Posted by Eddie Sylvano on May 16, 2003, at 14:28:38
In reply to What if it's just me?, posted by TapiocaMonk on May 16, 2003, at 12:42:58
> I just started taking Parnate, and I do hope that that will do something for me. But how much should I expect a drug to do? When is it depression and when is it just laziness and lack of motivation?
----------------It's remarkable to me that drugs can have the impact that they do, and proof that our daily mindset is due largely to the innate chemistry of our brain. It makes sense to me that the subjective experience of feeling "depressed" is a chemical state, just as the feeling of elation is. The difficulty is in knowing what molecules will be of the most value in modifying your state, since different systems can be involved in different people. If you doubt that drugs can make you feel better, meet a crack addict.
Are you really depressed? That's a dicey question. There are diagnostic tools that physicians employ to grade your depression. You could look into some of the online ones and see how your symptoms stack up. Some good indicators would be duration (feeling bad for longer than a month), causation (are you sad for a reason, or just sad in general), physical manifestations (fatigue, cognitive decline, upset stomach, loss of appetite), anhedonia (the inability to appreciate things you used to), feelings of total apathy and guilt, and sensory disturbances (things seem darker, fuzzier, less real). That's just my personal take. Another good question to ask yourself is how does your current state compare to the state you were in a year or so ago? Depression is a deviation from your normal state (with a few exceptions).
Hope that's of some use in getting started.
poster:Eddie Sylvano
thread:227051
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030514/msgs/227076.html