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Myth or Fact?


15 years ago 0 1044 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Rose306,
I too cannot image a person going through life with or without depression or mental illness taking a step back and looking at things.  Even pre-depression, I analyze who I was and made changes, set new goals, looked for things that would make things easier.  I cannot imagine just trudging through life accepting that "this is all there is".  Maybe a positive for being  depressed.  At least we recognize that there is a need for change.  Seems to be their loss.  Though it does present it's issues and potentially complicate our recovery.  I don't have empathy from all my family (basically just my son and his wife, a couple of people who also have depression that's it).  but I recognize that I am very fortunate to have them.   Have you ever seen the game for little children where these little round creatures pop up out of a solid surface and a child hits them over the head with a rubber mallet to make them go below the surface.  lol, when these people pop up in my life for an event or just because, I want to use that mallet. 
 
I love your description of all of us sitting at our keyboards.....

15 years ago 0 201 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
hi ralph! goofy thank you for the laugh, i needed that, i just pictured the "not dealing with the live emotions......" i can only imagine how i "look" some days  i see the handful of regulars hunched over our keyboards, pushing cats aside, typing furiously or pensively - one carefully chosen word at a time. you do learn alot about yourself here, that is for sure. i've gotten no empathy from my family - they are in denial, the mere mention of mental illness has them running for cover. people are ignorant - willfully so sometimes. they don't want to know, then they don't have to make changes and take meds and learn new skills. i don't know, to me, an "unexamined life is not worth living", but to others that seems to mean i never know when to quit, ask too many questions, open up too many cans of worms.....
15 years ago 0 1044 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Ralph2,
I do agree the medication for the chemical imbalance is integral to my being able to have the foundation for the rest of my theory.  I  think the empathy that I have from my friends and family (only part of them) has been definitely slow to arrive.  The rest of them is there hope that they will empathize, yes, the reality of it - no, I'm weak, don't think straight, blah blah blah.  I am  calculating(I planned it that way)  that I work for a mental health provider.  It makes for a much more empathetic environment.
I also agree that the value of this support group is very important in my recovery.  However, it was the content (CBT) of the program that lured me to this site, the surprise element was the support group!  I did not hesitate to jump into the support group and am amazed at how important it has become in my recovery.  However, the CBT portion of the program is what is helping me to make the changes that I need, the support I get from this group along the way is unparalleled.
I don't think this is available in our individual communities because the format itself, lends itself to the quality of the support.  A support group with so many informed and encouraging moderators, available on a 24/7 basis, not having to deal with the anxiety of being in a "room full of people", our anonymity is protected so therefore we can share more openly, discuss more readily, and truly say, in this text, what is going on.  We don't have to deal with the "live" emotions that go on behind the words, which makes it easier to be more objective in our responses.  We can empathize and at times sympathize with what is going on in the lives of those we've grown to care about, but whom we really don't even know. Yes, I think this is very valuable in my recovery and at times wait with much anticipation to hear that "I understand response".  
 
 lol, I think I've gotten off track of the original myth or fact?  I think we are saying the same thing Ralph2. 
I do hope that your and everyone finds someone in their life how ever slow it may be at arriving who can empathize with you even though they may not have experienced it themselves. 

 
 
15 years ago 0 51 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0

  I agree with you fully,Goofy. I do believe we have a responsibility to accept our situation and do everything we are capable to help ourselves recover. I just think that an important part of that is medication to try to balance the chemical imbalances we have. I just think it is very difficult to expect to recover with out medication, all 3 episodes I have gone thru one common denomintor is that I was not on any medication. Granted I did not have a support group like I have found here, but that is something that you don't find very often in the so called real world. It is survival of the fittest out there! And in dealing with friends and family, I find alot of sympathy, but not much empathy. You have to find others who have been thru it to get that and I think that makes a big difference in recovery.

15 years ago 0 1044 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
wwweeeellllll, I do know that there is a chemical component to it and that we cannot help that fact - the disease aspect.  However, if I didn't believe I had some capacity to change, to get better, to identify the issues, learn new coping skills, identify negative beliefs, then I don't think I'd be here.  I call it hope, though I know it won't change the brain chemistry, it can change how I deal with the fact that I have it and I can get better (I have made progress).  We did nothing to cause us to be this way, but we can do something to learn to deal with the effects of the depression more effectively and efficiently. So, I'm gonna ride the fence on this one and say it's a fact that we cannot help that we have depression but we can choose how we treat the illness.
 

15 years ago 0 201 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
hey ralph - or snap out of it, it' just a phase, you're just too sensitive, you just need a better job, or my personal "favorite" knock off that crying or i'll give you something to cry about
15 years ago 0 51 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
I believe that it is true, especially after doing some reading about brain chemistry, but accepting it goes against everything we were brought up to believe. we are brought up to believe that this is the land of opportunity and we can accomplish anything if we work hard enough at it, either by will or by prayer. Examples are held up of people who don't succeed and we are shown that it is a failure in them for not trying hard enough or not having enough faith and not in the system or God for their failure. So we fight silently against this illness, hoping and praying to overcome it, but the harder we try, the more frustrated we become, the more we feel like it is our own fault and the more we spiral downward into it. And people who have never been touched by it, think we should just be able to "tough it out". It makes me very angry at times.
15 years ago 0 1693 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Members, 

Myth: Depression is one’s own creation.

Fact: This is completely false. The sufferers cannot be blamed for the illness.

What do you think?

Breanne, Bilingual Health Educator

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