I don't have anything to add to that. Just applause. This should be done to all these scumbags. Because we are under no obligation to take the enemy seriously, and giving them that courtesy is their only weapon.

>>Most people don't get it that depression is different from plain misery or sadness.

And most people have forgotten, as well, that sadness or misery are sometimes appropriate and sane emotional responses to things that happen, or don't, in life. Ever since the 1980s, every time I or many I know have expressed such emotions the default response is always that meds are needed. Even before direct-to-consumer ads. I know many people whose lives were ruined because of irresponsible use of meds just because they might have been a bit emotional when they were teens. I was once married to a woman who felt she was suffering from depression, so she went to a therapist. Said therapist refused to even speak to her till she went on Prozac. He did not know anything, refused to know anything, about her before prescribing it. He treated it like a coat of primer. And that Prozac threw her brain into chaos because it was not what she needed. She really just needed to talk. But that's too time-consuming and the insurance companies don't like that.

We're not robots, we're not machines, and one size does not fit all. And relying on meds when not appropriate is what has weakened us and turned us into a culture that, say, doesn't "mourn," but "seeks closure." We do not want to understand. We want to shut off the troublesome thoughts. And then we wonder why our culture has become so lame, stupid and vulnerable.

I come from a family that is half medical, so I am not one of these "all meds are evil" zealots. Lots of people need meds quite legitimately, yes. But not everyone, and we have an entire country of amateur psychologists who believe that being sad is a pathology. Indeed, that emotions themselves, if strong, are a pathology. "Passion" is merely imbalance.(shades of the 4 humors!) This is why we become less human as a culture all the time. And have no strength of will. And thus are much more manipulable than ever before.

And far too stupid to understand nuance anymore or keep our attention on anything too long. Too dull.

I sometimes wonder if the limitations we used to have in our culture, in terms of the speed and ubiquity of information, in terms of actually having to work to maintain relationships(as opposed to a list on Facebook we mistake for a community) in some ways wasn't better, that having to work around those things maybe didn't keep us a little smarter, a little more discerning. But that train long since left the station. But perhaps our brains are not evolved enough for all the noise we now have to face, and perhaps our tools are a kind of trap.

But that starts to sound like someone longing for the old days of horses and buggies. Still, though, worth pondering. Oh wait, we don't ponder any more. That would seem obsessive. BAD!

You're one of those they help. They don't help everyone.

I was having trouble sleeping a few years ago. So my doctor prescribed Paxil, even though I didn't fit any profile otherwise for someone who needed it.

And I nearly fell apart, until I stopped taking it. And still felt like my heart was going to tear through my chest until it finally left my system.

When I was a teen, I was bored with school and wasn't doing well. So they gave me Ritalin.

I couldn't get a decent night's sleep(and in fact I suspect my intermittent insomnia since then has its roots there), and was too stressed to concentrate, and Bs became low Cs because I'd pass out in class.

One size, as I said, does not fit all, and some people need something else besides meds. They worked for you. You're not everyone.

If your finger feels burned, it's a sign to get it out of the fire.

If you medicate the pain away, your finger burns and the damage is done. But, heck, at least you can cope with the fire! And life's all about coping, not learning or taking action, right?

Nobody is saying that depression isn't different from sadness, and repeating that point doesn't make it so. What I'm saying, at least, is that not all sadness is depression.

I asked a therapist I had once about that once. She admitted that insurance companies ask more questions and have more hoops to jump through with talk therapy, but barely ask one question when asked for reimbursement for meds.

That has a lot to do with it. There's the notable case of the doctor in "Happy Valley"(really, that was its name) who frightened every one of his patients into going on meds, needed or not. Partly because he was getting kickbacks.

I believe that meds should be used when appropriate but that doctors should be careful about deciding when that is and should not just rely on them as a shortcut. Because when misprescribed, they can do more harm than good. That's all.

>>Those of you who think you can give advice to a depressed person along the lines of "just try harder".. don't. You might well be right. If you're wrong, you're just adding to the immense burden the person's already carrying, and that makes it even harder to take the step to go get some help. Don't make your friends wait five years. I sure wish I could get that hunk of my twenties back.

That's all well and good. But they shouldn't be a first resort either. It's not a black and white issue.