I don't have time right now to look for the source, but it's reasonably well knows that depression improves critical thinking directly. (maybe this? http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a785... )
Depression’s Upside
21–26 of 26 posts
Re: Depression’s Upside
#22I'd blame vitamin D deficiency for the bulk of depression cases in the modern world. Indoors culture, heavy clothing, an aversion to organ meats - which the biology tells us are the most nutrient-rich parts. It adds up to a massive nutrition gap, one only slightly offset by the tiny amounts added to dairy.
I recently started taking vitamin D and I feel great. I'm more energetic, sleep better, and, yes, feel happier. So that's one data point in favor of your thesis.
I'm going to be _really_ grateful to you guys if this ends up being true for me. Going out to get some now :)
Re: Depression’s Upside
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
I recently started taking vitamin D and I feel great. I'm more energetic, sleep better, and, yes, feel happier. So that's one data point in favor of your thesis.
I'm going to be _really_ grateful to you guys if this ends up being true for me. Going out to get some now :)
I should add that to really know how much you should be taking, you should have your blood levels tested, as different people absorb it differently. Here's a post on William Davis' Heart Scan Blog (oriented toward heart health, which includes Vitamin D supplementation):
http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/getting-vitamin-d-...
He suggests about 6000 units/day as average.
Re: Depression’s Upside
#24There's productive depression and unproductive depression. Some people aren't compelled into productive depression. Productive depression is a dignified depression¸ where the person realizes that the object of the angst is a little elusive. They know what the problem isn't , and it is never the most obvious thing. They do their best to manage it and figure out what the real problem is. Unproductive depression is simp…
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Re: Depression’s Upside
#25There's productive depression and unproductive depression. Some people aren't compelled into productive depression. Productive depression is a dignified depression¸ where the person realizes that the object of the angst is a little elusive. They know what the problem isn't , and it is never the most obvious thing. They do their best to manage it and figure out what the real problem is. Unproductive depression is simp…
As the article says, malfunctioning isn't a privilege of the body, minds can do it too. So the word "pathetic" is uncalled for. William Styron wrote a fantastic book about what it is like to be depressed: "Darkness Visible". Well worth a read.
From my comment:
There is nothing more pathetic than seeing someone profusely blame the wrong thing for their depression.
I'm wasn't specifically talking about people who casually blame the wrong thing. Maybe I need a stronger word than profusely....
On Darwin's side of the spectrum you have, well, Darwin. On other end of the spectrum you have people coming up with intricate ideas about how minorities are destroying everyone's lives.
Even though there is a lot of mental work in carefully choosing their illusory axioms to make the rest of their ideas naturally fall into place, I am very reluctant to call that work productive and I do think that it's pathetic.
Of course, the very same mistake was made with this person, who profusely blames the wrong thing, as the person who casually blames the wrong thing: they stopped trying to find the real problem too soon. There are only two words that come to mind: undignified and arrogant.
Arrogant that they're questioning the wrong thing and not questioning whether the output of their thought process is precise, and therefore they're not questioning the thought process itself.
Perhaps it is questioning that compels people into great, productive work. Depressed or not! Darwin held himself to high standards while he simultaneously, and perpetually, questioned his thoughts and the results of his thoughts. He did this to a point where his thoughts were very precise and congruent with the real world.
I do not think it was the depression that compelled him into productivity, but his dignity. Compelled into a productive depression! He couldn’t just shrug off his depression since that would mean ignoring certain issues. Again, this really is only my own speculation, but I don't think depression needs to exist in the amount that it does today. I don't think we're born depressed and very rarely chemically imbalanced.
Since so many minds are malfunctioning, these are not problems of the individual but signify a much larger problem: a problem of a malfunctioning thinking on a global scale. It is how people mis-attribute this malfunction that I find pathetic.
This "malfunctioning of thinking" expresses itself a lot in life. It accumulates and wears down on people to a point of depression or lethargy.
I should also point out that I don’t mean “pathetic” in the sense of “hate.” When it comes down to it, the problem is too complicated to just blame an individual and I can't expect everyone to have this natural dignity that Darwin possessed, or the will to teach it to themselves. I feel more compassionate at the individual's level than ticked off.
The reason I’m ranting a little bit is because I take issue with glorifying the wrong thing (not you, but implied in the article). In this case: depression. I hope this makes my thoughts on this clearer.
Also, checking out that book.
Re: Depression’s Upside
#26Blogging as therapy? He cites as evidence a recent study that found “expressive writing” — asking depressed subjects to write essays about their feelings — led to significantly shorter depressive episodes.
Maybe they have no one to talk to.
I think this is part of my problem - I don't have a close friend that I can talk to about stresses at home, etc..