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From: James Taylor on 24 Jan 2010 14:19 Peter Ceresole wrote: > I worked with a (molecular) scientist, who I greatly admired (and whose > name has simply disappeared from my memory) who suffered from depression > and wrote a fascinating, very dry book about it. Do you mean Professor Lewis Wolpert: <http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0571207278> > The point about real depression is that it's not caused by something > external. It's chemical change in your own brain, causing a direct > effect, not mediated by some external event or the failure of some other > part of your body. I agree that it is chemical changes or similar going on in the brain, and not something you should be trying to blame on a virus or similar external pathogen. However, I also believe that external stresses such as prolonged frustration, isolation, guilt, grief, etc, can have a big role in precipitating the onset of those chemical changes. A complete change of scene away from those stresses can work wonders. -- James Taylor
From: Rod on 24 Jan 2010 15:01 On 24/01/2010 18:58, Peter Ceresole wrote: > James Taylor<usenet(a)oakseed.demon.co.uk.invalid> wrote: > >> I've been through a few periods of severe depression myself, and it's a >> kind of torment I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. > > I worked with a (molecular) scientist, who I greatly admired (and whose > name has simply disappeared from my memory) who suffered from depression > and wrote a fascinating, very dry book about it. In it he says that it > was by far the worst experience of his life, and admitted that it was > actually worse for him than his wife dying of cancer. > > He got himself out of it with a course of cognitive therapy. > > The point about real depression is that it's not caused by something > external. It's chemical change in your own brain, causing a direct > effect, not mediated by some external event or tha failure of some other > part of your body. Absolutely horrid. O but it *can* be caused by the failure of another part of your body. Your thyroid. Many thyroid sufferers have long histories of being unsuccessfully treated with tricyclic, SSRI or other anti-depressants with the depression only really lifting once their thyroid issues are addressed. (Some only get tested for thyroid when they are prescribed lithium medications which themselves cause thyroid issues and need to be monitored.) The mental issues of thyroid can also be mistaken for Alzheimer's or other dementias. And I do so agree, all depression is absolutely horrid for both the sufferer and the people around them. -- Rod
From: Bella Jones on 24 Jan 2010 15:21 James Taylor <usenet(a)oakseed.demon.co.uk.invalid> wrote: > Peter Ceresole wrote: > > > I worked with a (molecular) scientist, who I greatly admired (and whose > > name has simply disappeared from my memory) who suffered from depression > > and wrote a fascinating, very dry book about it. > > Do you mean Professor Lewis Wolpert: > <http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0571207278> > > > The point about real depression is that it's not caused by something > > external. It's chemical change in your own brain, causing a direct > > effect, not mediated by some external event or the failure of some other > > part of your body. > > I agree that it is chemical changes or similar going on in the brain, > and not something you should be trying to blame on a virus or similar > external pathogen. However, I also believe that external stresses such > as prolonged frustration, isolation, guilt, grief, etc, can have a big > role in precipitating the onset of those chemical changes. A complete > change of scene away from those stresses can work wonders. Totally agree. Externals can make you very vulnerable. As Wolpert himself points out in that book, humiliation (in the public sense) is a major trigger for depression, such as failing marriage, business, etc, in the eyes of others; something you have little or no control over. -- bellajonez at yahoo dot co dot uk
From: Peter Ceresole on 24 Jan 2010 15:49 James Taylor <usenet(a)oakseed.demon.co.uk.invalid> wrote: > > I worked with a (molecular) scientist, who I greatly admired (and whose > > name has simply disappeared from my memory) who suffered from depression > > and wrote a fascinating, very dry book about it. > > Do you mean Professor Lewis Wolpert Yes. A perfectly splendid man, who presented 'Antenna' when I worked on it. -- Peter
From: James Taylor on 24 Jan 2010 16:22
Bella Jones wrote: > Totally agree. Externals can make you very vulnerable. As Wolpert > himself points out in that book, humiliation (in the public sense) is a > major trigger for depression, such as failing marriage, business, etc, > in the eyes of others; something you have little or no control over. Fascinating. I hadn't thought of humiliation as one of the external stresses, but now you mention it, it's obviously one of the big ones. -- James Taylor |