Slave2daGroove said:

I've experienced others with depression and manic depression and/or bi-polar and I know that there are qualified people to deal with this, I'm not one of them. Just like I'm not qualified to take your spleen out or to cut someones hair. These also require someone who has an education and experience in the field.

Sometimes though, Chris, all we need is someone who cares to talk to, to listen.

In the US

No matter what problems you are dealing with, we want to help you find a reason to keep living. By calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255) you’ll be connected to a skilled, trained counselor at a crisis center in your area, anytime 24/7.

[url]http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/[\j\url]

SuperSoulFighter said:

PurpleJedi is from Honduras, right? An his grandmother lived to be in her 90s, right? Seems like he knows a thing or two... I've been travelling a bit and recently visited an ayahuasca centre in Peru. There were people from all over the world trying to find answers to personal issues and I noticed that no matter how rich we are in the US/Europe, there's still a lot of people who are unhappy with their lives and money don't make up for it. In his book "Cactus of Mystery", author/shaman Ross Heaven, who's had a lot of contact with Peruvian shamans, writes this: "The participants who join me for my ceremony in Europe or who arrive from other western countries to attend my healing trips in in Peru seem sick at the level of the soul." There is even a word for it in Spanish: susto: soul-loss. And since modern philosophy even goes so far as to deny the soul even exists and modern medicine (even though it does a lot of good) sees the human body and mind as a machine that needs to be repaired, we're not going to retrieve our soul there. I have participated in some shamanic ceremonies myself and noticed what's going on: susto.I'm not saying that the shamans/curanderos from South America have the answers to all the questions, but I am sure the plant medicines like the ayahuasca and the San Pedro can help a lot of people who are dealing with mental issues. I've seen it happen. [b][Edited 8/12/14 18:00pm]

JoeTyler said:

PurpleJedi said:

XxAxX said:

imo happiness can't necessarily be defined as 'the lack of things' which life in a wealthy country like america provides us. it's more an internally generated mind state thingy, dependent on numerous external factors

I wasn't necessarily referring to "things" as in material things, but rather conveniences afforded to us by life in a First World society.

i meant the same thing.

PurpleJedi said:

JoeTyler said:

What does that represent exactly???

most people of the so-called third wold stop at the yellow branch, perhaps with a couple of elements of the green branch; in the the so-called countries of the first world, people get obsessed with the green/purple branches, and take the rest for granted; when the blue/green branches don't work, AND the yellow/orange/red fails, the results are devastating (depression, suicide, etc)

that's what I was told, anyway...

JoeTyler said:

PurpleJedi said:

What does that represent exactly???

most people of the so-called third wold stop at the yellow branch, perhaps with a couple of elements of the green branch; in the the so-called countries of the first world, people get obsessed with the green/purple branches, and take the rest for granted; when the blue/green branches don't work, AND the yellow/orange/red fails, the results are devastating (depression, suicide, etc)

that's what I was told, anyway...

Makes sense.

Totally.

PurpleJedi said:

ZombieKitten said:

JoeTyler said:

depression is as deadlier as cancer if not properly treated

there are dozens of causes for depression; some ignorant-despicable people will keep mocking depressive persons, saying that they're "weak" or that "they worry too much", but it's by far more complicated than that:

(wikipedia)

Life events

Life events and changes that may precipitate depressed mood include childbirth, menopause, financial difficulties, job problems, a medical diagnosis (cancer, HIV, etc.), bullying, loss of a loved one, natural disasters, social isolation, relationship troubles, jealousy, separation, and catastrophic injury.^[3][4]

Traumatizing events that took place in childhood can cause depression. Although childhood trauma and particularly child sex abuse is not always a factor of adulthood depression, it may create psychological pathways that can lead to depression. Research has been done in this field to demonstrate the chemical involvements explaining this phenomenon^[5][6]

Unequal parental treatment is also a risk factor.^[7]

Medical treatments

Certain medications are known to cause depressed mood in a significant number of patients. These include interferon therapy for hepatitis C.^[8]

Non-psychiatric illnesses

Main article: Depression (differential diagnoses)

Depressed mood can be the result of a number of infectious diseases, neurological conditions ^[9] and physiological problems including hypoandrogenism (in men), Addison's disease, Lyme disease, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, stroke,^[10] diabetes,^[11] cancer,^[12] sleep apnea, and disturbed circadian rhythm. It is often one of the early symptoms of hypothyroidism (reduced activity of the thyroid gland).

