Why has suffering from depression become so popular now?

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Bit harsh. I suppose people weren't gay before it was legalized. And if I close my eyes my laptop doesn't exist because I can't see it. You have some valid points, but it's a real illness that can have a massive impact on people's lives - have some respect.

Reply 21

Bella Occhi

There's a difference between feeling a bit down and telling everybody you have depression, and suffering from severe clinical depression that has a bad impact on your quality of life.

Reply 22

alharrison4

I don't think clinical depression is necessarily any more 'prevelant' than it was fifty years ago. It has just become better recognised and is diagnosed more.

You say people with depression are pathetic, but I think the only person who's pathetic is the one who's trying to diminish what other people are going through. While a very small minority might 'play up' certain aspects, for the majority its a genuinely disabling mental condition, and you're not helping by seeking to stigmatise people.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 23

MarcusTheEskimo

Original post by EsStupido

50 years ago nobody really suffered from depression, nowadays its the in-thing to suffer from? Feeling a bit down? Are you a little bit upset? Can't see the light at the end of your ****ty little rainbow? My God you must be depressed.

Thousands of people now make careers out of telling others that because they won't man the **** up and face life, they must be depressed and therefore need counseling and drugs - which cost money. What a shock.

Pathetic. What is wrong with people nowadays?

I think that life has generally gotten easier, but this has bad effects on people. For example, my grandmother's dogs do nothing in their lives except eat, walk, and sleep. When you actually make them work for their food, they love it and you can tell they lighten up a lot. I think people are the same, with "easier" lives brings depression.

Although I won't go too much into my own personal story, as someone who made a very difficult decision in declining antidepressants from my doctor, I really should know more about the subject. But to say that it's simply "fashionable" is wrong.

Reply 24

gingerrama

Popular? That's the word you're going with?

Reply 25

kerily

Yes. Obviously my five years of depression, self-harm and suicide attempts were a convoluted and desperate bid for popularity.

Reply 26

fire2burn

Original post by EsStupido

50 years ago nobody really suffered from depression, nowadays its the in-thing to suffer from?

There were plenty of people who suffered from depression 50 years ago, however you never used to hear about them because back then the standard practise was to lock people away in asylums and mental health wards if they were considered mentally defective.

People would hide it out of fear of being committed. Nowadays with stigma breaking down and a greater understanding of the condition people are able to be more open about it.

Are you ignorant like this towards other conditions too? 50 years ago you never used to hear about epilepsy either because family members with it would have been hidden away out of sight and out of mind so they didn't bring shame upon their family, nowadays with modern medicine there's no need to hide it and sufferers can be open about their condition without fear of stigma. Does that mean epilepsy has become popular now too?

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 27

EsStupido

Original post by kerily

Yes. Obviously my five years of depression, self-harm and suicide attempts were a convoluted and desperate bid for popularity.

Smoking, drinking and being a whore were the routes you should have taken.

I'm sorry you went down the wrong path.

Reply 28

Manitude

As a lot of people have said, there's a difference between feeling a bit sad for a few hours and actually being depressed. It seems that a lot of people think they have the latter when they have the former, possibly as a form of attention seeking.

Personally I don't like to talk about how I'm feeling like that unless I'm drunk or whatever. I find by pretending that everything is fine 'upstairs' to everybody else it helps me get through the day.
I don't get severe depression by any means, but I'm pretty sure if that everybody felt like I do most days there would be a much higher suicide rate. I'm pretty hard to break mentally which I think goes some way to explaining why I didn't follow through with those really rather nasty thoughts.

Reply 29

Brevity

Original post by kerily

Yes. Obviously my five years of depression, self-harm and suicide attempts were a convoluted and desperate bid for popularity.

Tbf, the extremities of this post do seem, a little, to demand attention.

Reply 30

SharkofMirkwood

It's just for the attention.

I'm not saying a lot of people don't suffer from depression, but most people (particularly teenagers) who claim to be depressed are just seeking attention. Kinda screws stuff up for people with real problems...

Reply 31

morecambebay

I wonder what medical condition you have to have to come on an anonymous internet fourm and intentionally try to provoke people into not liking you?

Reply 32

kerily

Original post by EsStupido

Smoking, drinking and being a whore were the routes you should have taken.

Smoking and drinking are fun :ahee:

Being a whore? I wouldn't know; I've never tried it. I highly doubt just consuming x or y substance will make you popular though. And depression is really not about becoming popular anyway.

Reply 33

UPPSY

I like the OP ,totally true, man the hell up Great Britain, stop hiding behind labels

Reply 34

kerily

Original post by Brevity

Tbf, the extremities of this post do seem, a little, to demand attention.

Attention and popularity aren't the same thing. And that's kind of the point - to make the OP think 'mmhm, maybe depression is actually a serious medical condition which endangers peoples' lives'.

Reply 35

_xAnonymous

I see where your coming from , theres a difference between feeling depressed and having depression.

Reply 36

Craig_D

Original post by TheRealDarthVader

It is very common amongst teenage girls, an age known for attention seeking.

I suffered from depression for quite a while. I snapped out of it when I told myself to stop being such a whiney little bitch. I'm much better for it.

I suppose losing your arm, and the inability to jerk off in your metal suit had much to do with it.

Spoiler

Reply 37

ECullen

It hasn't become popular per say. It has become more acknowledged and more health promotion to Dr. and patients alike has made people recognise they are not just feeling low but there is a clinical diagnosis and treatment plan available. Shame and stigma has been removed, well to a greater degree anyway.

Reply 38

qasman

Original post by Miss Behaving

Wow - as someone who is currently going through depression, I just have one thing to say to you 'You're a dick'.

Not gonna lie, I thought in the same line as OP (not as extreme, but you get what I mean) before I suffered from it. Wasn't that severe, but when I think back to it, I never wanna be in that situation again. It was so horrible.