Please provide some evidence that your brain is able to fix itself to such a degree that it would be able to restore all of the aforementioned things to normal. I'm tired of people claiming this shit but failing to back it up. Seriously it's getting old. I'm all ears, I'll listen to whatever you say as long as you can give me SOME kind of scientific evidence.

And positive thinking, there's a reason that by itself it doesn't work. I can sit here and remove my negative thoughts. I can sit here and tell myself to think positive ones... BUT WHAT IS POSITIVE TO ME? I can think of stereotypically "positive" things but that does NOTHING for me, what is that shit to me? I can think of things in my life that others would consider to be "positive" but for me they represent a lack of hardwork, the fact that I didn't see things completely through.

I can think all the positive thoughts in the world but they don't mean jack shit to me.

And I agree that yes for some people the things you listed are why they cannot get better... but what happens when you face your problems? You look them in the fucking eye, you fall asleep every night confronting them. You face change like it's nothing, you're not afraid of it. What then? How long must you do this for? Please do tell me because I've been depressed since I was 11, I can pinpoint every thing leading up to it and that still doesn't mean shit. I'm not afraid of changing, of fixing things.

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Some people go, "booo," they go, "quack quack," they go, "kee"
Some people have nothing and want nothing and are free

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"Possible problems include low brain cell production of serotonin, a lack of receptor sites able to receive the serotonin that is made, inability of serotonin to reach the receptor sites, or a shortage in tryptophan, the chemical from which serotonin is made. If any of these biochemical glitches occur, researchers believe it can lead to depression, as well as obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, panic, and even excess anger."
http://www.webmd.com/depression/features/serotonin-9-questions-and-answers

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Please provide some evidence that your brain is able to fix itself to such a degree that it would be able to restore all of the aforementioned things to normal.

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 I'm tired of people claiming this shit but failing to back it up. Seriously it's getting old. I'm all ears, I'll listen to whatever you say as long as you can give me SOME kind of scientific evidence.

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And I agree that yes for some people the things you listed are why they cannot get better... but what happens when you face your problems? You look them in the fucking eye, you fall asleep every night confronting them. You face change like it's nothing, you're not afraid of it. What then? How long must you do this for? Please do tell me because I've been depressed since I was 11, I can pinpoint every thing leading up to it and that still doesn't mean shit. I'm not afraid of changing, of fixing things.

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But it isn't all its cut out to be, because once you're here you can't turn back, and being at the top where few people can relate to anything you say is really lonely. So I went through mounting frustration and eventually stagnated completely and might eventually just call it quits (if you know what I mean), but in a way its doing whats 'right' and its even 'heroic', in the utmost tragic way that is

I honestly think this is better than being depressed but not the result that most people hope for, but if enough people were like this, even just five percent, maybe things would be better.

i dont think however that people can just return to their 'old self', once things shift, theyre not going back

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I think what you're missing here is that if the brain does "break" itself it is typically the result of something outside of the person's control, some traumatic event. Does anyone set out to fuck their brain over? No, so how can you expect that if you set out to think happy things it's going to be enough of an epiphany to change the wiring in your brain??

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Some people go, "booo," they go, "quack quack," they go, "kee"
Some people have nothing and want nothing and are free

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When something is cyclical, it matters not whether it's cause or effect because it can be considered both. The things listed in the article are common theories as to why depression occurs. Mind you, neuroplasticity itself is not fact but rather a theory as well.

I think what you're missing here is that if the brain does "break" itself it is typically the result of something outside of the person's control, some traumatic event. Does anyone set out to fuck their brain over? No, so how can you expect that if you set out to think happy things it's going to be enough of an epiphany to change the wiring in your brain??

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people dont set out to fuck themselves over obviously

but indirect things can fuck people over, such as lackings, misguided beliefs/thoughts, traumatic events, and a million other things

so any change has to be indirect, i sure as hell didnt do what i did thinking "im going to stop being depressed", it just 'happened', but I indirectly caused it


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I'd rather take some pills, go to therapy, and feel like I'm making an effort to get better.

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Some people go, "booo," they go, "quack quack," they go, "kee"
Some people have nothing and want nothing and are free

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That's my whole problem with this crap though. I have to sit here and wait for something to inspire me enough to change my thinking completely?

I'd rather take some pills, go to therapy, and feel like I'm making an effort to get better.

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i had this typed up so ill come back later after im finished with this

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Quote: from Jman19 at 12:48 am on Nov. 29, 2008

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I can't just 'believe' it is not there. It's not as simple as you make it out to be.

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You don't believe me, because you "believe" not to believe me.

You are depressed because you "believe" that you are.

Don't you see the connection?

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Replace "depression" with religion and god....

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So why did I do it? I could offer a million answers, all false.
The truth is that I'm a bad person, but that's going to change.
I'm going to change.

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That's my whole problem with this crap though. I have to sit here and wait for something to inspire me enough to change my thinking completely?

I'd rather take some pills, go to therapy, and feel like I'm making an effort to get better.

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the basic 'tenet' of my new mindset was that i basically framed nearly EVERYTHING in terms of the big rather than the small, which caused a lot of typical social interactions and activities to seem extremely ignorant and predictable

in effect, this gave me a feeling of being 'beyond' the rest, though this wasnt just some narcissistic crap, it was through my own experience and effort, and it was something that i WANTED others to be (rather than just being 'better')

i also framed what happened to me, my feelings, my life situation, etc, in terms of the large scale. instead of being friendless because i was boring (though, no doubt, I could still improve and everyone can), I was friendless because other people were incompatible with a higher level of emotional depth/friendship that i required, and i both disliked and had trouble faking pleasant social interaction unless i really wanted something (which I never particularly did). i was just giving an example though, i did have friends, at one point quite a few, but after awhile i completely burned all my bridges because i got sick of the half assed bullshit

this whole thing also brought a VERY strong level of 'morality' with it and a huge desire to push for change in any way possible, which obviously i had no outlet for, leading eventually to stagnation

in a way, id say i "rose above" my 'life'. no longer did i just look at my life as my own life, i looked at it in terms of a grand scale.

i dont know if this can be planned or what, but i was severely depressed for about for years, so it can be overcome

as i said though, its really not pleasant at all, i wanted to kill myself out of boredom and frustration for about two years on and off (the off being stoicism). i still wouldnt mind being blown off the face of the planet, but i was much more ready and had philosophical reasons instead of emotional ones. there was also a sense of strength, a sense of being in the right and struggling against a force that cannot be overcome as opposed to just being inept

im not sure if youre on the pills still but since what i went through involved a lot of emotions running high id predict that it would probably make this less likely

thats all i can say anyway

Post edited at 11:39 pm on Dec. 1, 2008 by iconoclast

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