Definitely a good idea not to hide depression. I also learned that as a friend/ family member you can help a lot by being there and listening to people when they are depressed (but not trying to cheer them up). I would recommend anyone to read up on the condition - e.g. http://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-h...
My dad hid his depression. I won’t hide mine
31–40 of 199 posts
Re: My dad hid his depression. I won’t hide mine
#32I'm often surprised by non-doctors giving medical advice to someone who has a potentially fatal illness. It feels really irresponsible to me. As irresponsible as telling a cancer patient to try carrots. Although I accept that you're showing compassion, and that's important. And that you're not being judgemental. And that you have some evidence that exercise works to treat depression - you're not talking obvious nonse…
The evidence for physical activity being good for just about every ailment under the sun is about as incontrovertible as the evidence for water being wet. Considering that it's vitally important, often ignored, devoid of negative side effects, and free to implement, I think you're the one being irresponsible.
It's a great adjunct IMO, but it doesn't necessarily fix the underlying problem reliably. I got my usual run up to 21 miles before I developed fractures in my shins and the coping strategy fell apart. I should have spent some of that time with a doctor.
Re: My dad hid his depression. I won’t hide mine
#33I'm often surprised by non-doctors giving medical advice to someone who has a potentially fatal illness. It feels really irresponsible to me. As irresponsible as telling a cancer patient to try carrots. Although I accept that you're showing compassion, and that's important. And that you're not being judgemental. And that you have some evidence that exercise works to treat depression - you're not talking obvious nonse…
I get so tired of comments like yours. What are we supposed to do then? Just give up and watch them go? If someone can't or won't go to the doctor, they're done for? What about all of the other people reading, who might now or at some time in the future suffer from depression? Is it really 'irresponsible' to suggest that there are ways to prevent/decrease depression besides going to the doctor? Compare it to cancer. There are things people can do to lessen their risks for getting cancer. (Including exercising). Obviously if you have cancer, go to a doctor. But until then it's not irresponsible to suggest that you get some exercise. Or eat carrots, for that matter.
Re: My dad hid his depression. I won’t hide mine
#34I'm often surprised by non-doctors giving medical advice to someone who has a potentially fatal illness. It feels really irresponsible to me. As irresponsible as telling a cancer patient to try carrots. Although I accept that you're showing compassion, and that's important. And that you're not being judgemental. And that you have some evidence that exercise works to treat depression - you're not talking obvious nonse…
The evidence for physical activity being good for just about every ailment under the sun is about as incontrovertible as the evidence for water being wet. Considering that it's vitally important, often ignored, devoid of negative side effects, and free to implement, I think you're the one being irresponsible.
Here we have a person expressing psychologic pain. And then another person, with no medical training and no psychologic training dismisses any possible cause of that pain and says "go for a jog". It's not a helpful way to give that advice. And it might not be useful advice.
> The evidence for physical activity being good for just about every ailment under the sun is about as incontrovertible
How do you explain the meta-analyses that show weak results for exercise?
http://www.cochrane.org/CD004366/DEPRESSN_exercise-for-depre...
> However, it is not clear if research actually shows that exercise is an effective treatment for depression.
> Exercise is moderately more effective than no therapy for reducing symptoms of depression.
> Exercise is no more effective than antidepressants for reducing symptoms of depression, although this conclusion is based on a small number of studies.
> Exercise is no more effective than psychological therapies for reducing symptoms of depression, although this conclusion is based on small number of studies.
> The reviewers also note that when only high-quality studies were included, the difference between exercise and no therapy is less conclusive.
> The evidence about whether exercise for depression improves quality of life is inconclusive.
Re: My dad hid his depression. I won’t hide mine
#35All I can say is you're not alone. I've been diagnosed with major depressive disorder, have 4 kids (youngest is 7months) and I'm going through therapy and working on medication. It's aggravating because for me the medication takes time to make a difference. Also I'm working on 2 engineering jobs to make ends meet. The thing that has helped is opening up to a select few of friends. I am not the kind of person to open…
Yes. When my depression recurs as it periodically does, I remind myself to have faith in the process -- diet, exercise, talking to a therapist etc.
Exactly; when work gets more demanding I unintentionally stop working out and eat fast food and I notice a significant increase in depression. I actually need to take more effort to work out, eat healthy when work is more demanding (or kids just being kids) just to keep my head above water. Easier said than done thus therapy helps as a lifeline.
