Can you TRULY understand depression, if you've NEVER suffered from it?

Question

i hate/detest these politicians, people in the media etc that say its just laziness....so that means a manic depressive like myself (for 21 years!!) has just been lazy....i think not, i have a happy married family, 4 kids & cope pretty well, but what are your thoughts on my question

Answer 1

Probably not - just like anything. Can people TRULY understand what an asthmatic goes through if they themselves don't have asthma?

Answer 2

I think that the term "depression"is said far too frequently, ive lost count of how many colleagues have gone off sick with depression like its some kind of joke.

When you have experienced it, you realise how truly draining and horrific it is and never use the term loosely again. Having suffered serious depression with suicidal thoughts, i lived in terror of it returning for years after. Now i recognise the difference between a bad week and this terrible illness.

When people say you should look on the bright side, snap out of it, think of all the good things you have, they have no idea that this is impossible for someone in the throws of depression.

I can only imagine how life altering manic depression is, and would never even try to say i understand, only that i can truly empathise with the lows.

Well done for learning how to cope with your illness and raising a happy family within a loving marriage.

Answer 3

I think what goes through people's heads when they're depressed is slightly different from person to person, but you can get a pretty good understanding if you have a friend/relative with depression and know them very well or live with them. I agree that there needs to be a major overhaul in the way society (and politicians and the media) treat mental health conditions, people just don't understand it and if the depression stops someone from doing things (e.g. my mum usually can't drive when she's depressed as she loses all confidence and concentration) people just think it's laziness as they can't understand how a mental condition can stop you from performing certain tasks. Once you know abit about the symptoms you come to understand how this could be the case but most people never bother to educate themselves about mental health conditions and ignorance causes people to be offensive sometimes.

Answer 4

Yes, I've suffered thru depression, as well as suicide, etc. And it made me change my mind a lot. I used to take medications, now I no longer agree with using drugs to treat depression. I believe the mind is a strong thing, that depression CAN be changed on your own. I still have my bad days where I will cry, but it's all about control over the mind. Anyone who says depression can't be cured has not really tried. Good luck to u!

Answer 5

Of course. Those that have empathy can understand. Im in social work and I'm also bipolar (or manic depressive) and though Ive have the illness, I can still understand other illnesses. Educating oneself about any particular topic will help bring more understanding, instead of ignorance.

You have an illness, it has nothing to do with laziness. You can't help the genetics you were born with and you can't change your brain to make it NOT bipolar. You are who you are and are doing the best you can with the cards Life has dealt you:) I'm happy to hear you are doing well. I am too. Im in grad school, working full time and have never been more at peace or happier. I was asked to be a guest on Oprah. She is doing a show on bipolar, it is airing Mon, Sept 24th. Check it out. All of us consumers she invited are in the 1st two rows.

Answer 6

i agree, i don't think anyone can understand depression (or any other mental illness) until they know what it's like.
i've never suffered from depression, but i really hate people who say they are when they're obviously not. people with depression aren't lazy at all - it's the ones who claim to have it but don't are the lazy ones.
it really grates on me when the non-sufferers say they had a bad day then whine about being depressed, but come on though everyone has bad days, no need to over-dramatic about it.
sometimes i feel really down, but i never complain about it. i never say i'm depressed coz i've never had depression so i can't really say anything about it.

Answer 7

Unfortunatly, unless you have suffered from depression, most people blow it off like "get over it" your fine, you bring it on yourself.

They don't realize, how difficult it is to go on each day, and not want to live, or you don't care about anything. The more they put you down about it, the worse it gets.

I am bi-polar, take zolft everyday. It wasn't until my boyfriend had a run of depression about a year ago, that he finally understood just a small portion of the pain. He now supports me in it.


Stay strong

Answer 8

YES, i think it is possible to empathise with somebody if you have had enough experience of others with it. equally, your experience of depression will be totally different to sombeody elses experience so that does not automatically mean you can empathise with somebody else with the same diagnosis.

i've never heard any politicians refer to depresion as laziness. i think you may be misinterpretting some of the current guidance on depression and the encouragement to address it using self help techniques.

if we all had the same opinion as you, all our cardiologists would have to have had heart attacks before being allowed contact with their patients.

Answer 9

Experiencing depression, and SUFFERING from it -- are two different things. You can experience being depressed, having depression and not SUFFER from it. The SUFFERING part is the drama of it that an individual has control over. Now, having said that, someone says they've never been depressed, never experienced depression in their life, probably is either lying, they're in denial or else they haven't trained themselves to distinguish the subtleties of their emotional self-expression. It's like someone saying they've never been sick.

Answer 10

i read on a book from the shop of a monastery..that this depression is actually a spirit of demon....and is affecting us because the people give up the faith in God...and we see the people who are against God..and behave against His reason and feelings and get depressed..so we have to keep God in our heart..and love Him, love the other..and maybe we will get rid of it...imagine that a man who never loved but did sex..doesn't feel the need of love but feels the need of sex..why would we be depressed because of him...we try to help him..if he refuses..i am not going to join him to hell..so i better be happy with the rest of people...imagine that God is not depressed because some prefered to go to hell...even if He cried when He flooded the world..so we better pray.....well is possible that some have never been depressed until the age of 20...but after this...the drama around us..can put you down...if you don't pray to God...and i think if you do good things and help the other ..God can send you joy...

Answer 11

People feel empathy for those will illnesses that can be cured -and the one ones that are even partially understood. 'Depression' is too often thought of in terms of 'snap out of it'.
I guess the problem is that too many people say, 'I'm depressed' when they really mean 'I'm a bit pissed off today' - we know that feeling and ,yes, you will 'snap out of it'. Like alcoholism, true depression can only be understood by those who experiece it . Just like you can't say to a cancer patient - you'll be better tomorrow so you can't say to a depressed patient you perk up tomorrow.