In defense of depression

wisdom can be quite destructive without compassion,
we are what appears to leave in ''death"
appears again yet we take it so seriously,

It seems strange to worry so much about
the forms that come and go . . .

While it may be naive or unreasonable to suggest
that people making a living working with or fora
product be rescued from witting about it,
or prominent in the byline.

Treatment professionals, and victims of depression
or other "moral unfortunates, all of us,
when it comes to our sense of happiness,
our unique or shared humanity,
an axe to grind.

I find it depressing to see article after article about drugs being
written without giving space to other alternative treatments. While
most of us read such "news" for entertainment value or to support one
of our particular biases, some people are actually seeking
information. Mentioning that diet and exercise are often as or more
effective treatments for depression than medication, would be
helpful to include in any discussion of major media discussion on the subject.
It begs the question if it is not our "habit of focus" as well as
endocrine system being shifted into another paradigm.

Eye contact, touch, petting a dog, walking, meditation, prayer as well as
pleasant conversation with the checker at Safeway has all been shown
to also raise endorphins, serration, and Oxytocin. Such shifts lead to
a greater sense of well being, perhaps what we strive for is some
connection with life and "community" as we are conditioned to
most positively experience it, the absence of which iwe may label "depression"

Further lacking in a serious inclusive discussion of depression is the
endemic of the use of both substances and drugs: those licit such
as alcohol and tobacco, and also "perscribed medication to theat
depression, unhapiness, anxity, both social and existential.
The widespread use of illicit drugs to treat "depression".

The use social of drugs to further social connection and to
treat many signs of addiction is startling absent in any open
discussion of the topic, if only to broaden the scope of self
medication in response to an imperfect and unequal societal and
cosmological reality. It is common knowledge in some circles that
many people in recovery from addiction at some point realize that
that depression was and is a major impetus to self medicate, and that
some substances were effective treatments for some individuals for up
to decades.

An argument should be made that much criminal persecution
of the depressed exists, for it is unhappiness itself that asks for
attention. And finally so many "addictions" are not "too"
substances, but activities, all giving a rush and having
the ultimate problem of declining efficacy.

Additionally, it behooves us to see if depression might not be a
reasonable response to a world busy with self destruction. While we
kill each other, starve each other and torture each other, all in the
name of ideology (god, profit, etc.) we perhaps ignore that being
depressed is a reasonable and healthy response as part of a world wide
problem called "humanity" driven primarily by the desire for
resources, power and the problem of distribution & overpopulation.
Perhaps depression encourages us to refrain from the root causes of
the problem, consumption, meaningless activity and replication.

I hope it is not outrageously hopeful, idealistic or deluded to
suggest; that while not always effective, another modality for
treatment for depression is acceptance of the situation as it is. The
belief that there is a problem drives the mind to find a solution.
When I accept the moment as it is, occasionally, and perhaps even
somewhat more often of late, it seems, There appears in a discrete
moment, an opportunity to stop, breathe and simply appreciate without
the need or desire to change.

Depression can often be another way of "labeling" relaxation or
stillness. It is the story we tell ourselves and the agendas that
society that society holds for us to "be productive" that color our
experience. When we strip away all stories and rest in what is, there
lies a possibility of peace that stretches beyond the graveyard or
mire of human anguish.



wisdom can be destructive without compassion, we are either
connected or not, what appears to leave in ''death" appears again
yet we take it so seriously, It seems strange to worry so much about
the forms that come and go . . .

While it may be naive or unreasonable to suggest that people making
a living working with or for companies selling a particular type of
product be rescued from witting about it, such connection should
certainly be prominent in the byline. Even treatment professionals
and victims of depression or other "moral unfortunates,
all of us, when it comes to our sense of happiness,
however we may see our unique or shared humanity
have, to use an unfortunate phase, an axe to grind.

I find it depressing to see article after article about drugs being
written without giving space to other alternative treatments. While
most of us read such "news" for entertainment value or to support one
of our particular biases, some people are actually seeking
information. Mentioning that diet and exercise are often as or more
effective treatments for depression than medication, would be
helpful to include in any discussion of major media discussion on the subject.
It begs the question if it is not our "habit of focus" as well as
endocrine system being shifted into another paradigm.

Eye contact, touch, petting a dog, walking, meditation, prayer as well as
pleasant conversation with the checker at Safeway has all been shown
to also raise endorphins, serration, and Oxytocin. Such shifts lead to
a greater sense of well being, perhaps what we strive for is some
connection with life and "community" as we are conditioned to
most positively experience it, the absence of which iwe may label "depression"

Further lacking in a serious inclusive discussion of depression is the
endemic of the use of both substances and drugs: those licit such
as alcohol and tobacco, and also "perscribed medication to theat
depression, unhapiness, anxity, both social and existential.
The widespread use of illicit drugs to treat "depression".

The use social of drugs to further social connection and to
treat many signs of addiction is startling absent in any open
discussion of the topic, if only to broaden the scope of self
medication in response to an imperfect and unequal societal and
cosmological reality. It is common knowledge in some circles that
many people in recovery from addiction at some point realize that
that depression was and is a major impetus to self medicate, and that
some substances were effective treatments for some individuals for up
to decades.

An argument should be made that much criminal persecution
of the depressed exists, for it is unhappiness itself that asks for
attention. And finally so many "addictions" are not "too"
substances, but activities, all giving a rush and having
the ultimate problem of declining efficacy.

Additionally, it behooves us to see if depression might not be a
reasonable response to a world busy with self destruction. While we
kill each other, starve each other and torture each other, all in the
name of ideology (god, profit, etc.) we perhaps ignore that being
depressed is a reasonable and healthy response as part of a world wide
problem called "humanity" driven primarily by the desire for
resources, power and the problem of distribution & overpopulation.
Perhaps depression encourages us to refrain from the root causes of
the problem, consumption, meaningless activity and replication.

I hope it is not outrageously hopeful, idealistic or deluded to
suggest; that while not always effective, another modality for
treatment for depression is acceptance of the situation as it is. The
belief that there is a problem drives the mind to find a solution.
When I accept the moment as it is, occasionally, and perhaps even
somewhat more often of late, it seems, There appears in a discrete
moment, an opportunity to stop, breathe and simply appreciate without
the need or desire to change.

Depression can often be another way of "labeling" relaxation or
stillness. It is the story we tell ourselves and the agendas that
society that society holds for us to "be productive" that color our
experience. When we strip away all stories and rest in what is, there
lies a possibility of peace that stretches beyond the graveyard or
mire of human anguish.