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More probably in the blog later
Today, it occurs to me that someone who can seriously maintain mind/body dualism such that treatments of the two are in separate moral categories probably has the luck to have not had much experience with mental illness, chronic illness, or disability.
Given, that, y'know, I treat depression mostly with nutritional considerations and by trying to keep an eye on my activity level. And am familiar with the consequences on the psyche of the limitations of my body, though not as much so as some folks reading this.
Also given that my brother was at least at one point on a serotonin-related medication so that he didn't starve to death. Which is not unrelated to why I treat the depression nutritionally.
I will probably rant about this in the blog later, but damnit.
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zeborahnz and green_knight, yes, this is related to the obvious context. I cannot participate more directly in the conversation there and remain within standards of civility that I would prefer to maintain, and unlike this bit of idiocy with the same party I am not required to be engaged directly.)
Given, that, y'know, I treat depression mostly with nutritional considerations and by trying to keep an eye on my activity level. And am familiar with the consequences on the psyche of the limitations of my body, though not as much so as some folks reading this.
Also given that my brother was at least at one point on a serotonin-related medication so that he didn't starve to death. Which is not unrelated to why I treat the depression nutritionally.
I will probably rant about this in the blog later, but damnit.
(
zeborahnz and green_knight, yes, this is related to the obvious context. I cannot participate more directly in the conversation there and remain within standards of civility that I would prefer to maintain, and unlike this bit of idiocy with the same party I am not required to be engaged directly.)
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I have a feeling of having stepped sideways into another universe again. I don't remember this poster as being so belligerent and quarrelsome, or rather, I seem to have blocked those episodes from my mind, because the one you referred to stuck vaguely in my mind (but not who initiated it); and I now remember having said something in relation to the scene discussed in a previous thread that had boiled down to 'this is bland, you need telling detail' which he refuted furiously at the time and now repeated as an insight he gained himself, and I was equally puzzled by his demeanour then.
People are seriously weird sometimes.
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The one direct response I made that had words in it (as opposed to the one composed entirely of punctuation) was the politest thing I came up with to say all thread. This is clearly not good for my soul.
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I've come to a similar conclusion, and I wonder, deep down, how much of their vehemence is denial?
There was a time in the past when I thought similar, only I would not have said 'messing with the brain is evil' (or the nearest thing to it), but I found it decidedly icky.
Fast forward through a number of years as a functioning depressive, where I was doing the necessary but no further, and my world grew smaller and smaller. Then everything collapsed and fell apart at the same time, and being-on-the-edge-with-occasional-justified-panic-attacks turned into fullblown anxiety that stopped me from doing _anything_. I mean, I was frightened of my _mail_, and it looked to mess up my life completely. So I went to the doctor, had another breakdown in her office, and got prescribed a dreaded antidepressant.
And for the first time in months I could think about my problems _without_ dissolving in tears. They were just as bad, and I felt just as strongly, but I remained functional. And that helped me to tackle them and helped me to tackle my mental state, and all that. Having experienced what the right antidepressant does - lifting the brain fog, allowing thoughts to run in all possible channels, not just the 'everybody hates me/can't cope/there's nothing I can _do_' ones, I am now very much in favour.
Incidentally, I had a similar experience with my horse, and I think that's what got me to see a doctor. He was suffering from panic attacks a lot, and I added a herbal calmer - which includes Valerian and I forget what else - to his diet, after much the same sort of debate. And I've become a total fan of that particular mixture, because it did not turn him into a happy zombie at all, it allowed the same range of reactions and emotions. What it *did* achieve, however, was to break the spook/panic cycle, giving him the extra second to *think* about a threat that normal horses have. Instead of breaking out in blind panic everytime he was scared, he started to _process_ that information - and that made most of the world far less scary and gave me a chance to say 'it's only a <whatever>, you're safe, which allowed him to develop coping mechanisms.
He's still a very anxious horse, but I haven't needed to supplement his diet in years, and the patters are now his own; but without that helping hand, it would have taken a lot longer.
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