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Comment by GuiA | Hacker News Reader

I'm clinically depressed, and have been for pretty much all of my adult life. It's much stronger at some times than others. A recent "peak" is when I had a panic attack in downtown San Francisco at a concert last Friday night that lasted 2 hours or so and rendered me unable to function in a room full of people and loud noises. It was awful.

I've heard arguments similar to yours many times. I've tried mid-20th century French philosophy, and do appreciate it. But it doesn't help.

Depression manifests itself differently in different people. There isn't a "correct" form of depression. Telling people that "you're not depressed, you're X, do Y and all will be OK" doesn't help at all.

You probably mean well, but making those sort of comments do everything but what you think they do.

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> Depression manifests itself differently in different people.

Sure, but just because someone says they are depressed doesn't make them so. And that belittles people who really are depressed as opposed to those simply bored with life.

None of this is to say that depression is the same for everyone. I have 2 children with Autism, and I myself have been recently diagnosed with 2 conditions. It's scary, but it makes me appreciate the danger in abusing terms like depression.

This is all a way of saying that I hope everyone posting here saying they are depressed or that deal with depression seek help. There is no reason not to get help. Yes, it's scary. Sometimes you'll go in to find out what's wrong, and guess what? You learn you have something else to contend with as well! But at least you know, and awareness is important.

I absolutely agree with your last paragraph: seek help.

However, I find "just because someone says they are depressed doesn't make them so. And that belittles people who really are depressed" a dangerous attitude with regards to that.

When I was younger I was quite seriously depressed but I didn't seek help for ages because I'd heard people say "oh, depression isn't just feeling sad, you shouldn't use the word depression lightly". I thought maybe I was just being stupid and lazy because I probably wasn't a special enough flower to have this mystical thing. I should really have looked for help a lot sooner.

So, if you're having problems, don't worry about what they are or aren't called or what other people say - look for any help you can find.

I disagree. By allowing people to use the word depression to mean "sad" or "upset" or "pissed" or "bored," or whatever word they replace it with, we are doing those with depression more harm.

If someone says they are depressed, we should tell them they need to get diagnosed. Treating it less than it is, I think, does more harm.

> I should really have looked for help a lot sooner.

But you didn't, precisely because people use the word far too lightly far too often.

Who are you to second-guess what any particular person means when they use the word, "depressed?" Just curious.

I do not intend to downplay the anxiety and the emotional pain of the experience either you or the the OP had. I empathise completely. I myself have gone and continue to go through such "crises" regularly. I feel just as much.

My point was: it's ironic that the author talks about the lack of interest in the aesthetic of "life" and the general disinterest in the veritable cornucopia of little toy horse plays around us when he/she did EXACTLY that by writing a lovely, beautiful and well-crafted blog. (I am not being sarcastic.)

Doesn't anyone see the beauty and irony in that? Does clinical depression create such works of art? If so, we should celebrate it as a gift!

The author of the blog went silent for the past two years because of the depression, and now she got back to drawing because she feels (at least temporarily) better.

You seem earnest, so I am going to try not to be frustrated, but depression is not a gift that results in creative genius. People who manage to struggle through it and create art are doing it despite their disease and not because of it. The romanticism that is attached to the suffering artist is incredibly frustrating and, I think, dangerous. It leads people to believe that it is okay or worthwhile or noble to let this illness rule over you. We don't celebrate cancer or dementia or schizophrenia as "gifts". Sometimes people suffering from those illnesses are able to create beautiful works, but we don't romanticize their diseases because of it. Why would/should we do that with depression?

I agree with you, but just as a counterpoint, Dostoevsky valued his seizures because of the insight filled "halo" state that he would enter into before they came.

I agree with almost everything you said, except for this:

> People who manage to struggle through it and create art are doing it despite their disease and not because of it.

While depression can hurt creativity––bi-polar disorder and schizophrenia can actually help it[1].

The discussion has mainly been around depression, but I think the "suffering artist" label can apply to a range of disorders.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creativity_and_mental_illness

Did you read her backlog? You know, before she was clinically depressed?

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