephist.htm

 

[Depressicaa]

Lack of Darwin's survival of the fittest has weakened us as a race. We have more sickly people, such as obese and mentally ill people because they didn't die due to scientific advancements. The fact that 'life is precious' is also a detraction from their deaths. In America, even when people want to die, they can't because its not allowed.

It used to be called blues. It wasn't as sad. I think due to the environment, the foods, and the way that the ill continue to reproduce has undoubtedly made more problems than they fixed. The high demand of food has led to advancements in genetic modification in foods, and the fact that there are so many people to feed forces companies to use the cheapest materials and stuff that is the worst for us. That is why when you go to another country and eat the same exact fucking food, you actually feel healthier. Thank you corn.

Sickly people reproducing also passes their ill genes to the offspring. Its not a matter of morals, its the truth. What do you expect when you have fat people reproduce? What happens when two mentally ill people reproduce? Of course there is a chance they won't pass the bad genes, but the fact is that many do. Eugenics is often frowned down on, but look at the wonders it has done for Tay-Sachs disease. There isn't a high ground towards what is morally correct or incorrect, so this is subjective.

I've outlined problems but not solutions. If you have parents who have the same problem try to see what makes them happier, or avoid certain habits they do that you feel ruins them.

There are many drugs that cause euphoria. Some of them are medications, and its true that Americans ask what pill to take for what problem. This isn't the problem on its own. Addicts of any drug make them look bad, there are many people who do not have an addiction, for the few who do. It is possible to have a chemical imbalance, but often the fact is that their lives suck.

 

[SilverFeniks]

great thread.

my paternal grandfather blew his head off with a shotgun many decades ago.
Life has always been way harder than we have it now. in many ways its pathetic that so many people are depressed & dysfunctional in our modern society.
conversely [of course], our era is one of the most manic, utterly insane and troubled yet.
I think the first half of the 20th Century truly had it among the worst in Human History, obvious living standards / medical advances excepted, but we have a lot more to process these days than ever before; never-ending progress which simply can't be viewed in a one-dimensional manner.

Mix in an exponential use of drugs & population explosion, and you have a record-setting dysfunctional modern societal population. welcome to life on earth

 

[belfort]

i also wondr why so many people in this country especially seem depressed eventhough from outside appearance, they have it made..they have their health, a job, a decent family yet they are depressed..i think alot of depression today is caused by the expectations people put on themselves..society is so focused on making a ton of money and keeping up with your neighbors, its all about status...people are busy nowadays they forget how to sit back and relax..then u have the people that arent so busy so they get bored and then depressed..lol...its like i wonder often, what DOES make a person happy?do people ever find happiness or is it a endless search?

 

[ferrita]

Well, being a Social Worker by trade, before I ended up disabled. I had to study lots about depression. There is a great website that sites depression 1000's of years ago. Apparantly King Saul suffered from it. some thoght it was evil spirits in the brain and would even drill holes in the brain free them that site is here tohttp://priory.com/homol/dephist.htm there are also many other sites and theories. I answer a help line for a disease i have that was discovered in 1812 called verniuls disease. Nobody knew it by that name a nd its only been in the past 10 years that people are being correctly diagnosed with it and there is even a clinic for it not as well as clinical trials for it. ITS called Hidradenitis suppurativa. Very fucked up nasty painful humbling thing to have. I bring this up because i have been answering a helpline for over 10 years dealing with suicidial people. depressed people etc. I do this on a daily basis. What I Notice is that depending on the types of meds people are on, the types of depression seems to be different. That includes pain meds as well as anti depressants. The ones more likely to commit suicide are the med between 17 and 30 by a long shot. And they are usually not on any meds and tryinjg to deal with excrutiating pain and open draining lesions in the most private areas of their bodies.

But if they can find someone who has this thier age, they gain comfort from kinowing they are not alone. This is typical of depression though, if you know others suffer and can relate, it does help.

