I think it's mostly pseudo-science. Most depressed people don't have depression. These are simply people that can't cope with their own emotions and thoughts. Their cure might lie in philosophy and psychology books. A better understanding of life can cure a lot of things.
"When you are depressed, you don't enjoy the things that you used to enjoy before." Same can be said about sadness and you have to keep in mind people change - lose their joy in things naturally.
"I'd say that spending 1.5 months in a small apartment doing nothing is more likely a symptom of less severe depression than just feeling lost." Why? What are your criteria for depression? Time can't be it. If you feel lost, don't want to live anymore and there's no outside push to get you back on track that 1.5 month period can easily become your whole life. Does that mean the person is depressed? I don't think so...
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I'd only call people depressed if they produce less dopamine than normal people. clinical depression
Everything else is simply people sucking at living a happy life and it's all in the way they choose to think... not that they have live a happy life. I would avoid calling errors in thinking as a disease nor give it a name. It's like reassuring them "It's okay. you are just sick. There's nothing you can do about it." Which is false.
People need to realize their thoughts change they way their brain works. If you think bad thoughts you are gonna start feeling bad and it will take years to counter that. It's not a disease. It's a lack of self-discipline in thought.
People don't know what they are.
maybe i'm wrong. I have 0 idea what the official science/understanding on depression is.
I believe that you can't call psychology a pseudo-science when you say that you have zero idea of how the science "officially" defines depression. Even though I appreciate your thoughtful responses, I don't like the fact that you come to the conclusions with no theoretical background (according to what you said).
This is exactly what's hurting mental health and keeps empowering the stigma. People who don't know much about it simple say that it's not depression and it's easy to recover from it. I wish that you and your close ones never have to experience it.
I called depression a pseudo-science, meaning people identify as being depressed too easily and there doesn't seem to be any real criteria.
If what The Rock said is depression then I believe 50% of the population have depression which isn't the case, or is it? I believe people can relatively easily backstab themselves. Going from "that didn't work out" to "I suck I want to die" to actually committing suicide is a quick road, I've been there(having constant thoughts about suicide every day for months; losing all desire to live; having 0 feelings). I don't believe that's depression though.
In the US, approximately 20% of the population suffers from depression, so you aren't that far ;)