State Your Unpopular Opinions

That's why my opinion is unpopular


Hotwater

 

Whenever I read your posts I instantly feel like I am back home in Oregon

 

Ooo.. I like people that think critically, and question things.. .

If you don't believe that there is no chemical imbalance - I encourage you to do some research online. Thats really all I can say, because I wouldnt expect anyone to willingly jump ship just because someone argues that something is true.

Onward to my opinion....
You know when you go to the pharmacy and you get a little print out about the medicine your on, and the side effects, and warnings etc... Well, pharmacies and pharmacists have a print out that is like..... literally 5-10+ times longer, and in MUCH more detail about the drug, about the studies conducted and whatnot - its sometimes/frequently unbelievably scary to me that these drugs prove to be hardly more effective than a placebo. Not to mention many drugs are not studied all that long. If you think about the Pharma field - I would imagine you would think Whoooaa its big business, with tons of money, and profit. Just imagine the corruption involved, and if your interested, (anyone for that matter) I highly encourage you to do some research and educate yourself.. I can go on and on telling you what I've learned, some of it like the 'chemical imbalance thing' is hard to hear from a stranger, especially since Doctors shove that crap down your throat.

I personally believe (due to the knowledge I've gained) that for many users of antidepressants, its working strictly based on the placebo effect. I would assume that everyone knows how powerful your mind/brain is - well, when you believe "have faith" (sorry a jab at religion) that something is going to help you/alleviate your symptoms, that it will. There are soooo many people on antidepressants, I can hardly believe that everyone needs them. How can you teach yourself to deal with negative emotions and feelings when your masking the issue with a drug? I think that every human being - (someone please correct me if I'm wrong) suffers from sadness, or despair at sometime in their lives. Do we all jump on the band wagon of taking a drug that a doctor recommends - many do.

But really, I will admit I really dont know shit, because I could also totally contradict myself by stating that sometimes it takes people awhile to find an antidepressant that "works" for them.. Man, you really got me thinking a lot.. haha.. All I have further to add is, all knowledge is second hand news, and mostly doused in opinions and beliefs. Therefore, I dont know what or who to believe, so I just question everything/everyone.

Sorry for the lengthy reply.
Peace.

 

Depression isn't an illness, everybody gets sad.

 

Psychiatry borders on torture most of the time -- and most of the lower disorders are vital human functions.

 

Thanks for the reply. Let's be clear on what we're talking about. Depression is a clinical categorization we have made in medicine for symptoms relating to low mood and the associated consequences of that. The drugs which aim to treat that condition target certain neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine because it is found that they play a role in mood. I don't think there should be much doubt about that. Whether these drugs fix the clinical condition called depression is another discussion.

I've studied pharmacology and I don't think there's much evidence for the effect of antidepressants being a placebo. The medical research takes placebos into account when it is performed. We know the pharmacological effect of these medicines, their effect on receptors and neurotransmitters. The science is quite precise in what they do and how they do it.

Now onto the subject of whether drugs fix depression - personally I wouldn't take antidepressants because I don't think they do. I agree with you that not everyone needs them. I think some (maybe all?) depression is caused by family issues, internal concerns and worries. That kind of turmoil takes its toll on the nervous system and creates what we call "chemical imbalances". Maybe some depression is totally physiological - but I would say this is very rare.

If depression was just about feeling bad, then the drugs work - they make you feel good. But it's more than that, they can't fix a broken heart, existential troubles or the death of a loved one. Those are the cause of bad sensation we call depression, and fixing just the sensation doesn't fix the underlying cause.


Finally, have you taken any antidepressants? Because I think if you had, you would not be saying they are placebos.

 

Actually, the SSRI and SNRI type antidepressants make you not feel... Good or bad. Nothing matters anymore, good or bad, happy or sad. A P Doc told me once "Mentally numb is good". It's not really a "fix" for the problem, it's hardly a bandage. Stopping the human body/psyche from transmitting it's emotion causing chemicals is not fixing a "chemical imbalance", it's causing one. See what happens when someone tries to stop taking them. I've taken an antidepressant as prescribed, it almost killed me.

 

That might be true. I've never taken an SSRI, but tricyclics I have taken definitely have a physical 'feel-good' effect. What I was trying to say is that the 'feel-good' effect doesn't touch the cause, which is what you're saying too. Ice-cream does the same thing, to a lesser extent.

 

I'm a firm believer in the death penalty. Don't even bother arguing with me about it.

 

Well I wasn't going to comment on anyone's opinion, because the thread was originally about just stating one's unpopular opinions, but with all of the posts about depression being thrown around I feel the need to weigh in.

It is certainly true that psychological problems are often not properly diagnosed, and it is certainly true that various medicines are prescribed too easily and too often. That being said clinical depression is absolutely a real disorder, it is not the same thing as feeling sad, and it, along with many other disorders, is most definitely caused in part by a chemical imbalance. (some people seem to not believe in 'chemical imbalances' at all, which is a ludicrous position given that the brain works largely through electrical and chemical pathways. Certainly you must understand that if these electro-chemical pathways are disrupted that the activity of the brain will be disrupted. It's practically a truism.)

Low serotonin is in fact not the cause of depression. People with the long type allele for serotonin production do not suffer symptoms of depression when their serotonin levels are experimentally depleted. However people with the short type allele do experience depression when their serotonin levels are depleted. These symptoms include much more than sadness. For example it can include profound feelings of guilt even when the person is perfectly aware of not having done anything to feel guilty about. It also includes an inability to derive pleasure from things that would normally be pleasing. Everyone gets sad, few people suffer from clinical depression.

