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Aeson
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orangesoda
Nov 2001
time: 22:22
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quote:
If anyone took the time to add up all of the "5 million people who suffer from so and so..." hype that comes out with the introduction of each new drug it would leave us with very few people who were NOT mentally ill. |
from the article posted...
quote:
But GAD was a little-known ailment; according to a 1989 study, as few as 1.2 percent of the population merited the diagnosis in any given year. |
Lincoln, 1.2 percent is quite a large number of people. In the US alone that would mean well over 3 million people faced with this disorder (GAD). Worldwide that number would be 72 million (which sounds very high, but I'm just using your numbers). Also remember that mental illnesses often overlap in symptoms and are hard to diagnose generally, so the count for one type of illness may include a large group of people who have been diagnosed with another as well. It's not necessarily X with GAD + Y with Depression ect. when considering the overall number of people with mental illnesses. Just adding up all the numbers for each illness is going to give a larger number than it should because of this, and that concept seems to have passed entirely over some heads.
While I agree that corporations tend to try too hard to sell their products, they aren't causing people to be affected by these disorders. There are cases where people are on drugs they don't need to be on, both in physical medicine and psychological, but it isn't a valid argument against whether or not the people who really do need these drugs have a problem. By the admission in the article you posted, there are a large number of people truely affected by these illnesses.
In some ways I think the article you posted shows that good can come from the greedy business practice involved. We are more aware of mental illness as a society because of these advertising campaigns. Just because the number of diagnosis increases doesn't mean that they are fallacious, just that more people who are suffering from these types of disorders are aware of available treatment.
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devilmunchkin
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first circle of the inferno
Jul 2001
time: 05:22
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i think you should look at it on an indivicual basis..chances are..the ones that run around saying "look..i carved on myself!!" (and this happens) a...those kids are probably after attention...
alot of times, teens with real problems and depression will hide it irl...
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Sikander
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Boulder, Colorado, United Snakes of America
Jan 2000
time: 22:22
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I find it hard to believe that so many people here are convinced that there is no reason for drugs or analysis and treatment because they think some people are faking / full of sh!t.
In the last 5 years 3 of my coworkers have committed suicide. All three were long-time sufferers of bi-polar disorders. All three were struggling like hell with their meds, trying to get balanced and go on with their lives in the best way they could. Two of them had children. These people suffered from the most severe sort of disease on the depressive spectrum, a disease which has seen many years of research and treatments tried and refined. In the end it wasn't enough to even save their lives.
These are the rare birds, this type of disease only effects a small percentage of people, and I am led to believe that few suffer to this extent. Far more common are the milder cases, where people can seemingly function more or less normally. They might try to cope with their mood disorder by becoming workaholics, homebodies etc. Perhaps they spend a lot of time playing games on the computer or posting stuff on the internet in order to avoid the sorts of commitments that they have a hard time living up to over time in the real world. Perhaps they have a hard time even initiating romantic relationships because they have a chronically poor self-image due to being chronically depressed. They may pass that off as being unattractive physically, or become frustrated and angry at the opposite sex, but we all know ugly people who have done very well for themselves romantically.
They probably don't even know that they have chronic depression, thinking that their normal depressive state is normal for everyone ( like Osweld, Speer and Lincoln), and that true depression is when they hit bottom and are suicidal. All of this denial makes the possibility of suicide much greater. If you think your mood baseline of "barely tolerable" is normal, and drop into a trough of "living hell" and stay there for a while suicide may look pretty good.
It pays to hide your problems in this society as the hostility on this thread toward the possibility that someone might actually have a physiological problem with psychological implications shows clearly. Unfortunately this usually involves fooling oneself as the first step in passing oneself off as normal. If you are feeling blue, don't listen to the idiots mentioned above. Go to a physician or psychologist and get evaluated. The peace of mind is well worth it, and if it turns out that you have a depressive disorder, just learing what that means and how you can deal with it are good things to know.
I have several close friends who are on medications for chronic depression. All three swear by them. These aren't "happy pills" or narcotics, they are seretonin reuptake inhibitors, which are designed to normalize their brain's seretonin levels. My girlfriend is one of these people, and I can tell you that I do not miss her hysterically crying for 12 hours at a time every couple of months. She doesn't miss it either. She lived like that for 20 years before I insisted that she get some help. The argument that finally convinced her to do something was the effect that her moods had on her daughter, which I understand all too well from having to deal with my own mother's debilitating depressions when I was a child.
I disagree with the opening article to some extent when it says that no one ever heard of childhood depression until recently. That's bogus, we knew about it in the 1970s for sure, and probably some knew about it earlier than that. I wonder where the author of that piece grew up?
