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If You're Often Angry or Irritable, You May Be Depressed

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Re: If You're Often Angry or Irritable, You May Be Depressed

#161

Post by SolaceQuantum »

zzzcpan wrote: post #151
SolaceQuantum wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Follow up query: Why is it depressing to acknowledge that the world we know is a slow calamity of a thousand imperfections? (Context: I was distressed as a child (teens) about the above, but in my mid-twenties I have grown at peace with the knowledge of the world's many imperfections and inhumanitarian humanity. I'm still very young, I know this, so what am I missing here? Widsom is appreciated.)

It's not depressing to acknowledge anything, maybe even the opposite. Understanding why things are the way they are might help you stay at peace.

I guess I'm confused because I can't understand what is depressing about an increasingly dire worldview. I'm attributing this to my age right now, and would like wisdom in the matter.

Re: If You're Often Angry or Irritable, You May Be Depressed

#162

Post by ganzuul »

scottlocklin wrote: post #159
ganzuul wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who knows. When I eat too much wheat I feel like I have a hangover for two days. Over here they started adding selenium to the soil in 60s, and my grandmother tells me no one complained about bread making them sick before that. Perhaps it's that additive that makes tractor fuel oil exhaust blue, or too much selective breeding without thought to nutrition, or some kind of preservation practice which 99% of people don'…

Where is "over here" for you? The only place I've found which has wheat which doesn't make me feel icky is Italy. And the only thing I can figure out about it is fructans (they have a finicky milling process), which seems insane. I've been all over, and as I don't actually have celiac disease (but a very direct and obvious reaction to something in wheat; sleepy internal itchy feeling) I always try the local breads. U…

Finland.

I sometimes try import foods, thinking I might discover the missing piece of the puzzle. I'll keep a look out for Italian!

Re: If You're Often Angry or Irritable, You May Be Depressed

#163

Post by ashwinaj »

avgDev wrote: post #28

The more you know about the world and tech especially, the more you will get depressed, IMO, maybe I'm wrong. Humans in general are pretty shitty, driven mostly by self-interest. I guess there are people driven by doing good but most people are capable of doing terrible things, especially when in a group. I do suffer from existential depression, I'm generally pretty happy, but as I learn more and live longer my outlo…

Please travel around the world (alone or with family/friends); unfortunately we live in this bubble of tech, politics, 24/7 news cycle that it makes us irritable/depressed.

I wouldn't say I'm depressed, I work at a startup so there's a lot of pressure (unnecessarily so). All it took is a 3 week vacation, some self reflection, talking to the locals (and realizing how insignificant our so called "problems" are in the larger scheme of things), realizing that we are so blessed. This for me was enough to get me to a less unhappy state and being more introspective instead of getting irritable and reacting to shouting matches. This sounds a cliched thing to say but it really works.

Re: If You're Often Angry or Irritable, You May Be Depressed

#164

Post by MarsAscendant »

agumonkey wrote: post #146
ozzyman700 wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Humans in general are pretty shitty, driven mostly by self-interest. Water takes the path of least resistance, Humans take the path of least expected effort expenditure to accomplish their desires Both are just doing as nature does, being themselves. Why be sad that every person will do the least amount of work to satisfy their desires, when it is an inevitability, but your sadness is not.

Except we're supposed to be intelligent. Early on in my life I felt something, I never get angry at nature, no matter harmful, but disappointment by other beings hurts deeply. Nature doesn't pretend to choose, it just is. That made me a lot more at ease with objects than people.

> Except we're supposed to be intelligent.

I don't think we are.

We sure as hell can be. Seeing bright minds at work is a special kind of inspiration, and its own mental turn-on for me. People aspiring to do well by their desires and talents – that's quite a picture. But it only happens when effort is put forth to surround ourselves – and others around us – with the kind of attitude we seek to promote.

Imagine punishing a child for not seeing things the way you do, from the height of the years of experience and the education you'd received. Imagine promoting literacy when you're yet to read a book meaningfully. Imagine moving others to start exercising more, while you're raiding the kitchen every couple of hours for another snack or two.

I don't think we're supposed to be intelligent. I think it's in our best interests to be, but I also see the effort to put forth if you seek to improve someone's livelihood. Not against their will, obviously: this much you can't do even if you try really hard – but encouraging them through the natural flow of things, setting an example, or even writing better guides.

Perhaps we don't choose, either. For all I know, we might as well be only semi-autonomous, or have no free will to speak of. Maybe we just are.

