Depression.... What do you think?

[WolfEyes300]

Okay... Hello everyone. I can't believe that this is my second thread.... OMG!!!!

Okay... This was just something that came up when talking to someone. I was debating whether this topic actually is considered a debate or not. It doesn't fit under the Agree/Disagree category so much. However, there is two sides of the argument, that i have seen.
Okay, the question is, or opinion... Is: Is depression a sign of weakness?
Me personally... I do not, see depression as a sign of weakness. However depression, isn't a sign of strength... either. It depends on the topic, and the details... The strength to carry on day after day, that is a sign of strength.
As a general overview.... What do you think?
I'm not asking for a right or wrong answer, I am just curious as to what you guys think...
Pup xx

[spencer]

Because of being depressed the amount of strength I have to conjure to do everything whether it's getting up in the morning or turning in a homework assignment or maintaining a relationship with anyone family, friend, or lover is probably more than what's required of a person who is not depressed.

So depression is certainly not a sign of weakness.

[Lexington]

I say it's a "weakness"...but only in the absolute, longview, non-judgmental meaning of the term.

The human body is built a certain way, and is made to run a certain way. And sometimes, things go wrong that prevent it from working correctly. You break your leg. You get a stomach bug. You have an allergic reaction. Things happen that keep us from living the kick-ass lives that we'd like. So we go see a doctor and try to find a way to get around or over the problem. The leg gets put in a cast. We're given medicine for our stomach. We avoid whatever's giving us that allergic reaction, or find a lotion to put on it. I don't know of anybody who would call a broken leg or a stomach ailment or an allergic reaction a "weakness" per se, but it's the body not operating at full capacity. Sometimes the problem is small enough to treat yourself - you take a pill, or put on the lotion, or what have you. But if things are worse than that - the broken leg, for instance - very few people would look askance at somebody having these things treated.

To my way of thinking, depression is exactly the same. Something's not quite right with the human body - more specifically, it's a problem in the brain rather than the leg or stomach. And the response should be exactly the same. If it's minor, see if you can treat it yourself - mix things up, take some "me time", what have you. And if it's worse than that, then go see a specialist, and work on getting back on top of it. I've had two bouts of depression where I had to go see somebody, and I treated them precisely like I treated a medical issue. And I think I benefited enormously from that.

Lex

[MikeW]

Hey WolfEyes!

A lot of what goes on in the brain is "chemical"… The brain is a chemical factory of sorts. Very complicated chemistry. It has nothing to do with whether or not someone is "weak" -- what "weak" is -- whether or not we're talking physical, personal integrity, etc., is itself a huge discussion. In the context you're using it, it is a value judgement about a person that I would advise leaving out of any discussion. We all have "weaknesses" of one sort or another.

Here is a WebMed Page that briefly outlines some of the causes of depression. No where in it is "weakness" mentioned.

Depression can be treated with medications, most notably SSRIs. However, although depression manifests as a result of a chemical imbalance, this fact tells us nothing about what causes the "chemical imbalance" in the first place. As we see from the WebMed page, this can be any number of external "events" from physical and emotional abuse, grief and loss, discordance with friends and family, even genetics plays a role.

In short, I'd say that MOST (not all) depression is a chemical response in the brain to external stimuli. When it begins early in life (as it did for me, personally), this "chemical response in the brain" can become a kind of "habit." It will probably help if I go into more personal detail.

I began having depressive episodes from a very young age. I can't even remember for sure but I know it goes as far back as far as 4,5,6,7 years old. It wasn't until I was in my late 20s and in therapy that I discovered that, for me, the ROOT cause of this early depression was (strangely enough) related to how I was BIRTHED. At the time my mother was in her early 40s and was given a large dose of anesthetics which passed through the placenta into my infant body during the birth. In short I was born "numb." This set up the fundamental pattern for how my brain DEALS with stressful situations, it tends to want to "shut down" or "go numb" -- return to the primordial state of the womb. (I have a vivid early memory of me being curled up in a fetal position on the living room couch with a blanket pulled over my head, feeling like I just wanted to get smaller and smaller and smaller until I completely disappeared from this world. -- A typical type of depression.)

So, my birth set the stage for a tendency to get depressed BUT it was also reinforced by two other factors: 1) my family which was emotionally abusive and non-responsive to my needs and 2) the fact that my father was also a depressed person. Not only is being around a depressed person depressing (for those prone to depression), in this instance it indicates there may have also been a genetic component.

For me, then, "depression" is primarily an internal response to external stimuli. When I get overloaded (mostly emotionally) I go numb, withdraw, shut down, hide, fall asleep, and can go into an emotional spiral of negative thoughts that leads to suicidal thinking.