As for "the stresses placed on our children by modern life" argument goes, that's crap also where it is applied to having standards and expectations for your children. Divorce and general lack of adequate parental involvement in their lives are much more devestating. Having standards and expectations for your children should in fact be done in a form opposite from the distance and neglect that so often are the norm. Thus "helping" your kids with their homework (don't do it for them!) may only be an opportunity for you to see what they are up to in school and in so doing spending some time with them. This for them reinforces their importance in your eyes as well as the importance of their education. This is quite healthy.
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Lincoln
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quote:
Originally posted by Ron Jeremy
Lincoln did once advise a poster on this forum to stop taking his anti-depressants and turn to Jesus instead. Even with the passage of time I'd still rank it in the top 10 of most irresponsible posts ever made. |
I am sure that you have that supposed post of mine on file. Why don't you post it here, and why don't you name the poster? Or is it easier to lie when there is no evidence? I think the most irresponsible post btw was the one you made about hanging an unborn baby by his umbilical cord and using it for a bungy cord. You are in no position to give advice to anyone.
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Lincoln
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Ron Jeremy quote:
"I suppose you could apply only a low level of suction and (via the medium of the umbilical cord) give Junior a sort of gynaecological bungee-jumping experience."
http://apolyton.net/forums/showthre...74&pagenumber=1
Now what is your advice for depressed teens? And yes, I have advised teenagers who lived in my foster home to follow the teachings of Jesus. What part of "love thy neighbor" to you object to?
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Lincoln
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Yes, I remember Bill 3000 very well and I knew about his history before I responded to him but I never told him to stop using medication that was prescribed to him and I do not advise anyone here to do that. Bill 3000 "turned to Jesus" by the way and he announced that fact here on this forum. I had nothing to do with that but I frankly wish that I did as he is among many teenagers that I know personally who have found a solution besides taking more pills.
As far as disregarding the advice of a doctor, I would never do that unless I knew the person very well and knew that they were conning the doctor to get the drugs.
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Sava
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GO GO GO!
Mar 2001
time: 23:22
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I recently stopped taking my meds, Paxil... I was on Zoloft, and then got switched to Paxil... I've been going through a period of withdrawl which coincided with having a cold (NOT FUN), but I'm feeling much better now that I'm off them. Zoloft and Paxil are part of the same family (BTW)... they definitely caused me a lot of problems. I would wake up at night all sweaty, my libido was affected (the worst side EFFECT BTW), I had this nervous twitch with my eyes, overall I was not as motivated to get up and do stuff. The Paxil, especially, loosened me up a little, but it wasn't worth the side effects.
I wouldn't classify me as "teenage depression". My depression started around my early adolescence (around 9 or 10) and went undiagnosed until I was 18 when I attempted suicide. Most of the doctors rely on meds, and that's not cool at all. I've attemptd suicide 2 times (both by overdosing on anything I could swallow).
I still struggle with it every day, but things are getting better. Exercise and getting good grades in school has been more of a positive form of therapy than the meds.
The whole high school environment is definitely a cause for depression; even though it wasn't in my case; I see many kids that have problems related to bullying, and forms of social torture. I'm not sure how to remedy this problem. Since the education in the US needs reform BADLY anyways, I'm sure we could take an objective look at the organization of high school.
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Lincoln
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Don't get me started on the organization of high school Sava. I used to have to force my foster sons to attend the local high school and each time I would go to the school to discuss the latest problem with the boy "acting out" or whatever I came away with the impression that it was no wonder that so many kids were suicidal and depressed. In many schools if you are not a jock or not a part of some intellectual elite you are regarded as almost worthless.
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Lincoln
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It depends on the school here as well. Some are much better than others. A lot has to do with who is in charge of the local school district. The sheer numbers of kids taking delight in ridiculing each other can be intimidating to anyone who does not fit into the popular mold. If bullies are allowed to run the school with impunity then you have a breeding ground for violence.
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05-10-2002 08:10
to that that idiotic Mother Jones news article. I have lived with someone in my family who suffered Generalized Anxiety Disorder- it was really debilitating. Going on Medicine really helped a lot. You should know better than post crap from left-wing publications who are out to look for any opportunity to shriek about corporations.
It's not much fun to be told that you have to take drugs for the rest of your life in order to be "normal." It's not reasonable to think that people would take psychiatric drugs solely as attention-seeking behavior -- there are far safer and more obvious ways to go about seeking attention (cutting yourself in clearly non-lethal ways, burning yourself with lighters in clearly non-permanent ways, etc). Everybody I've met who takes psychiatric medication attempts to hide the fact, and for good reason -- it's more of a stigma than a means of having others feel empathy/pity for you.
i never had to do army.... so i'm safe!! hihi)
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