Re: If You're Often Angry or Irritable, You May Be Depressed

#165

Post by tabtab »

albertgoeswoof wrote: post #114
tabtab wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. The average human is illogical. It's not easy for Vulcans to live among Ferengies. I don't claim to be "mostly right", but I do claim to use and be able to produce a logical train of thought for recommending courses of actions. I can write it out in detail if and when requested. However, few are really interested in a logical justification: they usually use office politics and their "gut" to decide. Sorry, bu…

You think others are being illogical when they make decisions that don’t appear logical to you. However a more logical conclusion is that others are acting in a logical way and you lack all the information they have about the decision.

That may or may not be true, but I cannot tell because they don't tell me: they just do, and often get it wrong by my observation. It often turns out they over-focus on a few narrow pet factors.

Good decisions require being curious: what are others' opinions on this, and if they are wrong, why are their opinions wrong? It takes debate to get to the bottom of thinking.

Re: If You're Often Angry or Irritable, You May Be Depressed

#166

Post by mrec »

eertami wrote: post #154
magduf wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've seen YouTube videos of American expats coming back home and saying the one big thing they noticed, after spending significant time in someplace like Europe, was how utterly paranoid Americas are. I've felt this myself just after having a short vacation out of the country. It's not really unsafe here (unless you're in downtown Baltimore or Detroit or something), but everyone is just so paranoid that it feels like…

> worst in the developed world Current government policy in the UK is trying desperately to make the UK public schools steal that title.

I don't follow education policy so I'm not sure what you're referring to here, but I'd be curious to hear what you think the government's motivation is for "trying desperately" to do this.

I mean, accidentally wrecking education while trying to do something else is perfectly plausible, but deliberately wrecking education is kind of a strong claim.

Re: If You're Often Angry or Irritable, You May Be Depressed

#167

Post by throwaway920 »

mjevans wrote: post #125
magduf wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you live around people who resemble Ferengi (that's the proper plural form), then maybe you should look at relocating to a different country where the people don't share the attitudes of the Ferengi.

Tell me, when can we begin construction of a new utopia in international waters with emigration and citizenship requirements that are angled at attracting Vulcan-like types? What are your plans for getting world nations to recognize the sovereign authority of such a region and for being economically healthy over the long term? I've never run the numbers, but pre-napkin estimation makes me believe such ventures are to…

I have many friends in my current or other FAANG companies in Europe and most of them got offers to relocate in US. Believe me or not, a tiny percentage accepted despite the big increase in salary because they don't want in a Ferengi society. Perhaps my social circle is biased.

Re: If You're Often Angry or Irritable, You May Be Depressed

#168

Post by [deleted] »

albertgoeswoof wrote: post #114
tabtab wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. The average human is illogical. It's not easy for Vulcans to live among Ferengies. I don't claim to be "mostly right", but I do claim to use and be able to produce a logical train of thought for recommending courses of actions. I can write it out in detail if and when requested. However, few are really interested in a logical justification: they usually use office politics and their "gut" to decide. Sorry, bu…

You think others are being illogical when they make decisions that don’t appear logical to you. However a more logical conclusion is that others are acting in a logical way and you lack all the information they have about the decision.

[deleted]

Re: If You're Often Angry or Irritable, You May Be Depressed

#169

Post by criddell »

GlenTheMachine wrote: post #53

This was precisely my wife's symptoms when we were first married. She was angry nearly all the time. She could hold it together in public, but at home it was miserable. She would go a full day at a time, alternatively not speaking, stomping around and throwing things, and yelling. It took a long time for her to be correctly diagnosed. It wasn't clear to me that depression was the issue, because as discussed in the ar…

If in her mind all of the anger was justified, why did she ever go looking for a doctor and a diagnosis?

Re: If You're Often Angry or Irritable, You May Be Depressed

#170

Post by coleifer »

ganzuul wrote: post #147
coleifer wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, I wasn't talking about being kind in order to feel good about myself. That would be the same old turd (selfishness) just wrapped up in a nicer package. Like when I'm sitting on the airplane that's been parked outside the gate for an hour, my ass is killing me and I'm ready to go home and I start silently cursing everyone and everything that stands in my way -- YET, when I disembark, I still smile and thank the…

Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to imply that. It's difficult to describe... - The archive unzips and the files seem to be OK but the checksum fails, maybe? You should feel good when you do good deeds, but there are other motivations to do good too. When depressed, you can process things like understanding enlightened self-interest, but the evolutionary reward system fails to fire.

I didn't mean to contradict you. Speaking personally, I would go through these bouts of "trying to be good" and I could pull it off for a couple of days max before the mask dropped. I just couldn't ever stop judging, criticizing, blaming, etc. I love the analogy, by the way. Or, "I double-clicked it, it's right there! Why the fuck won't it open?"
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