Posted by noa on October 23, 2000, at 7:49:32
In reply to Re: SOME OBSERVATIONS ABOUT US ALL, posted by GLYN on October 21, 2000, at 19:05:19
> If the answer is "yes, I'd rather cured" then great as this is the easy option - its learning to wrestle with our problems because we feel that they are worthwhile thats really tough.
>As of now, I don't believe there is a "cure" to my depression, just treatment.
And, I do object to the statement above about medication as "the easy option", and your assumption that taking medication obviates wrestling with our problems.
Pardon, me, Glyn, but this seems to me to be an oversimplification of the entire matter, which surprises me as you seem an intelligent guy.
Brain disorders are often not attributable to either one or the other of nature vs. nurture. The brain and the human experience and mind are far too complex for it to boil down to chemical vs. personal struggle.
Our minds and brains are shaped both by our innate constitution as well as by our experiences. Similarly, our constitutions can, to a certain extent, shape our lives. The two interact in a mutually influential and complex way.
From what you describe, you are enjoying your lifestyle, what could be called hypomania/mania (that is not unusual), so you have little motivation to treat it medically. And that is your right. That does not mean that you are opting out of the "easy option". You are simply making a choice based on what you feel and what you believe is best for you.
My medication does not eliminate my problems or make my life easy at all. But it eases a crippling depression that would have made me completely incapable of wrestling with my problems and my life, or led me to an early death.
As for labels, they are human made contstructs that serve a purpose. To me, they neither need to be accepted wholesale nor rejected. They are there to help conceptualize what is going on. One need not see them as the only way to conceptualize what is going on, but it helps if one wants to try to understand what is going on and devise strategies. The medical model need not stand opposed to a psychological model. Different ways of conceptualizing can help to form a richer understanding of situations and provide a larger set of options for addressing them.
poster:noa
thread:46800
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20001022/msgs/47163.html