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Poll: Have you experienced depressive symptoms over the past two weeks?

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Re: Poll: Have you experienced depressive symptoms over the past two weeks?

#92

Wow what happened to all the normal people? I am not depressed and never have been depressed. Life has never been easier or safer for most people and we have a poll result where 2/3rd of people are claiming to be clinically depressed?

With respect, which planet do you live on where a pandemic that is killing millions and putting millions more out of work, confining people globally to their houses and murdering some large swathes of the economy for an invisible disease is the same as an 'easier & safer life for most people'. The K-shaped recovery is a real bubble, don't get caught in either side, they're both blind.

Millions? Wheres your fuckin numbers boy?

Re: Poll: Have you experienced depressive symptoms over the past two weeks?

#93
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With respect, which planet do you live on where a pandemic that is killing millions and putting millions more out of work, confining people globally to their houses and murdering some large swathes of the economy for an invisible disease is the same as an 'easier & safer life for most people'. The K-shaped recovery is a real bubble, don't get caught in either side, they're both blind.

Millions? Wheres your fuckin numbers boy?

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

I can google for others too, I don't think the numbers will sway your opinion though.

Re: Poll: Have you experienced depressive symptoms over the past two weeks?

#94

Wow what happened to all the normal people? I am not depressed and never have been depressed. Life has never been easier or safer for most people and we have a poll result where 2/3rd of people are claiming to be clinically depressed?

These polls are self selecting. People round here aren’t into polls generally (evidenced by that the feature is largely unknown) and probably rarely respond to them. An exception to that is when the poll positives speak directly to something you care deeply about and identify strongly with. On top of that people who are going through this may be inclined to share not least because it’s always comforting to those goin…

I hope you are right or there is something very broken with us as a group.

Re: Poll: Have you experienced depressive symptoms over the past two weeks?

#95
Another perspective from somebody who used to answer yes for some years: thinking about your health too much is a thing. Try to live as healthy as you can: unprocessed food, drink mostly water, avoid stimulants, exercise, regular sleep, limit screen time, etc. But don't obsess over any of it. Thinking about it, analyzing every sleepless night, bad feeling and chest pain is not healthy at all. I've been there and know other people who have. It starts as a normal concern over one's health but it can become an obsession and a downward spiral. Nowadays I rely on other people in my life to observe from outside if there's obviously something changed about me that might require action.

Obviously the opposite extreme exists as well: people who are in terrible health condition and don't even notice. So again, self evaluation is not very good.

Re: Poll: Have you experienced depressive symptoms over the past two weeks?

#96

Wow what happened to all the normal people? I am not depressed and never have been depressed. Life has never been easier or safer for most people and we have a poll result where 2/3rd of people are claiming to be clinically depressed?

With respect, which planet do you live on where a pandemic that is killing millions and putting millions more out of work, confining people globally to their houses and murdering some large swathes of the economy for an invisible disease is the same as an 'easier & safer life for most people'. The K-shaped recovery is a real bubble, don't get caught in either side, they're both blind.

Millions of people die from diseases like malaria and HIV every year. Wallowing around in self pity because of COVID-19 is not going to change a thing.

Life has been getting better every year I have been alive. Billions of people have been moved out of extreme poverty and the average person lives a easier and safer life than almost anyone in history - I would rather be a poor man today than a king of the past.

Re: Poll: Have you experienced depressive symptoms over the past two weeks?

#97
post #58

Now there are two depression threads on the front page. We usually don't allow that (I mean same-topic frontpage threads, not depression threads). Normally the easy answer would be to downweight the follow-up [1], but this post is nicely reminding the community that HN polls are a thing. So I don't know what to do! I'm tempted to put up a poll asking whether to keep the poll or the original thread, but I have to go o…

Please don't take either down. Please make an exception. It isn't like a normal article post, and sure you don't want this to become a trend, but damn we're also in a mental health crisis as a society right now, and meaningful conversations are going on in the comments of both of these posts.

This isn't a mental health community, but these posts happened and got their upvotes and that shows there's a group of HN readers right now for whom this is as important as anything else they might find on HN. It could be there's folks who can't or won't see what they need to see to help themselves outside of the serendipity of HN happening to bubble them up to the front page.

Re: Poll: Have you experienced depressive symptoms over the past two weeks?

#98

I don't felt the need to see a doctor about what I'm experiencing, so I'm not sure if what I have qualifies as depression. But over the past several months, it feels like my entire personality and being is a rug that has been pulled out from underneath me. I'm no longer the driven and interested person that I used to be. I struggle to sit down and work - my brain feels scattered and no matter how much I sleep and res…

Those are without a doubt some clear symptoms of depression. Two VERY VERY IMPORTANT THINGS: 1) A good first step is to see your GP, if you have one, and if you don't look up some reviews and find a decent one. If you're at the point where you lack the motivation to even do that, ask a friend or loved one to do it for you. If you don't have a resource like that around you, just click this link & put in your own zip c…

Just to geek out, a fun fact about why one often feels like depression will last forever is due to memory compartmentalization.

To most anyone thoughts that pop up in our head come out of a black hole, an unknown. What's actually happening is we're seeing something in the present moment (thinking memories in the present moment too) and that thing we're seeing causes an emotional response, often an unconscious one. The unconscious mind then looks for neighboring memories by emotional lookup and brings those familiar memories up into conscious thought, which is how ideas pop up in our head.

This is a pretty profound insight, because for example, it means when one is in a depressed state, if it is strong enough, all they can remember is memories of being in a similar emotional state causing a memory compartmentalization. This forgetting of positive memories makes depression seem like it's forever. One helpful thing is a photo of a good memory, or a letter to ones self, or another form of nostalgia, which can then pull the person out of the depressed episode. For some people it's enough to end the depression then and there in its tracks.

Likewise, from this understanding, it can be easy to see the challenge therapists face regarding depression and other memory compartmentalization related psychological disorders, because their patient forgets instructions that could help them when they need it most.

This also shows how manipulation works. How, emotional language can determine how a person thinks, programming them. One fun experiment is to watch a bit of Fox and look at the emotions instead of what they're directly saying. You'll start to see things like they're telling people to not trust others, for example, or like how they were saying anything regarding Biden is boring, so you shouldn't watch it, and so on. Manipulation is controversial to talk about, but so is depression, so fuck it. Let's have some fun. ^_^

Re: Poll: Have you experienced depressive symptoms over the past two weeks?

#99
post #58

Now there are two depression threads on the front page. We usually don't allow that (I mean same-topic frontpage threads, not depression threads). Normally the easy answer would be to downweight the follow-up [1], but this post is nicely reminding the community that HN polls are a thing. So I don't know what to do! I'm tempted to put up a poll asking whether to keep the poll or the original thread, but I have to go o…

This poll isn't particularly well formed, particularly it lacks an option for chronic depressive symptoms, every day. It seems likely the options are lacking in the lower end of the spectrum as well, there's a big jump between not at all and several days worth of symptoms

Sure, it is not a meaningful diagnostic tool or method to collect a representative sample from HN, but it is sparking meaningful conversation, so I hope Dang does not remove it based on the merits of its survey design.

Re: Poll: Have you experienced depressive symptoms over the past two weeks?

#100

I am much better than I was in the past 2 years this year. I still suffer from depression but I have found ways to deal with it. I am better at redirecting thoughts and containing them. I was able to finish few books in the last 2 weeks and continue with a morning walk routine. Those books really helped me understood why I was failing at modern life. I cut mainstream social media from my life and reduced screen time.…

Would you mind sharing the titles of the books?
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