How does your religion view depression?

[GURSIKH]

hello illy

Sikhis antidote to dipression is chardi kla

Chardi Kala is an important expression used in Sikhism for a mind frame that a Sikh has to accept and practice. It loosely means a “positive, buoyant and optimistic” attitude to life and the future. Always be in "high spirits", "ever progressive", "always cheerful", etc are some other terms used to describe this phrase. It reflects an eternally evergreen & blissful mental state of a Sikh.......

for more

http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php?title=Chardi_kala

 

[1137]

its more nausiating that people take drugs for recreational purposes because their lives are empty and meaningless.

When people take them to cure an ailment, that is the only sensible way to take them.

You have a cure to depression?! What's nauseating is you not sharing it. You're a believer and youre bashing people for needing something to fill the void?

 

[1137]

Well I'm not subscribing to any religion as of now, so I don't have any answers. All I can say is that mental illness is so hard to deal with sometimes religion or non-religious belief in God can add some extra strength.

I've had many kinds of treatments, but my latest medication was causing me to become more suicidal so I came off them and more often than not, I feel better. I still have ups and downs that change, like fine in the morning and down in the afternoon... Which makes me wonder if depression is really what I have.

But anyway I'm glad to see that almost all recognise medical treatment but also religion can sometimes help, it adds to the professional help.

I never liked medication either. Made me sick, suicidal, felt like a zombie (and acted like it too). Meanwhile never took off with seeing a counselor. First I couldn't get past knowing they didn't care past the check at the end, then they blamed my "religion" and said my physical pain was all in my head (actually a disc in my back almost put me in a wheelchair), and finally the point is to get you to help yourself. So I figured hey, why not do that with methods learned from sources I actually respect. Ups and downs will always be there, and when I can't handle it I go to someone. But the earned pride alone is enough to see worth in yourself.

But hey, drugs are easier.

 

[Random]

As a Catholic who has suffered from depression, having contemplated it in some depth along with all of the things related to it, I have come to regard it in the same way as I view doubt.

I've realized that at the core of depression is doubt; self-doubt, doubt in my God, doubting reality, doubt in the love expressed around me and even the love expressed by me.

For someone who does not believe or have faith, I don't know what would cause them to suffer depression. Isn't the point of non-belief to 'live a better life' in the here-and-now? Without the conflict faith and belief in God brings, what have they got to be depressed about? It's not as if anything matters anyway, does it, because you're certainly going to die and that's the absolute end of it. Perhaps un-belief itself might cause it, but if the world is so very unsatisfying and can't make you happy in-and-of itself, then why disbelieve? Maybe they get depressed because they don't believe in an eternal soul, or an afterlife. If so, then why disbelieve?

Faith, Truth, God...doubt. It's all related.

 

[1137]

Focusing on the here and now does not fix chemical imbalance in the brain. I would say doubt is more likely caused by depression rather than the other way around, doubt about your place in the eye of your god when he abandons you to fend for yourself against a chemically imbalances brain he himself gave you.

 

[Penumbra]

I few points, in no particular order.

1) I think the idea that depression is just feelings, is dangerous.
Somewhere on the order of 1 million people in the world commit suicide each year. Studies generally suggest that the majority of those that commit suicide were depressed. Even for those that do not commit suicide, severe depression can be entirely disruptive for one's job, family, overall life, and so forth, and if left untreated it can last years.

2) The idea that depression is in a different category than other medical issues seems entirely unscientific to me.
I don't think the idea that treating the brain and treating any other organ are in totally different classes is an idea that is viable in the 21st century. The brain is the most complex organ we have. Due to increased complexity, there are more things that can go biologically wrong with it than other organs. Various brain chemicals have been evidenced as being causal conditions for experiences like motivation, joy, contentment, so if they're totally disrupted in a brain then telling a person to work through it is no more helpful than telling a person to work through kidney failure.

Saying that there aren't states that may need some sort of medical intervention doesn't really make much sense in a medical context. The implication that the brain is the one area of the human body where biological causes never occur or are always fixable by "hard work" or "right thinking" is kind of looney in my view.

3) Medication can be important but I think it's important to identify the cause.
There are medications and treatments that are provided to patients of depression for the long-term due to evidence of correlation but not causation. In other words, there do exist prescriptions where it's not really understood how they should work or whether they do work. I think as a society it would be ideal to be more intentional with our use of medications.

I feel the same way about other medicines. I don't think the primary way of fixing high cholesterol or high blood pressure should usually be to provide medicine for it, especially on a permanent basis for the remainder of a person's life. Instead, I think the focus should usually be to improve exercise and dietary habits. The idea that so many tens of millions of people in the United States should be on constant medicine for high blood pressure or high cholesterol is strange to me. The focus always tends to be on treating symptoms rather than causes. For many ailments, lifestyle choices are the main cause. But, there are also real medical issues that no amount of hard work or lifestyle choices will fix, that were not caused by lifestyle choices, and they require medication, surgery, or some other treatment.

For depression, I think modern society in many ways imposes a lifestyle on people that is not conducive with their own instincts, so breaking out of it or finding ways to improve it are important. There are repetitive jobs, sedentary jobs, an overflow of stimuli and information, scientifically modified unhealthy food products, a detachment from nature, chemicals in homes and the environment, and other variables. Trying to fix the variables that can contribute to depression is an important thing to do, but it's also important not to rule out biological problems that can happen in the brain just like any other biological system.

