Now look back at Brooke Shields. Because we all praised her for getting medicated, the lesson to the average person having the kind of problem I describe above is "get mom hooked up on post-partum depression drugs". That message is an absolute SIN and Brooke Shields is partly to blame for promoting such a message. The more healthy thing to do, what my wife and i did, was talk about her depression, talk about her conflicting feelings of love and hate for the baby, talk about the rising frustration that builds up throughout the day with a baby that simply cannot be consoled and that will not stop crying. But people don't want to do this because it's hard work and is confessional in nature.
Post-partum depression is a lot more serious than just contradicting emotions about one's baby. It involves real symptoms of depression for the mother, which might mean she becomes so uninvolved that she's not taking care of herself or the baby, and the mother may DO dangerous things, not just have negative feelings she get work through by talking a bit.
If people are too medicated, it's b/c the doctor inappropriately diagnosed this disease. Obviously it's already misunderstood and underestimated by members of the public.
Completely agree. BigTex, you simply have no way of knowing whether Brooke Shields was one of those cases that "really" needed medication or not. So why presume she didn't?
I have been moderately to severely depressed on and off for almost 15 years, and I have previously always dealt with it through therapy. While I wasn't as anti-med as you, I sort of felt the same way like I should be able to deal with it without resorting to that. And I did deal with it, to a certain extent. I was constantly sad, did not get much pleasure out of life, and cried every night, but I was able to function. This was until I had a really severe episode during the first semester of law school.
I don't think I can fully explain how absolutely horrible it was, so I won't try here. Suffice it to say, I finally understood why people commit suicide. No matter how much objective evidence there is to the contrary, I felt totally worthless, totally hopeless, and like a total burden on all my loved ones. And the physical symptoms - I went for a month sleeping not at all to a maximum of 2 hours a night. I had absolutely no appetite and ate maybe once a day; I lost 15 pounds in 2 weeks. I tried to do my law school reading but I would stare at the page for 20 minutes and literally not be able to understand any of it. It was like something had taken over my brain. Finally, I agreed to go on meds, and within 2 weeks, I was functional again.
Maybe, with an extended period of therapy I could have pulled myself out of it without meds - who knows. But by that time, I would have flunked my entire first semester and most likely dropped out and moved home with my parents, because I simply could not function. It makes me sad now to think of all the years I've spent feeling miserable when I did not have to. You say that meds sap intelligence, drive, and creativity, but in my experience, depression does that. I have done ok for myself in life, but I know I could have done more, experienced more, if this battle were not always at the forefront of my life.
I am sure I will not convince you of anything, but I wanted to share my experience because I refuse to be dismissed as lazy, cowardly, or otherwise by people who do not understand what I've gone through. Bradzwest is right that talk like yours is often what prevents depressed people from seeking help in the first place. Sure, there are examples out there like Brooke Shields, but that is not what most depressed people would take to heart - they take to heart the message that says they are worthless, lazy, that they should be able to get over it on their own - that depression is a character flaw - because that is the deepest fear that they have about themselves.
Please consider yourself blessed that you are able to espouse such opinions without having to confront the real dilemma of whether you would yourself adhere to them or take the "easy" route of medication in order to preserve your sanity and all you have worked for in life.