Psychiatric syndromes[edit]

Main article: Depressive mood disorders

A number of psychiatric syndromes feature depressed mood as a main symptom. The mood disorders are a group of disorders considered to be primary disturbances of mood. These include major depressive disorder (MDD; commonly called major depression or clinical depression) where a person has at least two weeks of depressed mood or a loss of interest or pleasure in nearly all activities; and dysthymia, a state of chronic depressed mood, the symptoms of which do not meet the severity of a major depressive episode. Another mood disorder, bipolar disorder, features one or more episodes of abnormally elevated mood, cognition and energy levels, but may also involve one or more depressive episodes.^[13] When the course of depressive episodes follows a seasonal pattern, the disorder (major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, etc.) may be described as a seasonal affective disorder.

Outside the mood disorders: borderline personality disorder commonly features depressed mood; adjustment disorder with depressed mood is a mood disturbance appearing as a psychological response to an identifiable event or stressor, in which the resulting emotional or behavioral symptoms are significant but do not meet the criteria for a major depressive episode;^[14]:355 and posttraumatic stress disorder, an anxiety disorder that sometimes follows trauma, is commonly accompanied by depressed mood.^[15]

Drug use

Depression is associated with abusive drug use.^[16]

Add to those, diet and deficiencies Vitamin D for example

And hormone imbalances. They mention hypoandrogenism (for men) - but not menopause for women.

jon1967 said:

The man had it all I just dont get it. Im numb inside for real I dont know why im so bothered by this.

Apperently he didn't. At least, that's how he saw it.

We can never look in somebody's mind, see how somebody else sees the world.

You can have nothing and be totally happy, you can have it all and feel miserable.

we live in a society that breeds mental illnesses

its very job is to make its citizens feel unda pressure.

terrorist threats from people it has terroized

finacial threats from those who control high finance

books on 'how to raise your kid right'

and with the increase of those books,

so come the increases in developemental prollums,

mental issues, and muerderous actions.

in the mean time. people have to live in fear of

the po leece. and that has very little to do with

education or life choices of those gettin killed.

i'm the most depressed person i know, and not nearly

as depressed as those around me who have more than

most and no gratitude for havin it.

y'all can't seem to wrap your heads around where the prollum is

and for that i feel sorry for you...

Mind all that Matter.

One of the best topics I've read in a long time, though sad too. R.I.P. to Robin as well

[Edited 8/13/14 22:34pm]

Stymie said:

Slave2daGroove said:

I've experienced others with depression and manic depression and/or bi-polar and I know that there are qualified people to deal with this, I'm not one of them. Just like I'm not qualified to take your spleen out or to cut someones hair. These also require someone who has an education and experience in the field.

Sometimes though, Chris, all we need is someone who cares to talk to, to listen.

Please don't get me wrong, I'm there for anyone who needs to talk. I've almost felt as though I'm one of the few because of the amount of people who open up to me.

What I'm talking about is at another level, talking is not going to help, extreme medication and a professional is the only answer. I've had close friends, people's mom and other people I've known that I would have talked to for days straight if it would have helped but there was something way beyond talking going on there. While no fault of their own, it feels like abuse to the person who is trying to help year after year.

Manic depression or Bi-polar disorder are about the scariest things I've ever had to deal with in my life. Mainly because I can't help, I can't do anything to make it go away for these friends/loved ones. From years of drug "experments" ("that didn't work, let's try this"), to electro shock to just putting them in a room so they wouldn't hurt themselves or anyone else, I've been through it.

Esquire September 2014 volume 162 no. 2

On "Bro' the Use and abuse of a Loaded Word

by Stephen Marche

p 108

...

It should come as no surprise, then, that the culture that has given rise to the word bro is a culture in which male friendship is in crisis. American men are more likely not only to be lonely but also to deny their loneliness. For twenty-five years, Niobe Way, professor of applied psychology at New York University and the author of 2011's Deep Secrets: Boys' Friendship and the Crisis of Connection, has peered into the the chasm under boys and young men and found that emptiness to be at the heart of what we call the "boys crisis."

