Depression is a label to oppress negativity, promote toxic positivity and shut down pro choicers

[sadfurry22]

There. I said it.

I've been getting advice from my normie friend. He has helped me a lot, which I thank him for, but at some point his advice is just way too much for normies and I really hate the toxic positivity he's been pushing. And even more so denying that therapy is useless.

At this point with all the "mental health movements" they're all just to silence suffering and label everything a disease. Even sadness.

 

[Rymrgand]

I mean, one of the purposes of mental health movements is not hide suffering, but the opposite, to show that there are a lot of people who are suffering a lot, even if they don't have a physical disease. That you can be incapable of getting up even if your legs are fine.

And therapy, even if it didn't help you or me, has helped other people, so it's not necessarily useless, even if their effects are often exaggerated.

 

[MathConspiracy]

Agree although I'm going through a slightly better phase. Feeling better is not as nice as the pro-lifers claim. I feel like shit but I have lots of energy – bad combo. The silver lining is that I have energy to research customs things and then order SN.

 

[Jadeith]

Do not agree. Depression is a condition, not a label and it can be of different severity for different people. As Rymrgand said, mental health movements (in most cases) aim to raise awareness and remove stigma from those suffering, not to silence anyone. And attempts to uplift a friend or even a stranger are usually far from toxic positivity, They might be crude, true, but not everyone is trained professional and it doesn't mean that's indulging in attempts to be toxic.
I'd go even further and say that "sadness" is a label to silence those with problems - "you are not depressed, you are just sad, get over with, cheer up ffs and get back to work".

 

[FuneralCry]

I understand, it's just so extremely cruel how they label preferring non-existence which is the only peace for me over being burdened with this futile, torturous existence there was never a need for as an illness, I'd personally always prefer to not exist especially as there is no suffering in non-existence, to not exist would solve everything for me. To me existence itself is the true problem and I find it horrific how a human can be conscious in this reality for so long just to die in agony tortured by old age, existence just feels like an mistake to me, I see existence as an abomination and I'll always find it so deeply undesirable to exist in every way possible, I'd never wish for the suffering and cruelty of existing, I don't get how not wanting to suffer and not wanting to be tortured in this existence that was imposed is an illness.

 

[JesiBel]

I believe that most of the mental health movements are pure fallacy.

(Helplines have ridiculous hours.. they are not 24/7, psychiatric institutions cost a lot of money)

Suicide prevention / assistance lines, and therapy, can do little in an environment that is already rotten and toxic (the current world and its rules). You'll never get out of the cage if they keep clipping your wings. The idea of "fully healing" is an illusion; the environment will make you sick again sooner or later.

Furthermore, they can't magically erase all the damage and miserable life of every individual who suffers. It's a total waste of energy. If nothing has improved so far, is it worth it to keep insisting? Not all lives are "fixable." There are problems and illnesses that screw you up forever. Keeping you alive at any cost is cruel.

They prefer a living dead person "functioning and being useful."

That kind of false positivity is poison. Because it's always pointing the finger that if you didn't make it out of the abyss, it's because you're a weak, cowardly person who doesn't have the guts to face the world. And you're still here trying to give it your all, destroying yourself so you don't have to carry that stigma. Until you collapse.

"Be useful, stop complaining, life is beautiful, how many would wish to stay alive." Blah!

They can't put themselves in someone else's shoes, just give cheap opinions and advice that no one asked them for.

 

[Jadeith]

I understand, it's just so extremely cruel how they label preferring non-existence which is the only peace for me over being burdened with this futile, torturous existence there was never a need for as an illness,

Because for them it is an illness. They don't see the world the way you do, they do not suffer from the very act of existing and there are examples of people with darkened minds getting better after therapy (verbal and/or chemical) so they assume that it is you who needs fixing and here we go with illness label.

I'd personally always prefer

That one is slightly scary and dare to say - dangerous bit. The way i see it, applying personal preferences to others and expect majority to conform is usually doomed to failure. Not to mention - kinda selfish. Fact that i don't see joys of life doesn't mean others are blind to its dreads. For example, atm i can't see how verbal therapy could work for me (stubborn with trust issues) but i wouldn't deny it to others stating it's useless. Especially since i literally bought therapy sessions for a friend who couldn't afford them and now they actually started to have decent life. Not perfect of course but good enough for them to stay longer.
If you need a verbal hug - i will provide as much as i can. If you want to leave - i will wish you peaceful and painless journey, no judgement, no forceful "healing".

