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Comment by mabbo | Hacker News Reader

> I believe past trauma is the root cause and I doubt people have depression if they haven't had some type of experience they would classify as trauma.

I had a great childhood. Amazing parents. A good upper middle class life. Good friends. No real trauma to speak of at all.

By 12, if I'd shared with a doctor what was going on in my head they'd have slapped me with the depression label. I wasn't healthy. There was no event or trauma. This shit is genetic- I can tell which relatives on my Mom's side have the demon riding on their shoulders. They, like me, were born with it. I'm sure they can see it on me too.

Trauma can indeed trigger it, but there are a lot of other ways. Don't presume that just because someone suffers from depression that they have been traumatized, nor that someone who hasn't been traumatized can't suffer from depression.

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I got very depressed because I actually had undiagnosed Aspergers.

This caused me to get bullied, have problems in school which then turned into depression later. People with Aspergers are incredibly sensitive and blind to emotions making them easy targets.

The root cause for me was the Aspergers. What tipped me over the edge was not knowing I was different and being put into a school environment not suited for someone with all the sensitivities associated with Aspergers.

Yes bad things happened to me that made be depressed, but there was more going on.

What's the catch once your asperges is diagnosed? What can you do anyways..

What sort of thoughts were in your head at 12? Trauma can be rooted in the subconscious and without one realizing the trauma ever happened.

Exactly. Most people who suffered trauma at an early age cannot identify it without working through it with a therapist.

I think perhaps you wrote "most people" when you meant to write "some people"?

If not, then I'd kindly ask you to provide a citation. Cheers.

I thought this much was obvious; the idea that one can necessarily simply remember trauma was banished very early in the fields of psychology and psychoanalysis. It's a little disappointing to see that people continually underestimate the power of the unconscious.

The idea that people can't remember trauma but that it still affects them, and what we really need to do is to uncover those repressed memories has caused immense harm.

That was my point, but other commenters seemed to be saying that if you can't remember trauma then you must never have been traumatised, which is a false thing to say.

What harm has it caused exactly?

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