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Comment by pavelkaroukin | Hacker News Reader

for me drugs are like monkey patching - really cool way to quickly fix things, but it is addicting and can lead to huge mess in the end. Instead we should build system to make sure long term system operate well.

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I'm going through a very difficult time in my personal life and meds have been a crucial supplement to other forms of therapy. They would be much less impactful if the underlying issues weren't being addressed though.

That case sounds a lot more reasonable. I think there's a widespread viewpoint that antidepressants are curing a simple physical problem (too little chemical X --> take drug to increase production of chemical X, problem solved), when in the vast majority of cases they're pretty blunt tools, that don't precisely solve a problem so much as mask, alter, suppress, or otherwise help manage it. Which doesn't mean they can't be very useful tools to manage various things, especially for finite periods of time or in concert with other approaches.

I agree with you completely, i think the general thought process here to reach the conclusion of 'just go exercise' is based on personal experiences, but if you have ever seen people go through major depression, it is not that easy, even to get them to take the meds for a few weeks because effects are not immediate and initially they make the subject feel weird

I'd probably need it less if I actually did exercise! :/

benvanderbeek, I am really sorry to hear this and trust me I was not speaking about situation like yours.

There is huge trend to consume meds when body mostly healthy, or reason why some health issue was caused by neglecting it.

Your situation totally different - I agree. As a comparison: when I had my appendicitis removed I _had_ to get anesthesia, 'cos otherwise it would be too big pain.

Don't worry, the meds give me a thick skin ;)

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