[CretinDesAlpes]

This 2018 talk from Dr Yapko, "Keys to unlock depression: Why skills work better than pills" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVgQ_tgWMyU - suggests a multidimensional viewpoint rather than purely biological. He says the causes are:

1. Biological. He says "Yes, biology matters, but surprisingly not as much as you would think, that when we look at what’s termed genetic variance, how much do genes play a role in depression? Is there a depression gene? No. Are there genes that make people vulnerable to depression? Definitely. So if we look at biochemistry, yes it’s a factor. If we look at disease processes, there are many diseases where depression is a predictable consequence. If we look at drugs, there are many drugs that have depression as a predictable side effect. Biology matters, but when we look at genetic variance, that figure is between .3 and .4. That represents a mild, moderate at best, genetic influence."

2. Psychological. In particular what is known as "Attributional/Explanatory style" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explanatory_style), i.e. the person's habitual or reflexive way of attaching meaning to life events. He says "It isn't what happens to people that increases their risk for depression so much as how they interpret and respond to what happens to them."

3. Social

At the end, he says "the goal is not to cure depression, the goal is to learn how to manage your mood. You don't exercise once and now you're done with the exercise thing."

[codetrotter]

> In particular what is known as "Attributional/Explanatory style" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explanatory_style)

Thanks for the link! I’ve been thinking quite often about these things for the past couple of years, having observed similar differences between people I’ve interacted with, but never knew that there was a name for it. Nice to know.

My own pet theory is that the experiences and our surroundings affect us a lot more than we may think.

And it is also a useful reminder for myself, as for years now I have tended to be rather harsh against myself at times, and to look negatively on the future and on what is possible, based on really a small set of bad experiences, some of them recent and some of them earlier in my life.

It’s difficult a lot of the time, to stay positive. And for the past couple of months I’ve been going through what I am pretty sure qualifies as burnout. And during this time I’ve also increasingly thought negatively about myself.

And I think the end of your comment, where you bring up a quote "the goal is not to cure depression, the goal is to learn how to manage your mood. You don't exercise once and now you're done with the exercise thing." is also probably key.

[johndubchak]

Self-compassion is key in combatting a lot of that negative self talk. Always ask yourself, “Would I talk this way to another person?”

If the answer is “no” then maybe it’s time you stop treating yourself this way and react with more internal kindness.

[aantix]

Curious, have you ever looked at the negative self-talk through the lens of nutritional deficiencies?

Specifically magnesium intake?

"In healthy adults, magnesium sits inside the NMDA receptors, preventing them from being triggered by weak signals that may stimulate your nerve cells unnecessarily. When your magnesium levels are low, fewer NMDA receptors are blocked. This means they are prone to being stimulated more often than necessary.]"

I literally have less self-talk when my magnesium intake is consistent. It's similar to the effect I've had when taking an SSRI (Lexapro).

Edit: Why the downvotes?

[AnIdiotOnTheNet]

We hold ourselves to a higher standard than others because we're more invested in ourselves. If you are constantly fucking up, gaining a bunch of weight, begin super lazy, or whatever it is much easier for me to forgive you then it is for me to forgive myself because I don't have to live with the consequences of your failings.

[pope_meat]

Everyone deserves compassion and understanding... except for me.

Obviously this is nonsense, I know for a fact that it's nonsense...and yet, I'm still a dumb piece of shit that can't internalize the fact that it's nonsense.

Spiral spiral spiral.

[belorn]

Depression in Robert Sapolsky talk is defined as a sliding scale of the inability to recover from the feeling of loss. Some types of inability should be targeted with the intention to cure, while others is more about building defenses and addressing how people react to life events. Both talks seems to agree that a multidimensional viewpoint should be applied depending on the patient situation.

The goal should be to cure depression in cases where we can cure it, in the similar way that we should cure the inability to walk in individuals when we have the technology to do so. A big point brought up in the video is that the medical understanding of the ability to recover from loss is still very much in the infancy when it comes to depressions. Our understanding of a physical leg and what makes a person unable to walk is pretty decent in comparison, and so there isn't as large debate between when to use medicine and when to use exercise and life adjustments.

[mcguire]

Out of curiosity, have you ever spent any significant period of time where you wake up every morning and the first thought that goes through your mind is, "I wish I were dead"?