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Comment by imperio59 | Hacker News Reader

We used to offer support and accept that sadness and sorrow were a part of life and that sometimes people needed to grieve, or people went through rough patches, and eventually got themselves out of it with the help of others.

Now we say sadness and depression are diseases that must be medicated with drugs whose side effects (WRITTEN ON THE LABEL) include suicidal ideation and depression, and we wonder why the suicide rates are up?

The worst thing this country did was vote to allow pharmaceutical companies to advertise drugs on TV and in other media. Once that pandora's box was open, there was no going back. It's sad that we're only now waking up to the fact that things like the opioid crisis were actually fueled and manufactured by pharmaceutical companies to increase their profit margins... :/

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Ugh.

Depression is different from sadness. If your father died/girlfriend left you/job laid you off, you should be sad about events like those, and frankly, it would be concerning if you weren't.

The patients who are candidates for ECT aren't just upset. Some are actively trying to kill themselves. Others have such lassitude that they can't work up the energy[0] to eat, drink, or bathe, let alone live a normal life.

I take your point that the US tends to 'medicalize' conditions, and we might be better off with fewer drugs and a more caring society, but these patients aren't going to be helped by a box of tissues and a soft shoulder to cry on. It is an illness

[0] The suicide bit is not as contradictory as it sounds. Depression is associated with very decreased activity levels. Some depressed people make plans to self-harm, but lack the energy to actually go through with it. As they recover, the energy often comes back first, so they get into a regime where they are still considering self-harm but have also recovered enough to actually go through with it. As an analogy, think about the 'danger zone' in food preparation. Frozen or cooked food is relatively safe from bacteria, but during thawing, food is warm enough for bacteria to thrive, but not hot enough to eliminate them.

Clinical depression is real, and not "sadness and sorrow". I know first-hand. Medication has drastically improved my physical health, and my mental health improved soon after, as I was no longer bedridden after 5+ years. Antidepressants are definitely overprescribed though, and the "low serotonin" marketing was debunked before the first antidepressant even hit the market.

The pharmaceutical companies wanted to make money. The US politicians are pushovers when receiving donations for favours. Social conditioning is a real thing and commercials sadly work.

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