Immediately boosting serotonin levels does not relieve the symptoms of depression. However long term increase of serotonin does alleviate these symptoms. Clearly the root cause of depression, as well as a direct method of treatment have not been found yet. Psychological problems are biological problems. If your leg breaks you can't walk very well. If your liver is damaged you can't filter blood very well. If your brain malfunctions you can't think and feel very well. This is true whether the problem is the lack of a certain chemical, or abnormal neural connections, or even physical damage to parts of the brain. Tell someone with Parkinson's disease that there is no such thing as a chemical imbalance. Tell them after they take dopamine and stop shaking.

 

No one has said that there isn't chemical imbalance. Only that some chemical imbalances are vital parts of the natural (and ideal) order of humanity; and that there are better ways of dealing with them than experimenting with psychoactive drugs; and with our current levels of neurological technology, that's all a psychiatrist can do, is make a hypothesis of what medicine/dose to prescribe.

We don't do invasive surgery for minor breaks; and we don't typically give high-level steroids when rehab will do just as well albeit in a longer period of time.

 

Such as? I haven't found any. One dose of a psychedelic is better than a year of psychotherapy for me.

 

Fat chicks are hot!

 

Firstly; what disorder(s) do you have?

Psychotherapy is often a crock and very dependent on the psychologist.

The best solution to almost any mental problem is to adjust your lifestyle. From direct biological factors like: diet, sleep schedule, breathing habits; to you everyday habits, scenes, etc. Including the use or disuse of casual drugs. (Though some are bad for you, period.)

Hell, even your clothes affect your mood.

I am a former insomniac, life-long worrier (that could sometimes be diagnosed with GAD or SAD), and on and off depression sufferer (currently so because I can't find a path in life).

 

1) There is no God, gods, higher power, Mother Nature, Intelligent Design, Reason, "positive thinking", or any disguised theism;

2) Likewise, there is no Eden, Utopia, a "better world", Revolution, and much less an afterlife. This is it, and then you die.

3) Suffering and conflict are desirable and here to stay;

4) People and things are not the same in value. What is good is, by definition, rare. Otherwise it is merely mediocre. Everyone is not beautiful, intelligent, "in their own way" or some such; therefore, hierarchy and inequality are also desirable and here to stay; what determines rank is heredity not merit. The same act is that is wrong for one, is right for another;

5) Morality is relative to one`s power. Weak people consider "selflessness" good due to their inability to dominate; strong people see the selflessness of the weak as selfish, since not dominating does violence to their nature;

6) There are no objective facts. "Facts" are none other than the prejudices of the powerful;

7) True friendship exists only inter pares, that is, among individuals of equal rank. And, even those are fraught with occasional competition and deceit;

8) Marriage, family, religion, the state, schools, science, etc. are good for the sheep. Exceptional individuals have no use for anything universal. Their subjective feelings and those of their peers are their only barometer; all of the above are for them none other than a "keeping up appearances" for the weak;

9) There is no individual or "thing" as such. Everything is multiplicity and the fight for supremacy. I may be both a serial killer and a saint, only now the serial killer in me gains the upper hand over the saint, now the other way around;

10) If the pleasure of the superior is to dominate, the pleasure of the inferior is to submit.

Edit: Everything that turns out well is subconscious, accidental, and lucky. It is not the outcome of hard work, knowledge, or a positive attitude.

 

I have depression. There is no solution I have found, but one-off large doses of psychedelics help give perspective.

But i'm wondering why we are telling each other about 'solutions' when we both suffer from depression.

 

Haha it sounds funny when you put it that way. But I typically know the causes of mine, and I've solved it before (by getting healthier and reigniting my love for things slowly) -- it's just kind've impossible right now, cause I have no fucking clue where I'm going in life, and that's my current problem.

 

Same here Duck. I don't know what the fuck to do.

 

The 1% is here to stay and so is the 99% at that ratio

BUT I'm going to be an idealistic enough of a fool to say I think even the hearts of the heartless can change if we can show them that nurturing the planet is truly more profitable in the greater scheme of things than dry fucking the earth for every last drop of fossil fuels and Uranium ever was once the infrastructure is established in a sensible, cyclic manner in which waste is turned into resource via Oil, fiber and cellulose yielding Biomass as the basis for all our industries in the near future.

The nice part of all that is as I see it, the expanding global economies and job growth using the endless resource that is the Hemp plant will ensure that products will be much more affordable as accountants learn to truly do the big math in Accounting and not stick simply to 1 to 3 year cycles for their investment strategies without greater consideration for the overall impact of their investments overall final, itemized cost to the company and it's shareholders 10 to 20 years down the road.

I mean sure I understand WHY we jumped on Oil at the dawn of the industrial revolution, but it really is time to wake up from the dream that it will be some everlasting and easy commodity as it was when we initially adopted its use for the backbone of Human society.

 

Only if the 99 make it so.

The problem is that Occupy and regulation mean nothing. The 99% need to start supporting each other; and learn to favor small business, local business, etc.

But I don't think the ratio would change more than a couple percent and it would probably take decades; but it would still have a very significant impact on the well-being of much of the 1%.


So I guess my unpopular opinion in all of this: the shitty ratio is more the 99's fault, than the 1's.