You are not your aderol.

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by jimmytrick
I have no idea if depression is classified as a mental illness or not but it can be devestating.

Yes, depression is a type of mental illness, infact there are a number of variants. Psychotic depression is accompanied by delusions such as the belief that one has committed a horrible crime or that one is defective. The lady who killed her children awhile back probably suffered from psychotic depression. There is major depression in which the patient is severely depressed enough to render them unable to function or nearly unable to function. As an example, a person with major depression might be unable to get out of bed. People with bipolar disorder exhibit cyclic activity. They may swing from depression to normality or even to mania or hypomania over periods of weeks. There is situational depression, which is a state of resembling depression that is triggered by some significant stressor, such as a death in the family or loss of a job, etc. Note that all the other conditions may occur in the absence of an identifyable precipitating event. Finally there is the cyclothymic or depressive personality. This is the type of person who is a perpetual pessimist.

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by Taz
Me neither - which os why I asked. Is it possible that the others don't know what it is either which is why they are engaged in such heated debate. Thank you.

You didn't read my post did you? Adderal is a stimulant used in the treatment of ADHD. It is a long acting form of methamphetamine. Please go back and read all my posts placed in the past month.




It will make me feel better.

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by Sagacious Dolphin
I was thinking more of being in a permanently high state. Or someone who does not ever feel depressed.

It depends, does this person merely have a sense of well being, or does he/she act like he's on speed? In the manic state the patient exhibits thoughts that are frankly out of touch with reality. He has delusions of grandeur. Folks who think they're Napoleon are more likely to be manic than shizophrenic. He makes grandious plans, spends money he doesn't have, etc. Behaviorally the manic patient exhibits "pressured speech" and psychomotor agitation in addition to delusions. In terms of affect the person in the manic state may be elated and affable, but as reality begins to get in the way of his grandious plans he may become irritable or even violent. In its most extreme forms it may be difficult to distinguish Mania from Schizophrenia. Relatively few bipolar patients exhibit true mania. Many exhibit a less dramatic state called "hypomania". The patient who is hypomanic doesn't have delusions but may exhibit the pressured speech, agitation, poor judgement, elation, and/or irritability.

People with "hyperactivity" primarily have an inability to concentrate and/or stay focused on a task for an appropriate period of time. They become hyperactive when they loose focus and have nothing else to do. They don't necessarily feel "high".

There are some people who seem to always be in a good mood and never let anything get them down. Some of them are rich, some of them are just plain lucky, and some of them are blessed with an outlook on life that just doesn't register the clouds blocking the sun. Can just anybody reach the later state? Beats me. If you have the genes for depression I'd bet that you can't, at least not on a permanent basis.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Originally posted by Kaak
kepler, like i said, i acknoledge the fact that some people need medication. However, I think far more use it, and become dependant on it than actually needed it in the first place...

I swear that Kaak's back-pedalling so fast that I heard a sonic boom.

[chequita guevara]

Zoloft, Wellbutrin, Paxil, etc. are not addictive. They are non-habit forming. It takes about a week to two weeks for them to start having any effect, and about a month to have the full effect. You can't simply pop one and bliss out, you ignorant twit.

There are far quicker ways to flood your brain wih seratonin and dopamine, but they also exhaust your brain's supplies. They're called illegal drugs (especially cocain and ecstacy). The drugs I mentioned in the first paragraph do not work that way (unless you take the wrong combination of them, and then they actually can--but your doctor should be smart enough not to proscribe Wellbutrin and Zoloft at the same time). The previously mentioned drugs are very mild, the equivalent of non-alcoholic beer in terms of strength.

[Kaak]

okay...around 4% of the population experience depression of some sort. less than half a percent of the population experience manic depression. If this is the case, then my "thoughts" that far more people take these medications than actually need them are either a) correct -or- b) wrong due to drastically skewed population distribution at my school, and apparently, on apolyton.

http://www.nmha.org/infoctr/factsheets/15.cfm

[Gibsie]

So, how many of your classmates have you actually observed taking these pills eh Kaak?

[Kaak]

i know a lot of people that take them

[Aeson]

More importantly, how many people have you properly diagnosed...

And it's close to 20% (54 million in the US by the page you linked) who would be diagnosed with a mental illness of one type or another. Bi-polar and depression aren't the only reasons someone would be taking a pill.

[Kaak]

nope, but this thread is (or was supposed to be) even less related to any other types than it is to depression..

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Kaak
okay...around 4% of the population experience depression of some sort. less than half a percent of the population experience manic depression.
http://www.nmha.org/infoctr/factsheets/15.cfm

Did you even read the link you posted?

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Kaak
i know a lot of people that take them

And how many classmates do you have? BTW, a lot isn't a useful number.

[Kaak]

i would esitmate that 30-40% of the girls i hang out with on a regular basis

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Well there's a shock. Hanging out with Kaak means you're statistically more likely to be depressed.

[Kaak]

HOLY LORD...what are you people doing to me?!?! quit changing the subject. all that is irrelevant. The point of this whole freakin post was DON'T TAKE THINGS TO SERIOUSLY. Choose to be happy when the option is available. Many times, it is a choice you can make...