What do you do for depression

tomorrow morning? i'm sure TSR could do without your moderation for the evening - at least look at something medicine-related at the same time.
by the way, i don't know any more on this topic than you do; not having done neuro yet means i'm just going by what i've read in the sBMJ / journals.

WAUUUUUUUU THE SAME WAY I THINK!!! There are very few clever people in the world... I'm not alone

Sure, there is a difference between feeling depressed and actually having a (clinical) depression. However, it's not wrong to be depressed, cause there certainly are situations in life which are difficult (and at that particular moment seem impossible) to deal with and make people unhappy (break up, unemployment, illness, death,..).
For clinical depressions: The statistic says that about every 10th to 6th person has some sort of depression. People don't chose to have this - in most cases it is due to a lack of "transmitter substances" (I don't know the exact word in English) in one's brain. Therefore it has to do with a damage in the chemistry of one's brain.

*neurotransmitters* is the word your looking for methinks.
But this is by no means proven.

the chemical imbalanaces in the brain are almost always a symtom of depression, not a cause. low norepinephrine and serotonin levels are due to a lack of happiness or pleasure, which is why doctors hand out antidepressants. once a depressant returns to "normal", the inbalance will no longer be there. thus 99% of the time neurotransmitters don't cause clinical depression.

I found this post quite interesting (in D&D)..



i looked it up, and he appears to be right with respect to current research.

Hmmm interesting.
Thinking about it, I do vaguely recollect reading something to that effect but it just confuses me even more.
It's like understanding memory - thats the most confusing thing in the world!

It's like understanding memory - thats the most confusing thing in the world!

I'm quite looking forward to it *hides in corner* Surely the brain must be about 100x more interesting than the renal system. The neurological basis of appetite makes me salivate at the thought

*currently trying to write an essay on the Limbic System*.

TOYL - 100 x more interesting.. & maybe x 1000 more difficult?

TOYL - 100 x more interesting.. & maybe x 1000 more difficult?

I HATE the limbic system, I was reading a chapter on it earlier and it almost killed me!

If he's half as emotional as you are I'd glad. He doesn't express his emotions all that often. And that is not good for him.

Alaric is that depression? I think it is but I'm really not sure!

As a man, I can say that depression is very different from straight anger.
In some cases you really do want to bash something, yes. But that's when you feel tense and frustrated.
Depression... is more like feeling deflated. You're empty. A distinct testosterone low.

Though these things are all personal, perhaps I shouldn't generalise.

Not being horrible to your friend. But i really can't stand people who say they are depressed. You have no right to be depressed. Life is too short. You should get up and do something constructive.

I'm tempted to say there are a lot of miserable people who are treated as depressive, it's not the same thing but it's very easily confused by people who haven't experienced it.

Well I'm not a doctor or anything, but if that went on for a reasonable period of time it's quite likely. One of the characteristics I've found from talking to other people who've been depressed is that there really doesn't have to be any reason for any of it. I tend to use that as a kind of measure when I talk to people, if something has caused it it can usually be easier to deal with. Generally I think you know the answer though, doctors just add labels (and try to help I guess).
The overthinking that you talk about really doesn't help does it


I went a lot more angry as I came out of it for a few months, it's very different to being angry. You can control being angry, I occasionally went into a blind fury, a couple of times provoked by other things and a few times just by my thoughts. There's a fair few bits of dented plaster and *ahem* a large hole in walls around my house where they've been punched or headbutted. It's not fun and it's pretty shameful. I could probably have hurt people I love when I was like that, so I used to take off to a room or something where people aren't.
I'm generally not like that now though people, I'm safe . I don't ever feel as bad as I was and I know when I'm starting to go that way (so I fairly gently but repeatedly headbutt walls until it hurts, which usually works nicely).

Ok, so that makes me sound a bit like a freak! I'm not really, honest, I was just pretty much emotionally totally out of control for a while. Anyway, not the kind of thing most people will admit to in public, perhaps I ought'nt to either, I dunno .

A.
PS: <--- psycho me, woooo

As Alaric says, staying in bed is not a good way of coping. If your friend is sleeping longer or can't sleep at night so sleeps through the morning, maybe you could try knocking on their door in the morning to wake them up? It might sound silly, but at this time of year it could be Seasonally Affected Disorder (I think that's what it's called!) and more light and exercise could help your friend a bit. I guess that could help for anyone - I've just moved rooms and really appreciate the extra light in my new room.

Your college Welfare Officer should have some further information about this. If you don't want to contact them but want the information, PM me - my welfare folder is about 18 inches away from my computer and I'm happy to send it to you. It can be very, very hard to help someone with depression and there will probably be lots of times when you don't really know what to do, but being there is REALLY important. Especially in Cambridge it's really easy to get caught up in other things, but your friend will really appreciate the effort.

I'm very disappointed to see such a lack of sympathy from some of you. It doesn't really matter whether this is clinical depression or just a down phase, and whether there's a 'TSR approved' reason for it or not. The point is that someone's friend is going through a rough patch and needs some help! CUSU are running a Mental Health Week this term, maybe you should consider some of the events on offer.

Hope this helps, Camford!

I'm asking this because my friend is depressed. What do you do when you are depressed? Do you lie in bed all day and hope it'll go away? Do you go to the doctors in hope that he/she may give you some happy pills? Or do you get on with work and not letting it bother you? Can I have some tips please?

A Mental Health Week? What are the events on offer? I want to go.