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Depression lies

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Re: Depression lies

#21

Post by ftwinnovations »

I'm curious, as I see quite a few post like this regarding coping with depression and suicide, are these very common problems among the HN/tech/startup community? Is it in some way more prevalent in this community vs other fields? Or are these posts for the most part shared and voted up as a sort of public service announcement (maybe not the best way to say it but not sure how to phrase it)?

And I don't mean it to come off as somehow insensitive because if it even helped one person avoid suicide then it's more valuable than most any other posts... Just very curious as I've not personally seen this from my own relationships in this scene.

Re: Depression lies

#22

Post by ftwinnovations »

donniezazen wrote: post #16
paulerdos wrote: post #13

I wonder how depressed people in the 3rd world manage to survive.

They have larger life threatening problems to deal with like earning their livelihood. There are always people around you and even if they can't help you they keep you distracted.

I've always wondered if that is the case. And if so, doesn't that mean there is a direct correlation between ease of living and depression? The less you have to worry about and deal with, the more likely you are to be depressed?

Re: Depression lies

#23

Post by [deleted] »

btilly wrote: post #5
huggah wrote: post #2

We have an incredible capacity for denial and self-deception. For years, I would periodically drop into severe depression; I would stop sleeping, stop eating, stop answering my phone or email. I wouldn't leave my room for weeks on end; on a few occasions I was so successfully reclusive that people worried that I disappeared or died called the police to investigate. A few times I almost did die; I think the biggest re…

I think the biggest reason I never committed suicide was that I didn't have the willpower for even that. One of the most dangerous periods for depressed people is shortly after they start treatment. They are still depressed, but suddenly have the energy to commit suicide, and a certain fraction of them do. My wife lost a cousin that way. :-(

[deleted]

Re: Depression lies

#24

Post by kondro »

ftwinnovations wrote: post #21

I'm curious, as I see quite a few post like this regarding coping with depression and suicide, are these very common problems among the HN/tech/startup community? Is it in some way more prevalent in this community vs other fields? Or are these posts for the most part shared and voted up as a sort of public service announcement (maybe not the best way to say it but not sure how to phrase it)? And I don't mean it to co…

The stress of start-up life can be very demoralising and depression is rife in our industry.

Re: Depression lies

#25

Post by dkarl »

luriel wrote: post #3
huggah wrote: post #2

We have an incredible capacity for denial and self-deception. For years, I would periodically drop into severe depression; I would stop sleeping, stop eating, stop answering my phone or email. I wouldn't leave my room for weeks on end; on a few occasions I was so successfully reclusive that people worried that I disappeared or died called the police to investigate. A few times I almost did die; I think the biggest re…

Knowing you "have a problem" doesn't mean you or anyone understands the problem or what to do about it. And even if you know what to do, doesn't mean you can do it either, the psychological, social or just practical barriers can be impossible to climb. Medication has a statistical significant effect, but is often marginal at best, and most of the effect is placebo. And this assumes an accurate diagnosis, and don't co…

Knowing the problem is depression and learning to recognize how depression affects me has led to big improvements for me. It doesn't stop me from getting depressed and believing all the same old lies, but when the depression lifts, I get to enjoy not being depressed right away. Before I understood depression, the lies depression taught me tended to stick around. They were part of how I thought even when I wasn't depressed, and I wasted a lot of energy debating them with myself and fretting about problems that were insoluble but weren't really problems. By the time I started feeling hopeful about life again, the next depression was already right around the corner. Now it's much easier to shrug off those false beliefs when the depression lifts and just enjoy being relatively normal for a while. That doesn't mean I won't get depressed again, but depression casts less of a shadow over the non-depressed times of my life.

