Forums > Social Discussion > Depression - Part of Modern Life?

Before I start, I just want to say that this isn't a rehash of old threads as far as I'm aware... if you're looking for advice on depression or anxiety you should check out this really beautiful post I've just finished reading

So I was thinking, whilst I have depression and an anxiety disorder, I find they only surface about things which are required of me by modern life. I worry about paying rent and getting a job when I'd much rather be living in a house where I can grow my own food. I worry about pollution and third world debt but feel there is little I can do about it. I worry about being far away from the people I love but I put myself here.

The root causes of all my "depressors" (probably not a real word) all seem to be fundamental needs in me for stability and control. Obviously this is not uncommon. But I was thinking - in the past people lived their own lives, with their families, without complex systems of government or legality, and they got on OK.

I'm really talking about pagan and other cultures before these complex systems of rules were introduced. This might just be a really stupid thought on my part but it seems to me that depression is caused by modern life, and by returning to a simpler life (if that's even possible) it could pretty much be "cured".

And I wondered what you thought

What a wonderful miracle if only we could look through each other's eyes for an instant.
Thoreau

What a wonderful miracle if only we could look through each other's eyes for an instant.
Thoreau

What a wonderful miracle if only we could look through each other's eyes for an instant.
Thoreau

tHeReS gOoD aNd EvIl iN EaCh InDiViDuAl fIrE, iDeNtIfIeS nEeDs AnD fEeDs OuR dEsIrEs.

Medusa that must have been extremely scary for you and those around you. I sat with my friend while she revisited a violent attack on her and it was one of the most helpless terrifying times in my life. I am proud of you for the way you face life and deal with your issues

You are so right about different strokes and that psychologists sometimes make things worse while trying to help.

Is it the Truth?
Is it Fair to all concerned?
Will it build Goodwill and Better Friendships?
Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?

Im in a lonely battle with the world with a fish to match the chip on my shoulder. Gnu in Binnu in a cnu

The fact is, anti-depressants ARE helpful in certain cases, as I said above. They have a use. But it is a short-term solution.

I don't know what would've happened to me if I hadn't gone onto them when I did, and I hated doing it, but I hated the thought of suicide even more (when I was at my more lucid). So in that respect, I don't think there is a better course of action for a suicidally depressed patient than an immediate course of anti-depressants, if only to allow them the chance to seek alternative therapy.

I don't think people in general realise how immensely debilitating depression can be, and I think the world as it is today has some role in that - we CAN stay inside all day on the internet, watching TV, doing no work.. we CAN have very very little human contact.. we CAN simply go into the supermarket and get what we need and leave in a consumer society. In the past these things wouldn't have been true - life in ancient times meant that people had a constant source of activity which they needed to perform to exist.

Perhaps it is this purposelessness (sp? actually, is it even a word?) that is resulting in such an epedemic level of depression in modern times?

Medusa, that's awful. It's horrible how trauma breeds trauma. Hope you've managed (or are managing) to break the chain.

*desperately trying to drag this back on-topic*

What a wonderful miracle if only we could look through each other's eyes for an instant.
Thoreau

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Help! My personality got stuck in this signature machine and I cant get it out!

Myco - sorry! Didn't realise you were a lady

Josh - good point, I do agree that people are often put on a course of anti-depressants as a kind of "solution" to their depression, and that's crap... and shocking about the medications that increased the suicide rate!

To be honest, that doesn't surprise me. It's very easy to feel worthless when you're on anti-depressants, particularly about a month into the course I've found (after the honeymoon/novelty stage but before the real effect), and to feel like chucking them away which is apparently a really really bad way to come off them (you just crash). I know I've done this before with an earlier course of meds, and even my most recent prescription was given up about 6 months before it was meant to be... It's just important to regain that lost element of control, I think.

But I will say that at a certain point in my life anti-depressants possibly kept me alive, and certainly gave me the ability and strength to go and seek councilling, whcih I 100% wouldn't have done without them. Perhaps it was a placebo effect, who knows - it was just good to be able to get out of my house again! But that initial step of going to the doctor was so hard... thanks to all my friends for that.

What a wonderful miracle if only we could look through each other's eyes for an instant.
Thoreau

The one positive thing I can see from this is that it isn't chemical depression. At least knowing that, you know that it's within your ability to get over it. Easier said than done I know. I'm no stranger to depression myself. the only thing that I've learnt is to take note of the little differences in my surroundings from when I'm feeling low to more human and learn as much as I can about what outer sources affect me. The rest is inner strength. Wanting to feel better, being willing to fight for it. Again easier said then done but it is within your power. The hardest thing to hear is that for anyone who suffers from any trauma or event that causes them to be depressed, it is them who holds onto that emotion. Which is clearly because you are not over what happened to you. A wise man once said if you're not happy, change your situation or how you feel about it. You need to let go, realise that what happened was in the past and can no longer affect you beyond how you let it.
Please don't take my advice as patronising, I am not telling you to snap out of it because no you can't. But you can work on it, day by day. You just need to want it for yourself. Know that you're deserving enough to feel better and be happy. I don't know what happened to you and i probably never will so my advice is very general. I hope it helps, even if it's only a little. x

x x x

>>>d(o_0)b<<<