"We have all these boys, with so much to give, so much love, so much for them to offer the world." she says. For Way, the transition from boyhood into manhood is a transition into isolation. Becoming a man means leaving behind your family and your friends and striking out on your own, and therefore growing up means shedding connections. Way's research shows that the male suicide rate correlates precisely with the loss of friendships. At age nine, the suicide rates are the same for girls and boys. Between ten and fourteen, they are four times as likely. From twenty to twenty-four, four times.

...

And this isolation isn't just a historical anomaly; it also runs counter to male biology. Men, every bit as women, are social creatures who live in a permanent state of interdepndence and who require connection for basic happiness. "Men come into the world with this empathic, relational need, and they get treated as if they don't have it," Way says. Disconnection has costs. In periods of vulnerability, the male suicide rates spikes. During recession, the suicide rate for men grew at four times the rate for women. Divorced men kill themselves nearly 2.5 times as often as married men. (There's no difference in the rates between divorced and married women.) Men over eighty--five kill themselves thirteen times as often as women.

...

jon1967 said:

The man had it all I just dont get it. Im numb inside for real I dont know why im so bothered by this.

Truthfully I think "having it all" makes the illness worse. I don't have anything so I can at least hope that if things get better maybe I will feel better. When you have it all then what is your hope? Comedians notoriously have mental health issues which leads to substance abuse issues in many cases.

The shocker for me was L'Wren Scott, dress designer, former model, and girlfriend to Mick Jagger. There wasn't anyplace she couldn't go, anyone she couldn't meet. There was no hint that she was even down as far as I know. Williams family knew he was struggling with this internal illness.

I have been quite impressed with how the world and his family is handling it. They don't talk of him going to hell or being a coward or anything like that. People seem to finally see deep depression as a very serious condition and stop telling people, "just get over it and move on with your life". A bunch of cliches only makes the hollow feelings more intense.

Deadflow3r said:

jon1967 said:

The man had it all I just dont get it. Im numb inside for real I dont know why im so bothered by this.

Truthfully I think "having it all" makes the illness worse. I don't have anything so I can at least hope that if things get better maybe I will feel better. When you have it all then what is your hope? Comedians notoriously have mental health issues which leads to substance abuse issues in many cases.

The shocker for me was L'Wren Scott, dress designer, former model, and girlfriend to Mick Jagger. There wasn't anyplace she couldn't go, anyone she couldn't meet. There was no hint that she was even down as far as I know. Williams family knew he was struggling with this internal illness.

I have been quite impressed with how the world and his family is handling it. They don't talk of him going to hell or being a coward or anything like that. People seem to finally see deep depression as a very serious condition and stop telling people, "just get over it and move on with your life". A bunch of cliches only makes the hollow feelings more intense.

I've seen more positivity than negativity too this time around with an understanding of mental health.

alphastreet said:

nextedition said:

jon1967 said:

The man had it all I just dont get it. Im numb inside for real I dont know why im so bothered by this.

Apperently he didn't. At least, that's how he saw it.

We can never look in somebody's mind, see how somebody else sees the world.

You can have nothing and be totally happy, you can have it all and feel miserable.

If you haven't got inner peace, you've got nothing.

ConsciousContact said:

BobGeorge909 said:

ConsciousContact said:

If you haven't got inner peace, you've got nothing.

Well that's not true. I still have many strange and difficult issues I deal with and don't believe I've achieved inner peace. But I am CERTAIN I have more than nothing and despite my difficulties, enjoy my life very much. [Edited 8/20/14 11:46am]

Yeah, my statement was a bit absolutist. What I mean is that in terms of Robin Williams who is deemed a "success" and "had it all", none of it amounts to anything if he didn't have any peace. All that other stuff, family, career, respect of others is meaningless when you don't feel at peace with yourself.

ConsciousContact said:

What gets me through this lifetime is the belief that what I learn in this one I won't have to learn again in the next one. It is a learning process and If I have to stay in this school called Earth until I am 100 (yuck) as long as I don't have to do it all over again, I am willing to do my time.