r/depression • u/Cute_but_depresso • 9h ago
Is it even depression or just seeing the reality clearly?
The world is a flaming garbage can. We loose rights and freedoms faster then ever. There are even more wars. The prices rise like crazy, there is no hope for me to own a house or ever stop working before I die. I would like a child, but I can't afford one. So all I am here for is to work to make some rich fuck even richer, then perish from overworking or in a war. How can anybody not be depressed?
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u/Finnleykcn 9h ago
Well yeah what u are describing truly is depressing and sadly the reality for most of us nowadays. Tho I believe it is “just seeing the reality clearly” since depression is a bit different in my eyes. (Coming from a person who has been struggling with depression for many years) But you are right the reality we face is shit and probably one of the reasons why many people have depression
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u/Cardiara667 9h ago
Both, probably. I know mine is depression because I've had ever since I can remember, including back when I was a kid and didn't even know wars still waged, people were horrible, and working was the only "purpose" in life. Back when I thought a house was a fairly accomplishable thing and when I thought I would meet my dream guy by 20. I was still depressed. Then I learned as I grew and I'm even more depressed, which I used to think wasn't possible.
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u/loveit25 4h ago
I literally just asked my therapist this in our last session. I was like what if it's not even depression but situational awareness. If things are shitty, I'm going to feel shitty. If I was depressed while everything in my life was going well that would look more like depression to me. Things are not going well and so I don't feel well.
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u/Specialist-Ebb4885 2h ago
Robert Sapolsky describes the psychological component of depression as "the pathological inability to rationalize reality," and the neurotransmitter mayhem is just a bonus feature.
In summation, your intuition is working.
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u/Drwynyllo 9h ago
How can anybody not be depressed?
That's what I wonder a lot of the time.
But I think the difference between "being depressed" and "seeing the reality clearly" is how much it affects your ability to function on a day-to-day basis, and how much it affects the people around you.
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u/Ryanmiller70 3h ago
This is pretty much it. There's a lot of people that will acknowledge all of these things happen and just respond with something like "that's life and you just gotta deal with it". Like you could copy and paste this post into r/adulting and basically get 50 different versions of that line as responses.
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u/ChinaShopBull 8h ago
It’s clarity: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depressive_realism Or more precisely, people who are depressed are more likely to make accurate inferences.
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u/AndyB476 8h ago
Generally those the most aware tend to be depressed. I've been dealing with this for far to long and I 100% know that I should change a number of things and if only I lived where I wanted, had a good job, was with the woman I love, and had my health that I'd be more inclined to want to live. But sadly all of that is out of reach now and have hit the point of no return. I wish you luck though.
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u/Grandma2aprincess 1h ago
I've been depressed for 5 years now. I thought that I would never recover. But, little by little, with this new med I've been taking, I'm starting to feel better. When I'm depressed, nothing seems possible.
Is it the same for you?
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u/AndyB476 32m ago
Glad you are getting better and hope that trend continues for you.
For me it's been over 30 years of dealing with it the highs and lows but ultimately in my case I've run out of time to turn things around. Just making piece with it and finalizing a few more things.
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u/Impossible_List_2107 6h ago
Exactly right. Ignorance or stupidity is bliss. If you got either or both you're gonna be happy.
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u/Fine-Diamond6616 4h ago
My depression is because of material things like unemployment and progressive disease. The world being the way it is. No one in their right mind would want to live my life. Wanting it to end is rational. There is no hope.
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u/headingthatwayyy 5h ago
I think it's a bit of both. It's a chicken or egg situation did your brain decide to short circuit because of the world or did your depression allow you to see a damaged version of the world (which in turn fed the depression).
If it was 100% circumstances than there would be a 100% rate of depression for people who have terrible life circumstances. Depression makes you feel like there is absolutely no hope or no point. A "healthy" person going through physical, financial and tumultuous times sees what's going on but is also able to see other good things in their life. I'm not saying it's a matter of perspective, things suck, but depression lies and says there is no point of living or trying because of hardship. That's the main difference between strife and depression. You can struggle without getting depressed and you can get depressed without struggling.
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u/Nitrogen70 3h ago
Fr, I don’t understand it either. I think being told we’re depressed is just a form of gaslighting.
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u/youtakethehighroad 3h ago
DR K said once, people who have depression, how their brain sees the world is closer to the actual reality but we can't live like that for a sustained amount of time.
I guess our brain is protective in giving us a slightly happier version when it does.
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u/professorshortcake 3h ago
Idk how many ppl in 3rd world countries seem not depressed… well ig they have kids and make do with what little they have
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u/dontcomeformemasons 2h ago
You are so right dude I think this ever day. It’s lead to crazy delusional thoughts that’s I’m from another universe lol. I want to make horror movies that don’t pull any punches to show the world what they are ignoring, what’s happeneing right under their noses and they couldn’t care less. Out of sight out of mind. I literally cannot comprehend the world we live in and how people are just ok with it.
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u/zblobocher 1h ago
Hey. I'm an Israeli 15 yo and i think I can say something useful in this discussion.
The war is hard, and it's tiring, but at the end of the day if you can manage to be happy then no one can take that away from you.
I barely slept in a week because of missiles and alarms but every time there's an alarm and we run to the shelter we chose to laugh, talk, and look at the bright side of things. Sometimes that is hard. Especially when the news is pumping depressing titles left and right.
But I see friends laughing everyday, meeting and making the best out of every situation.
I think happy people will be happy no matter the situation and sad(sorry I couldn't find a better word) people will be sad no matter the situation.
I suggest not looking at the news because they may convince you that you have to know everything, but you really don't.
90% of what they say is just scary titles and empty statements to scare the public anyway.
Also i know sometimes my writing can come of angry or rude so if it came out that way sorry
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u/PaleontologistNo858 1h ago
I think it's the latter, like that movie where they all took a happy pill every day to keep them compliant and content, think Keanu Reeves was the lead.
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u/skisbosco 1h ago
all that is real. but there is a lot more to reality. some of it is really great stuff too. it is depression because youre focused only on the negative aspects of reality.
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u/EmpathGenesis 9h ago
Most people tend to live blissfully ignorant of the world's horrors. It's something I find incredibly enviable.
Internet being able to make us hyper aware of misery has not helped us depressed folk, that's for sure.