As a really crude analogy, imagine somebody slips a hallucinogen into your drink and you end up having a terrifying conversation with God where he addresses you as Satan, and for weeks afterwards you obsess painfully about whether you're evil or maybe you are actually Satan somehow, living in fear of what will happen next, versus knowingly taking a drug and afterwards saying, "Wow, that was shitty. I thought I was Satan, LOL." In both cases the experience is horrifying and real, but in the first one, the experience continues to be horrifying and real for a long time afterwards. In the second one, only the memory remains real.

Re: Depression lies

#26

Post by ryanmolden »

EricDeb wrote: post #17
luriel wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Knowing you "have a problem" doesn't mean you or anyone understands the problem or what to do about it. And even if you know what to do, doesn't mean you can do it either, the psychological, social or just practical barriers can be impossible to climb. Medication has a statistical significant effect, but is often marginal at best, and most of the effect is placebo. And this assumes an accurate diagnosis, and don't co…

I'm not sure that the abbreviated sentiment that medication has little more effect than a placebo is useful in the realm of mental disorders. Depression/anxiety/ocd are very complex because they deal with the brain/mind, which is poorly understood. To suggest that antidepressants only have a placebo effect despite working in animal models of depression, severe depression, certain depressive subtypes, and less severe…

Who cares if something works through the placebo effect, as long as it works. I can't be bothered to look it up at the moment (on my mobile) but I do believe he is correct in that published studies in well regarded medical journals have purported to show just that (effect == placebo), but as I said, from the perspective of the person being treated, does it matter? I agree if it prevents people from seeking help that is bout desirable, but it need not.

Re: Depression lies

#27

Post by satellitecb »

dkarl 3 minutes ago | link

Knowing the problem is depression and learning to recognize how depression affects me has led to big improvements for me. It doesn't stop me from getting depressed and believing all the same old lies, but when the depression lifts, I get to enjoy not being depressed right away. Before I understood depression, the lies depression taught me tended to stick around. They were part of how I thought even when I wasn't depressed, and I wasted a lot of energy debating them with myself and fretting about problems that were insoluble but weren't really pr

Re: Depression lies

#28

Post by lusr »

ftwinnovations wrote: post #22
donniezazen wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They have larger life threatening problems to deal with like earning their livelihood. There are always people around you and even if they can't help you they keep you distracted.

I've always wondered if that is the case. And if so, doesn't that mean there is a direct correlation between ease of living and depression? The less you have to worry about and deal with, the more likely you are to be depressed?

I suspect the most severely depressed in 3rd world countries, to be blunt, end up on the street and die (assuming they don't take their own lives first). That's one reason you may not see depression as obviously prevalent in the general population of a 3rd world country.

Re: Depression lies

#29

Post by chmike »

huggah wrote: post #2

We have an incredible capacity for denial and self-deception. For years, I would periodically drop into severe depression; I would stop sleeping, stop eating, stop answering my phone or email. I wouldn't leave my room for weeks on end; on a few occasions I was so successfully reclusive that people worried that I disappeared or died called the police to investigate. A few times I almost did die; I think the biggest re…

You could be bipolar with a hypo maniac phase. You should check this with experts.

Re: Depression lies

#30

Post by niels_olson »

ryanmolden wrote: post #26
EricDeb wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure that the abbreviated sentiment that medication has little more effect than a placebo is useful in the realm of mental disorders. Depression/anxiety/ocd are very complex because they deal with the brain/mind, which is poorly understood. To suggest that antidepressants only have a placebo effect despite working in animal models of depression, severe depression, certain depressive subtypes, and less severe…

Who cares if something works through the placebo effect, as long as it works. I can't be bothered to look it up at the moment (on my mobile) but I do believe he is correct in that published studies in well regarded medical journals have purported to show just that (effect == placebo), but as I said, from the perspective of the person being treated, does it matter? I agree if it prevents people from seeking help that…

Yes, actually, it does matter. Side effects of antidepressants include the period of getting just enough energy to kill yourself, and the risk of serotonin syndrome, especially when seeing multiple doctors for multiple issues, who might start SSRIs in near succession. The list goes on for a ways.
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