Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I'm Wil Wheaton. I Live with Chronic Depression and Anxiety. I Am Not Ashamed

medium.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 125 posts

Re: I'm Wil Wheaton. I Live with Chronic Depression and Anxiety. I Am Not Ashamed

#51

Post by dragonwriter »

paulpauper wrote: post #43
dragonwriter wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Manual labor is something literally anyone can do. No, it's not; people can just as easily lack the physical capacity for manual labor as they can lack the intellectual capacity for knowledge work. There are plenty of people who can do knowledge work but would be unable to do manual work.

'Manual' does not mean lifting 300 pound stuff up stairs, which, yes, few people are strong enough to do, but rather jobs that are simple and hands-on. Almost anyone can pick up a mop and move it around. The minimum IQ to do that is around 78 I think. But few people can grasp the intricacies of coding, or math, or anything that involves a lot of abstractions and knowledge. It's not a matter of elitism but just biolog…

> Almost anyone can pick up a mop and move it around. The minimum IQ to do that is around 78 I think

I've worked with people—quite talented knowledge workers—who could not physically lift and move a mop. Or their own body more than trivially without mechanical assistance, for that matter. Yes, you can be intellectually handicapped and capable of physical work, but intellectual handicaps aren't the only kind.

Re: I'm Wil Wheaton. I Live with Chronic Depression and Anxiety. I Am Not Ashamed

#52

Post by ken »

> It’s just an illness. I mean, it’s right there in the name “Mental ILLNESS” so it shouldn’t have been the revelation that it was

I think this is actually a big part of the problem. In most other contexts we encounter, stuffing an adjective in there means "NOT". Soy milk? Not real milk. Computer science? Don't see anyone using the scientific method.

I'm absolutely certain that mental illness is real, and deserves real study and real treatment, but even so, whenever I hear "mental illness" I can't help but hear a twang of "... (not real illness)". The phrase "physical illness" is relatively rare because we normally just call it "illness".

Is there a better word for mental illness, which stands on its own? Names matter, and I don't think this one is doing us any favors.

Re: I'm Wil Wheaton. I Live with Chronic Depression and Anxiety. I Am Not Ashamed

#53

Post by sctb »

sergiotapia wrote: post #13

>And as we were walking I just started to cry and she asked me, “what’s wrong?” >I said “I just realized that I don’t feel bad and I just realized that I’m not existing, I’m living.” I can't imagine a bigger turn off for your wife than this. Yikes! You're supposed to be the rock dude, save those thoughts for the lads. Then again this is the guy who asked his wife to lick some guys face while he's posing in the backgr…

This is not a civil and substantive comment. You should know that we're here for better.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: I'm Wil Wheaton. I Live with Chronic Depression and Anxiety. I Am Not Ashamed

#54

Post by 77pt77 »

phren0logy wrote: post #23
anjc wrote: post #9

Is there any evidence that talking about depression openly, or talk-type therapies, help to reduce depression? My experience of colleagues talking openly about these things is that it becomes a self-perpetuating cycle, and ultimately makes things worse.

Relevant background:I'm a psychiatrist. "Talking about it" and "talking with a therapist" are different, and a good therapist using an evidence-based approach to therapy is effective. Evidence-based therapies are different than "chatting with a buddy." That said, finding a good and well-trained therapist is often difficult. In approximately 10% of people, psychotherapy makes things worse rather than better. Sleep hyg…

> Evidence-based therapies are different than "chatting with a buddy."

Do you have any experimental evidence for that?

Re: I'm Wil Wheaton. I Live with Chronic Depression and Anxiety. I Am Not Ashamed

#55

Post by ASalazarMX »

comboy wrote: post #2

So what do you guys think: hunter-gatherers, then feudal farmers and then now - how does median/average suffering per capita compare? We all have better luxuries now than kings had hundreds of years ago. Less famine, life threatening situations and so on. But we do have a way to compare ourselves with best parts of lives of many interesting people around the world. We have antibiotics and painkillers, but we also see…

There is a cartoon where a scientist travels to the future and finds the world has become an utopia. A friendly host shows the scientist the wonders of his world, and then says something like "no one is poor or hungry anymore, we have everything to cover everyone's needs, even a beautiful house for each". The scientists asks "Why not two houses?". The end panel is the scientist getting back into his machine while a nuclear mushroom looms in the background.

