Comment by brigadier132 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by brigadier132 | Hacker News Reader

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> It's no different than asking someone depressed to just "think happy thoughts" and expect them to magically will their condition away

This literally helped me with my depression. Like most depressed people I surrounded myself with depressing things. I would read existentialist books and listen to emo music. Stopping that helped a lot unsurprisingly.

For some reason you think people with a disease have no agency or ability to cure themselves? Since when has this been the case?

If you imagine yourself to have no agency, you will always be a victim and always have different "diseases" that are uncurable.

There are some diseases that can be cured by effort on the sick persons part. There are some that can't be.

A heroin addiction is very different from a reddit addiction.

While the analogy they offered may not be a good fit, I agree with the sentiment. My takeaway was not that addicts have zero agency or ability to help themselves, but that it's unethical to rely on this as the sole mechanism for minimising harm.

You likely had situational not clinical depression.

No I had clinical depression but thanks for the diagnosis since my experience does not align with your preconceived notions of how the world works.

“Likely” is not a diagnosis. And no meds either, just thinking good thoughts was all you needed?

I don't know where you read the word "likely"

I took bupropion then prozac, saw real therapists, went to a psychiatrist. Yes, the thing that ultimately led to me stop taking those drugs was changing my mindset and belief system. I stopped exposing myself that made me sad or angry and put me deeper into the hole. I would even watch shows that I knew made me laugh when I started to feel sad.

Please re-read my original post where I allegedly committed the crime (according to you) that I made a diagnosis. I used the word “likely”.

>For some reason you think people with a disease have no agency or ability to cure themselves?

Some can (for some diseases).

The overwhelming majority can't.

>Since when has this been the case?

Since doctor became an occupation.

That's to say, for the entirety of known history.

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