Posted by Racer on July 20, 2006, at 18:30:34
In reply to Re: ... with SOME normal people? » Jost, posted by curtm on July 12, 2006, at 16:47:17
> I think what she was implying is that people with disroderd thinking/mental illness did it to themselves, but actually they are born with an imbalance on chemical neurotransmitter function (speaking specifically of mood disorders and addiction.)
>See, I think most depression -- endogenous or exogenous -- is an interplay between biology and environment. You may be born with the short form of the gene, but it still takes an environmental stressor to bring on the d/o.
So, while we don't "bring it on ourselves," there is a part that environment plays, and our behavior does play a contributing role -- for good, as well as for ill; that's why therapy is good for what ails us.
Yes, biology counts. But if I took an infant born with the gene coding for depression, and I reared him/her in a perfect for him/her environment, and there were no traumatic experiences, etc, that kid wouldn't necessarily develop depression.
Now, after I've said all that, let me also say that I get cross-eyed by some of the things people say about depression. My own aunt, when I told her I was suffering from depression, asked, "About what? You have to be depressed *about* something." (Implication I got: "therefore, you're not depressed..." Dang, wish it were that easy, huh?) There is a lot of ignorance about it, and it does both contribute to the stigma against mental illness, and make that much more difficult the lives of those of us with mental illness.
Hope someone agrees with something I said there...
poster:Racer
thread:666399
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20060703/msgs/668721.html