My point is, people doesn't seem to be made to be fully happy. Yes, we enjoy the high of happiness, but soon we come down and take it for granted, then something else we don't have is what will make us happy. I think this an asset, what makes us human and what encourages us to strive for something more. This is also a liability, as we easily lose perspective and purpose.

Re: I'm Wil Wheaton. I Live with Chronic Depression and Anxiety. I Am Not Ashamed

#56

Post by mattdeboard »

anjc wrote: post #9

Is there any evidence that talking about depression openly, or talk-type therapies, help to reduce depression? My experience of colleagues talking openly about these things is that it becomes a self-perpetuating cycle, and ultimately makes things worse.

Anecdotal evidence is that it has changed my life. It may not work for everyone. But it'll probably be effective if you want it to be.

As regarding "making things worse"... well, sometimes it might. For example, say over the years you've developed strategies for coping with depression that involve angry outbursts. Getting into therapy to help with the angry outbursts may "reveal" the underlying depression for which those coping strategies were developed.

Therapy isn't a production line. Everyone is different. You are paying a mental health professional to get to know you as well as you feel comfortable with, and collaborate with you on treatment for what you're there for.

Re: I'm Wil Wheaton. I Live with Chronic Depression and Anxiety. I Am Not Ashamed

#58

Post by monksy »

AceJohnny2 wrote: post #30
monksy wrote: post #8

This article strikes me as partially honest and raw and then the other to be very planned and calculated. Let's get this out now: I'm glad he finally sought help, and that he's getting it. The things about this article that bug me: 1. He starts off with the article with a "trigger warning." The title is about depression and anxiety. Having a 'trigger warning' is either insulting to the reader, or it's a weird posturi…

You've been downvoted because it sounds like you're rejecting Wil Wheaton's core point, which is to bring into the open a topic that is still pretty taboo in American society. He's doing this to raise awareness, and help other people who are suffering alone get help. To address your points: - This is planned and calculated only to the extent that it's a speech meant to get a point across. It is revealing personal vul…

I think we both agree here that this is a very important topic and people should be aware of it. I wished this had more of a RCA response at the end. How can you [the audience member] get help.

If I saw him saying "well .. I want to tell you something very personal, and that has taken me on a very dark path" .. insert full story. At the end, rather than trying to promote organizations and his political stances. I wished he would say: "I've been very much helped by x, and y." or "I feel that this organization could help with this issue, because ... "

I feel like that would have been a much more personal, and gave him a much more consistent speech that would have persuaded his audience better. These are things happening to him, that's his story. I get the feeling that friend's I've known that have been suicidal/depressed, if they read his message, they wouldn't have a positive path forward. They'd read it and it wouldn't give them tools to help their situation.

Re: I'm Wil Wheaton. I Live with Chronic Depression and Anxiety. I Am Not Ashamed

#59

Post by RickJWagner »

He's probably been adversely affected by a scene he's acted in.

In this particular scene, a nasty bald-headed old man shouts "Shut up, Wesley!" at a young Will Wheaton. It's immensely popular on YouTube, the click-count alone probably haunts his psyche daily.

Re: I'm Wil Wheaton. I Live with Chronic Depression and Anxiety. I Am Not Ashamed

#60

Post by camdenlock »

symlinkk wrote: post #25

I'm glad a celebrity is willing to come out and talk about this stuff, it makes me feel less insane for suffering through it myself. But there's not much actual advice here. It sounds like the main thing that helped him were pills. Also: > as a white, heterosexual, cisgender man in America, I live life on the lowest difficulty setting What a pathetic, and wholly incorrect thing to say.

I suffer from depression and anxiety. I take medication, and it helps big time. There's no doubt it's a physical phenomenon.

However, it seems easy these days to forget that our lifestyle and choices also have a dramatic effect on our mental well-being.

This bit that you've quoted from Mr. Wheaton sets off an alarm in my head: he may be a member of the social constructionism / extreme relativism cult, which is the kind of belief system and lifestyle which could depress anyone given enough time and immersion. The amount of control that the true believers of this ideology attempt to exert over human nature is unsustainable, and almost certainly leads to strained relationships, moral confusion, poor judgment, and so on.

In other words, I think Wil's got problems other than just clinical depression and anxiety. He may benefit from taking a hard look at his beliefs and challenging them a bit.

Post reply on HN