Posted by morganpmiller on June 23, 2009, at 21:52:11
In reply to Re: NYT: Report on Gene for Depression Is Now Faulted, posted by linkadge on June 23, 2009, at 7:43:51
I hear what your saying linkage. I do think that just because something is not identifiable, this does not mean there is not something going on that is triggering the depression. It is hard for us to accept that there are factors in play that simply are not tangible. I am a huge believer in the complexity of the human psyche. That is why I do not think there has to be any identifiable stressful event or circumstance to be taking place for someone to suffer from depression. What I am saying is that a damaged psyche will eventually break down on some level regardless of whether or not there is an obvious trigger. The subconscious is a powerful thing. Things that affected us when we were at those crucial ages of development of 2 or 3 or 4 could have wired us in a way and still are affecting us now. These things can be dealt with but it is not easy. And most would rather stay in denial and just find an answer through medication. I don't blame them really. I am guilty of this as well. I am not sure I am articulating my thoughts very well right now.
Basically, there does not need to be an identifiable trigger. If you are predisposed to depression and you have anything going on in your subconscious/psyche that has not been dealt with, it is likely that at any time the sadness that lurks deep within will creep up and get those that are most vulnerable to it.
I have a few friends that have never been on medication before. They are not as much the sensitive artistic types. They have issues and I know all about them. They have their own sadness and anger and anxiety at times. They have things deep down that gets the best of them at times. The difference between them and us is that they just are not as susceptible to being brought down for very long or having their brain chemistry thrown off too much in any way. They use denial to protect them like we all do. They keep going and try to stay distracted like we all do. They just are not predisposed to getting thrown off the tracks like we are. And if they do fall off the tracks, they always have a rescue system waiting around to put them back on so they can keep moving. Also, things like alcohol do not throw their chemistry off quite as easily. I will say, they also had parents that stuck together. And they have a fairly strong family structure, not much disfunction. Their families were far from perfect, but it really shows that their families were more stable than others. Like I said, they still have baggage, they are able to escape much but not all of the damage done by carrying it around; partially because the baggage is not as heavy, and partially because they are better equipped to deal with it.
Depression and anxiety are very complicated.
I wonder what Dr. Bob thinks about all this?
I also agree with bleauberry that there are other reasons for severe issues with depression like lyme disease and other neurotoxins.
Depression is a part of life. A necessary one, if that makes any sense. Unfortunately, we really suffer from it, unlike others who experience it like they experience rainy days.
> >I believe that almost every mental disorder, >even schizophrenia, arises out of the bio-psycho->social dynamic. There is no gene that causes >depression. People want to believe that because >they don't want to face the ugly truth about why >their depression as grown into the monster it >is.
>
> There are times that I believe this and times that I don't. I have seen severe depression exist in the complete absence of any identifyable precipitating factors. Sometimes I am most depressed in the summer, when my psychosocial stressors are lowest. The depression and mania of advanced bipolar disorder is also often out of whack with any identifyable factors. My mother had a psychotic episode out of the blue, and then is perfectly normal when the resession hits and her parents die.
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> I agree that people want to blame it all on their genes, and for most people, common depression is precipitated by stressful life events. But, I do believe there are likely some mental illnesses which are due to certain genes (like huntingtons disease) where the patient will likely get worse without treatment whether or not life is good.
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> Linkadge
poster:morganpmiller
thread:901619
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090620/msgs/902843.html