Re: My dad hid his depression. I won’t hide mine
#36All I can say is you're not alone. I've been diagnosed with major depressive disorder, have 4 kids (youngest is 7months) and I'm going through therapy and working on medication. It's aggravating because for me the medication takes time to make a difference. Also I'm working on 2 engineering jobs to make ends meet. The thing that has helped is opening up to a select few of friends. I am not the kind of person to open…
[deleted]
Re: My dad hid his depression. I won’t hide mine
#37I'm often surprised by non-doctors giving medical advice to someone who has a potentially fatal illness. It feels really irresponsible to me. As irresponsible as telling a cancer patient to try carrots. Although I accept that you're showing compassion, and that's important. And that you're not being judgemental. And that you have some evidence that exercise works to treat depression - you're not talking obvious nonse…
I get so tired of comments like yours. What are we supposed to do then? Just give up and watch them go? If someone can't or won't go to the doctor, they're done for? What about all of the other people reading, who might now or at some time in the future suffer from depression? Is it really 'irresponsible' to suggest that there are ways to prevent/decrease depression besides going to the doctor? Compare it to cancer.…
But the "get some exercise" suggestion was not made as a way to build resilience to prevent depression! It was given as a method to treat a current illness.
Here's why I think suggesting exercise as a treatment for depression is a bad idea - it might not work. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11368202
If someone can't go to a doctor that's something that needs to be fixed, and if they can't go to a doctor they're unlikely to be able to get the 5 * 30 minutes per week vigorous exercise.
EDIT: I mean, it's an anecdote. "Exercise worked for me". The trouble is I can find you plenty of people (and I speak to them in mental health hospitals and community settings) who've tried exercise, and it didn't do anything and they felt worse because it didn't do anything.
It is really important for people taking mental health meds to get more exercise, but that's not because of the possible treatment effects of exercise, but to try to mitigate some of the side effects most meds have, and to try to build resilience for the future.
Re: My dad hid his depression. I won’t hide mine
#38I'm often surprised by non-doctors giving medical advice to someone who has a potentially fatal illness. It feels really irresponsible to me. As irresponsible as telling a cancer patient to try carrots. Although I accept that you're showing compassion, and that's important. And that you're not being judgemental. And that you have some evidence that exercise works to treat depression - you're not talking obvious nonse…
The evidence for physical activity being good for just about every ailment under the sun is about as incontrovertible as the evidence for water being wet. Considering that it's vitally important, often ignored, devoid of negative side effects, and free to implement, I think you're the one being irresponsible.
> The evidence for physical activity being good for just about every ailment under the sun is about as incontrovertible as the evidence for water being wet.
No, it isn't, but people really, really like to think that it is [1]. Like most other interventions worth talking about, there are situations it improves, situations where it doesn't change much, and situations it worsens (those "consult your physician before starting an exercise program" disclaimers aren't just for show).
[1] http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/neuroskeptic/2010/11/30/ex...
Re: My dad hid his depression. I won’t hide mine
#39I'm often surprised by non-doctors giving medical advice to someone who has a potentially fatal illness. It feels really irresponsible to me. As irresponsible as telling a cancer patient to try carrots. Although I accept that you're showing compassion, and that's important. And that you're not being judgemental. And that you have some evidence that exercise works to treat depression - you're not talking obvious nonse…
I get so tired of comments like yours. What are we supposed to do then? Just give up and watch them go? If someone can't or won't go to the doctor, they're done for? What about all of the other people reading, who might now or at some time in the future suffer from depression? Is it really 'irresponsible' to suggest that there are ways to prevent/decrease depression besides going to the doctor? Compare it to cancer.…
> Is it really 'irresponsible' to suggest that there are ways to prevent/decrease depression besides going to the doctor?
If the methods you suggest don't actually help, it risks making the depression worse, because it matches the pattern of "Why try anything? Nothing works.".
Re: My dad hid his depression. I won’t hide mine
#40I'm often surprised by non-doctors giving medical advice to someone who has a potentially fatal illness. It feels really irresponsible to me. As irresponsible as telling a cancer patient to try carrots. Although I accept that you're showing compassion, and that's important. And that you're not being judgemental. And that you have some evidence that exercise works to treat depression - you're not talking obvious nonse…
We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11368005 and marked it off-topic.