I was very fortunate to ALSO have a very analytical mind and a bit of "fighter" instinct in myself. The latter was fairly repressed but it was there. It wasn't until I was in my mid 20s that I realized I needed help and that if I didn't get it, I was going down a very dark road. I was also fortunate to find the kind of help I needed. For me, ultimately, this meant moving thousands of miles away from where I'd grown up and working directly with a therapist who didn't just dose me with antidepressants. Together we were able to explore my depression from a lot of angles --- everything from family dynamics to regression. << The later is how I discovered what had happened to me as an infant. Once I discovered this, I verified it with my mother -- it was true. She told me that after my birth I was SO QUIET so much of the time she sometimes feared I wasn't even breathing. This, to me, indicates that there was brain "scaring" from the medications the Drs gave her -- and it took me over 20 years of living and learning to even begin to overcome that scaring.

The question isn't whether or not depression is a sign of weakness -- the question is, how do we face this debilitating mental/emotional "chemistry" in ourselves? It CAN be lethal. There's no doubt about it. My best gay friend of many years committed suicide as a result of clinical depression and anxiety he was unable to live with. HOWEVER, it can also be explored, learned about and treated -- both through therapy, drugs (when necessary), and learning to do things in life that a) relieve stress (or whatever the base 'cause' is) and b) give one "new brain chemistry". For example, working out or running or doing something fun -- traveling, experiencing new adventures, new people -- having a healthy diet with little to no sugars -- all these (and many other) things CAN be a help in coping with depressive tendencies.

Hope this is helpful,

Mike

[LJay]

WolfEyes, your post seems to intend to be provocative. I have to agree with Mike that your use of the word "weakness" seems judgmental and I hope you do not mean it that way.

Depression is an illness, an unhealthy condition of the mind and body. To imply that it is a character flaw of some sort is a very outdated view. Frankly, I have known some people who, being extremely depressed, demonstrated enormous drive and determination in carrying on their daily lives in the face of poor mental health. Depression is a horrible thing and those who suffer from it deserve support and all that can be done to make them well.

[Rareboy]

If by weakness, you mean the same as being human is a weakness...then I would agree. As has been mentioned, depression is as much a physical manifestation of neuro-chemical state as anything else....and in many cases, may have roots in our genetic make-up.

So for many people, neuro-chemical imbalances and the way our neurons fire, when combined with other external stresses including diet, work and trauma can trigger a bout of depression....which, if handled properly, can be managed and in many cases, overcome.

And depression doesn't mean that people just give up and crawl back into bed with the drapes shut. There are many, many people who have to keep functioning at some level even though they are literally feel on the edge of incapacity. If that isn't strength....I don't know what is. And often some of those most tortured by depression are creative with electric imaginations and great intellectual abilities...who have produced brilliant pieces of work....even while feeling like they are trapped in an abyss of despair.

So hopefully you aren't equating depression with having some kind of moral failing or flaw of character and just giving up.

[Wolfpack]

Depression is not weakness it is a illness like any other.

[Jake]

WolfEyes, your post seems to intend to be provocative. I have to agree with Mike that your use of the word "weakness" seems judgmental and I hope you do not mean it that way.

Depression is an illness, an unhealthy condition of the mind and body. To imply that it is a character flaw of some sort is a very outdated view. Frankly, I have known some people who, being extremely depressed, demonstrated enormous drive and determination in carrying on their daily lives in the face of poor mental health. Depression is a horrible thing and those who suffer from it deserve support and all that can be done to make them well.

And you seem to quickly jump to the conclusion that the op meant that depression is a weakness. I've read the same things you did and I didn't see anything provocative in there. Is it because you saw Depression and Weakness in the same sentence? What I have seen is a question not a statement. Make the difference. If every time someone comes and ask a genuine question about depression and you guys jump to conclusion that the person asking is being judgmental, I say that it is a ,weakness on your part not the person who ask. If you have information about depression GIVES it out, the only way to remove judgement is to inform. And I've seen the post as a question not a statement. And yes depression is a sickness, but it's also a crutch that so many will use making those who clearly suffers from depression to be not understood completely.

[Borg69]

Having spent the majority of my life with some mild (?) depression, from my point of view, and IMO depression is only a weakness if you give into it, and let it debilitate you. No one has a "perfect" life... or very few people do. Many have to wake up and face the day with ... "limitations". Being short, overly tall, over weight, color blind, blind, deaf, learning disabled, amputees, aged, ...

You can give in, give up, and let these things ruin your life, or you can learn to live with them and not let them rule you. Work with the hand you were dealt instead of lamenting over what you don't have.

[MisterLove]

[...] Is depression a sign of weakness?
[...]

I have no idea what you're talking about, Sweetie. Depression is a terrible disease caused by a chemical imbalance, it has nothing to do with weakness or strength.