Suicide prevention / assistance lines, and therapy, can do little in an environment that is already rotten and toxic (the current world and its rules). You'll never get out of the cage if they keep clipping your wings. The idea of "fully healing" is an illusion; the environment will make you sick again sooner or later.

Kinda "killing the messenger" with this one - lung cancer drugs won't work if you still smoke six pack a day.

Furthermore, they can't magically erase all the damage and miserable life of every individual who suffers. It's a total waste of energy. If nothing has improved so far, is it worth it to keep insisting? Not all lives are "fixable." There are problems and illnesses that screw you up forever. Keeping you alive at any cost is cruel.

We agree on premise but not on conclusion. Yes, not everyone can be fixed. Not everyone WANTS to be fixed. Not everyone sees the possibility to be fixed. But that doesn't mean that those who can and want do not exist.

They prefer a living dead person "functioning and being useful."

Some do. And some genuinely care. Problem is that it's sometimes difficult to discern one from another as both can be infuriatingly persistent with their attempts to fix you.

That kind of false positivity is poison. Because it's always pointing the finger that if you didn't make it out of the abyss, it's because you're a weak, cowardly person who doesn't have the guts to face the world. And you're still here trying to give it your all, destroying yourself so you don't have to carry that stigma. Until you collapse.

"Be useful, stop complaining, life is beautiful, how many would wish to stay alive." Blah!

They can't put themselves in someone else's shoes, just give cheap opinions and advice that no one asked them for.

Agreed. This is blatant false positivity when one's preaching about wonders of life without even trying to understand other person. But keep in mind that "not wearing others' shoes" also goes other way. Did you try to understand them? Or just assumed ill will and slapped the label of toxic positivity on anyone who does not share your point of view?
Would you label this hypothetical situation below as toxic positivity?


Just a food for thought, don't mind me, i'm chronic overthinker.

 

[Jdieiejdjaow]

Treatment resistant depression is difficult to manage. Especially if you don't respond to the latest in the treatment options (psychedelics). And yes, it is needed to go through it with professional(s) because otherwise it can mess you up even more by retraumatizing you if trauma memories surface and you relive them.

The term depression exists because it comes from people who don't have it (so that's their subjective view, "that person has depression" - a term that is used to differentiate between neurotypical healthy being and one afflicted by an illness; I'M NOT SAYING PEOPLE WITH DEPRESSION DON'T USE THE TERM). It's worth noting that we all have a desire to heal (innately), though not all of us want to heal. The point is, we all know what is healthy once we've experienced it and realize there's more to life (even if it means just coping [tip: everyone is coping, nobody is superhuman], it just matters how you cope and manage your symptoms). For disorders, like the one I've, C-PTSD, I can only get to a point of having healthy coping mechanism but it doesn't mean I will never in the rest of my life have moments where my brain tries to pull me back to old coping behaviors (unhealthy and, to be honest,.accompanied by all the symptoms it comes with).

It's important every single one of us tries absolutely everything in our power to heal. And if we fail, then each one of us has to take a decision.

For me, it's having been retraumatized at work due to countertransference with my therapist and ending up (again) in a complex trauma environment (where it's impossible to resolve the abuse, neglect, abandonment, hurts etc. that come up - this is what complex trauma means). It's an environment of captivity and, honestly, after around 30 years of living like this, I'm tired. I don't want to become short fused and an abuser to other people because of the abuse I'm subjected to and I don't want to enable my abuser because I'm unable to put boundaries and the ones I am trying to put are squashed by the shelter manager.

 

[c0rps3_l1k3]

There. I said it.

I've been getting advice from my normie friend. He has helped me a lot, which I thank him for, but at some point his advice is just way too much for normies and I really hate the toxic positivity he's been pushing. And even more so denying that therapy is useless.

At this point with all the "mental health movements" they're all just to silence suffering and label everything a disease. Even sadness.

i think some people may be actually depressed in a clinical sense but so many people who suffer for valid reasons are labeled depressed so others don't have to address the reasons they're suffering. it also takes away agency from those labeled as depressed, because if you have the thought to ctb its framed as "just the illness" and not a real choice you want to make even tho its a very valid choice.