 

[1137]

I guess things like cognitive behavioral therapy are a hoax. Forget working at change your perspective and such, just pop a pill. Forget taking care of yourself, hard work doesn't effect the body, all those monks, workout aholoics, psychologists, etc are just lying to you, take this pill.

Lazy society.

 

[1137]

The annoyingly ironic thing is that things like seeing a counselor are nothing but hard work, finding and dealing with problems to change one's perspective. Going from "this depression is obviously reality" to "these feelings are just depression, I can get out of this". But hey, who has the time?

 

[Penumbra]

I guess things like cognitive behavioral therapy are a hoax. Forget working at change your perspective and such, just pop a pill. Forget taking care of yourself, hard work doesn't effect the body, all those monks, workout aholoics, psychologists, etc are just lying to you, take this pill.

Lazy society.

Who is that in reply to?

 

[1137]

Who is that in reply to?

Everyone, it seems.

 

[Penumbra]

Everyone, it seems.

Why is that?

 

[1137]

Why is that?

My guess? Because it is ingrained in our society that you cannot, ever, stand on your own.

 

[Penumbra]

My guess? Because it is ingrained in our society that you cannot, ever, stand on your own.

Would you tell a person with a failing kidney to stand on his or her own?

 

[1137]

Would you tell a person with a failing kidney to stand on his or her own?

Oh In some ways, yes, just like I said if you're failing to manage your depression seek help. I assume you'd think that after, say a back surgery, a patient should take pain pills forever than learn to cope with the pain?

 

[Penumbra]

Oh In some ways, yes, just like I said if you're failing to manage your depression seek help.

I'm just trying to clarify whether you think there's something magical about the brain that it can always be fixed without medical steps.

It's a common view in culture that problems with the body are mostly physical and should be addressed with physical things. To believe that, say, a failing kidney can be resolved with positive thinking is usually relegated to the fringe of radical new age beliefs.

But at the same time, it's socially acceptable to say that failings of the brain, despite the fact that it's the most biologically complex part of the body, can basically be addressed by positive thinking and other non-medical steps. It seems odd to those people that a biological problem in the brain could cause mental turmoil and be resistant to healing through non-medical means, as though the brain is somehow immune to biological failings or fundamentally different than any other imperfect biological system.

I assume you'd think that after, say a back surgery, a patient should take pain pills forever than learn to cope with the pain?

Why would the back surgery be necessary? Can't they just cope with the back ailment themselves?

 

[dgirl1986]

First of all, obviously, someone depressed needs professional help...

So I'm hoping there's going to be people of various faiths that will discuss how each religion views this illness, how do they deal with it and what does it advice the followers to do?

When I was a christian the solution was pretty much to hand it over to god and pray about it. I got progressively worse.

From what I understand pagans are strong believers in self help as well as professional help where the situation calls for it, as well as spiritually assisting yourself. Basically, practical then magical.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Feelings associated with depression is not an idea. It's fact. It is just feelings. The dangerous part is convincing someone that depression is abnormal creating false expectations leading to further disappointment. The way out of depression is realizing what one feels is commonplace with varying degrees of intensity that in facing directly can be addressed with guidance on living with the sensations. It's a matter on wither one chooses to dwell on their expectations or learning to traverse thru and continue. Medicine helps but it's a band aid until one realises what is being experienced is not abnormal.

 

[dgirl1986]

Feelings associated with depression is not an idea. It's fact. It is just feelings. The dangerous part is convincing someone that depression is abnormal creating false expectations leading to further disappointment. The way out of depression is realizing what one feels is commonplace with varying degrees of intensity that in facing directly can be addressed with guidance on living with the sensations. It's a matter on wither one chooses to dwell on their expectations or learning to traverse thru and continue. Medicine helps but it's a band aid until one realises what is being experienced is not abnormal.

There are different types of depression and depression can be a part of a mental health issue or disorder such as bipolar or something like that. Treatment is different for everyone. Some require counselling and some require medication. Some require both.

 

[1137]

Feelings associated with depression is not an idea. It's fact. It is just feelings. The dangerous part is convincing someone that depression is abnormal creating false expectations leading to further disappointment. The way out of depression is realizing what one feels is commonplace with varying degrees of intensity that in facing directly can be addressed with guidance on living with the sensations. It's a matter on wither one chooses to dwell on their expectations or learning to traverse thru and continue. Medicine helps but it's a band aid until one realises what is being experienced is not abnormal.

Obviously you're some uneducated, pseudo-scientific, new age hipster!

 

[Penumbra]

If people have things like Down Syndrome, Alzheimer's Disease, and Schizophrenia, it's rarely proposed that, through right thinking, they can fix those biological problems.

Yet, people propose that depression is always fixable regardless of whatever biological situation the brain may be in.

The way I'd propose it is that, right now, Windows 7 is running on my computer. There are software problems that it may run into, and it can likely recover from most of them. There are some hardware problems that it can recover from too. But if I open up my PC and scramble some of the connections on the motherboard, or physically remove part of the processor, Windows 7 isn't going to run, regardless of how well programmed it is.

In my view, to suggest that depression can be overcome regardless of the biological state of the brain is like suggesting that Windows 7 should be able to run well regardless of the damage inflicted on the computer.