[k__]

"I could "fix" my depression once I had an independent high paying job that let me live anywhere and choose to live in the way I need to live in order to be happy."

My girlfriend works in a psychiartry for people with depression and she told me that it has nothing todo with success.

[DoreenMichele]

There are two general sources of depression: environmental and biochemical. The parent acknowledged that:

people who suffer from depression because of environmental factors

Folks who have brain wonkiness can't fix it by fixing other life problems. But people who are depressed because their life sucks absolutely can see their mood improve by fixing other problems.

[meesterdude]

> There are two general sources of depression: environmental and biochemical.

This is not at all what the field of psychology has identified as the "general sources"

[ekr]

The fact that conditions such as sleep apnea (insufficient nocturnal brain oxygenation) lead to depression and anxiety in a significant number of cases illustrates that depression isn't always an indicative of a social problem. It can also be a strictly biochemical issue (there are a lot of things that affect neurotransmitter efficiency for instance).

(edited)

[meesterdude]

My point was, depression can come from a variety of sources; not just environmental or biochemical. Saying it's generally those two sources glazes over all the others - and is not representative.

[dragonwriter]

> It can also be a biochemical issue

Presumably, it's always a biochemical issue, though sometimes the biochemical state may be triggered by events in the social context.

[DoreenMichele]

The distinction I am trying to make is that brain chemistry can apparently be wonky and resistant to change in the absence of triggering life events.

[DoreenMichele]

So enlighten me. What does psychology have to say about it?

[AnIdiotOnTheNet]

In my personal experience, psychology is to depression what nutrition science is to obesity. They act like they know what they're doing, but really don't.

[meesterdude]

Far more than would be appropriate for a hacker news comment ;)

I will share that it is both more complex than many believe - and also less mysterious. "it's chemical" gets overplayed, while our relationship with our emotions is often left unexamined. There's a great deal of interconnectedness and sometimes cause & effect become confused or are tightly coupled. In the end, we're still learning, and everyone is different.

[bpchaps]

I'm not sure I agree with this. I've had on-and-off severe depression for most of my life, both during times of high disposable income and times with very limited cash. Depression with disposable income is much, much more manageable. Maslow's hierarchy is kind of a bitch.

If you don't mind, what sort of patients does she work with?

[danharaj]

The success didn't cure my depression. The success meant I had the independence and financial ability to address the problems in my life that caused my depression. Of course, the first step was going to a Psych and getting medication and therapy to start the process, but I have been able to manage my depression without either for quite some time now.

[hutzlibu]

"My girlfriend works in a psychiartry for people with depression and she told me that it has nothing todo with success"

Hm, even though I don't work in a psychatry, I would claim otherwise. But I think it depends on the definition of success.

So yes, there are lots of people having depression who are successful by ordinary standards, meaning good career and money. But maybe they focused too much on the money/prestige part and instead should have focused more on doing what they really wanted. But they didn't and therefore failed in life and now blame their brain chemistry for it, instead of their own choices. Much easier, sure.

[sunir]

Rank Theory suggests otherwise. Not sure why she would say that.

[ouioiu98090i]

Because it's not the only valuable theory in the field?

Rank Theory tethers itself to depressive experiences in situations where social pecking order is the trigger. Basically, to help aide success and survival in a group setting.

Psychic pain hypothesis, for example, comes to a similar conclusion about the evolutionary value of depression, but does so without considering social pecking order.

We know depression can also be triggered just from screwed up biology. So "lack of success" really may not be the issue in a lot of cases.

[k__]

Because many people there are successful yet depressive.

It seems that depression forces people to search for problems that aren't there

[leakybit]

success is relative.