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How I Beat Depression
81–90 of 152 posts
Re: How I Beat Depression
#82What if you're depressed because you're afraid of death? (I wouldn't say I'm depressed -- not in the clinical sense anyway; but I do spend what I imagine is an abnormal amount of time thinking about it because of mother's passing away when I was younger).
What if you're depressed because you're afraid of death? In that case, you shouldn't take any advice from HN unless that advice is to talk to a professional. It's a lot like legal advice, sure people on the internet can talk about the issues, but they're probably wrong and even if they're right it's still unwise to take what they say at face value. The people with the professional capacity to help you can't do it wel…
It's like legal advice but only in so much as you should take it with a pinch of salt and consider talking to professionals. I disagree with "they're probably wrong", because unlike in legal matters, where there is a right and a wrong, in mental health topics it is all very subjective - not only in that two people (even two professionals) might disagree on the best treatment for one person, but in that different people will react differently to different options.
Re: How I Beat Depression
#83Also a more interesting question would be, are people working in startup, especially single software vendors more susceptible to depression? Look at Aaron Schwartz guy, all those times he was depressed, look at his increasingly erratic and tendency towards martyrdom. The pressure from idiot zealots finally tipped him.
I'm the author of the article and I asked myself this question before I wrote it. I posted some data here which came out of that research: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5272763 but it didn't get much traction. When I compared across disciplines in the original dataset (using software programmer as the discipline) there wasn't a strong indication that they were more prone to suicide than other professional jobs. I don't remember exactly but doctors, lawyers, dentists were toward the top of that list.
One challenge is that the dataset I reference doesn't have data post 1998. Since our discipline has grown and changed since then a more recent dataset might show something more interesting.
Re: How I Beat Depression
#84I am wondering if anyone has tried any online intervention for anxiety or depression. Some of them have strong theoretical background (like CBT that is mentioned in another comment). Any impressions?
Re: How I Beat Depression
#85Great perspective. Question for the HN community: Why/How is it that small communities like HN have removed the stigma attached with mental health while larger society has not?
I still think there's a stigma. It's good that people are talking about it, but I don't think that means the stigma is gone.
Re: How I Beat Depression
#86I don't think one can actually beat depression but instead only really cope with the symptoms. I know that sounds awful and kind of defeatist (and I could be wrong) but I think the idea that you can actually conquer this disease sets you up for failure. I first noticed my own depression when I was just a 13 year old kid and first sought help just before the end of high school. I've been through the entire range of em…
I would say that depression is like alcoholism: You never stop being an alcoholic, but you can stop drinking. Even a dry alcoholic has troubles with alcohol, and may need to struggle with that, even though they are successful in containing their affliction.
Similarly, some people will always be susceptible to depression (I coin the term "depressives"). But, like an alcoholic can learn how to stop themselves from drinking, a depressive can learn how to prevent themselves from sinking into an actual episode of depression. There is always an underlying condition that never goes away: in alcoholism it's a compulsion, while in depression it's... something else. But the struggle to contain that condition goes from being a lost battle, to occasional temporary victories, to a day-to-day thing, until eventually it's just a thing.
So, you can't beat depression in the sense of winning a final victory and then it's gone forever. A depressive will always be a depressive, even when not in the middle of an episode of depression (and there's more to that than just sometimes becoming depressed--and not all of it is bad!). But, it can be possible to manage it to the point where it is effectively and indefinitely contained.
Re: How I Beat Depression
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
I can't say you haven't beaten depression because I just don't know you but for me believing that I've beaten it is dangerous. It's the same kind of logic behind why addicts say they're recovering and not recovered. The disease is still there and can show itself at any time but for now it's in "remission" I suppose you could say. A lot of people feel like admitting they can't beat depression is a sign of weakness and…
"but for me believing that I've beaten it is dangerous". Is it really that dangerous? Does 'beating' it mean you forget how to cope? I don't know your situation, but I would strongly advise contemplating the truth that lies behind self-fulfilling prophecies. As Confucius put it “He who who says he can and he who says he can’t are both usually right”. I'm not trying to condense the issue into a soundbite, but rather i…
Short answer: yes.
Long answer, think of it like an addict. They always called themselves 'recovering' because they know it only takes a single slip to set you back. Same with Depression. You can be fine for years, become lax in your coping mechanisms and handlers and something small happens that sets off a chain reaction where you are reaching for things you wouldn't normally reach for.
One innocent comments or look or phrase that slips past your carefully built safeguards is all it can take sometimes.
Re: How I Beat Depression
#88I don't think one can actually beat depression but instead only really cope with the symptoms. I know that sounds awful and kind of defeatist (and I could be wrong) but I think the idea that you can actually conquer this disease sets you up for failure. I first noticed my own depression when I was just a 13 year old kid and first sought help just before the end of high school. I've been through the entire range of em…
Both in your reply and in the original article, I wish there had been more attention paid to the value of talk therapy in some cases. While it may be true that for some depression originates as a chemical imbalance in the brain, I think for many or even most, it originates from psychological pain. Therapy can and does routinely help provide lasting help with depression. I don't know what "beating it" means but some p…
I believe it is a chemical balance, which requires chemical intervention.
Re: How I Beat Depression
#89I don't think one can actually beat depression but instead only really cope with the symptoms. I know that sounds awful and kind of defeatist (and I could be wrong) but I think the idea that you can actually conquer this disease sets you up for failure. I first noticed my own depression when I was just a 13 year old kid and first sought help just before the end of high school. I've been through the entire range of em…
Why is this nonsense the top comment? How can you, from your study of a cohort of one, assert that no one can beat depression because you haven't? That's a potentially fatal message you're sending, and it's based solely on your own experiences.
People get depressed for all sorts of reasons. It's bad enough that some doctors would lump the majority of patients as being clinically depressed and prescribe drugs that may end up doing more harm than good (note: I'm not saying all drugs are bad, but they're not always prescribed correctly). Now we're saying your fate is sealed, you just have to manage for the rest of your life.
Edit: I don't even know if "beat" is the right word to use, it suggests that a patient is at fault if he/she hasn't been able to "beat" the illness, which is just wrong. But two things: (1) not all depression is caused by a chemical imbalance, or at the very least, there are multiple causes from life stressors to physical illnesses (2) if depression is caused by a chemical imbalance, I don't know of any study that says chemical imbalances can't be reversed.
Re: How I Beat Depression
#90I don't think one can actually beat depression but instead only really cope with the symptoms. I know that sounds awful and kind of defeatist (and I could be wrong) but I think the idea that you can actually conquer this disease sets you up for failure. I first noticed my own depression when I was just a 13 year old kid and first sought help just before the end of high school. I've been through the entire range of em…
You are wrong, I beat depression. I don't just 'cope' with it, I actually don't feel depressed any more at all. And this is the rule rather than the exception, most people with depression recover just fine.