Man I could go on about different types of depression, but I will stop. I do think that there is a chemical component though. Otherwise so many people would not self medicate. and find that it helps!

 

[donnie080208]

Some very interesting posts. I can understand someone who's in pain, grief, had abuse etc making someone depressed but isnt this still circumstantial and more like unhappiness. I believe manic depression is obviously a chemical imbalance but hasnt depression become an excuse for many to not deal with their lives.(including me on many occasions). I suffer paranoia,anxiety etc.. and this makes me severly depressed , wouldnt that still be classed as circumstantial because without the mad thoughts,unreality feelings i wouldnt be depressed anymore(i think). BTW i have no right to judge who's real depressed and who's is unhappiness or an excuse , people could say/ and have the same thing to me(very annoying and frustrating sometimes)

 

[unsettled]

I don't think depression is new at all, I think it's probably been around as long as the human race, even animals get depressed sometimes, at least I think they do. There are alot of interesting post here about people having too high expectations, I think this is very true in today's world. People think that they are only worth so much as a human being if they have a nice house, spouse, car, good paying job..etc. etc. I've even fallen into this trap before but I usually can pull myself out of it. It is ridiculous how people are so preoccupied with how others view them.

For me I know I was born with depression, I've had a good upbringing, great family, but I've been subject to periods of extreme melancholy off and on for my whole life. I think for me it is a chemical thing that is also linked to my creativity in some way. Artistically, I'm more prolific when I'm depressed, but not too depressed. Anyway I've always accepted this aspect of depression for myself.

It wasn't until I got older and lost a very valuable relationship with the love of my life so far that I learned what true depression was. This led to extreme substance abuse and a complete lack of interest in anything that wasn't related to getting high. Oddly enough once I was high I seemed to be able to go about my day just fine. Basically I couldn't get more depressed without killing myself, I'd wake up in tears every day. I'd drink myself to sleep everynight.

I eventually got help for this episode but I've never returned to what I refer to as my pre-deep depression innocence. I'm better now but I'm highly medicated, not compared to some people but compared to others I'm a walking pharmacy.

To me the interesting thing is when I'm busy doing what I love to do and I'm being challenged and moving forward I'm never depressed. I'm elated, not manic, just busy and engaged in my life. Now I needed to get some chemical help to balance my brain out to be able to maintain a busy schedule after my first major depressive episode, but I do think that many people who complain about being depressed are lazy, especially the ones who won't even make the effort to reach out to get help, I think some people just prefer being depressed because in a way it's the natural result of not challenging yourself and moving forwards and taking risks. However I would never tell a truly depressed person to just snap out of it, I remember when people would say that to me when I was in my most depressed period and I wanted to punch them in the face! I recognize that it's a disorder or disease, but I do think if a person really wants to get better they have to take some responsibility for their own condition.

I also wanted to add that depression runs in my family on both sides, so I definitely think there is a genetic component as well as an individual component to each case of depression. About a quarter of my whole family is on some kind of anti depressant and these are only the ones I know about. I'm actually not on an anti depressant but I'm on enough other crap. Both my mom and sister have bad anxiety and depression episodes.

Those are my thoughts for the moment, I'm getting tired, ambien is kicking in, I'll check in later.

 

[donnie080208]

^agree with substance abuse probs you mention , ive found any opiate great for my anxiety/depression even in low doses(why i got on methadone/subs). Still a housebound wreck but no doubt id be dead or in hospital full time without them. I know theres another thread on that subject but wouldnt it be great if doctors could be more daring and creative with their mental health prescriptions.(especially the usual treatment resistent cases) of topic subutex should defo be an anti depressent imo, plus its quite a benign drug
@unsettled Born depressed? (not disagreeing, good point)
Does anyone think that is possible or fairly common?

 

[Sprout]

I've suffered with Bi-Polar disorder from a very young age; but I fall under the general childhood trauma "cliche". My dad was a wife-beating Meth addict and my mum was an alcoholic.
Things have improved yes but my well-being? Nope; it's getting worse, or at least more expresssive.