chicken or the egg ?

[Marchhare]

Does depression influence ones physical state or vice versa or both?
Discuss
m

 

[Prasada]

Does depression influence ones physical state or vice versa or both?
Discuss
m

This is a very difficult question to answer, particularly with regard to the actual inception of either ill health or depression, in terms of the way in which the seed gets sown. However, once either of these is underway it can definitely lead to the other. Depression can definitely have a very negative impact on one’s health, and ill health can obviously lead to depression. In addition to that, the two together can take a person into a downward spiral, with one problem feeding off the other.

There is a great deal of controversy over whether depression has a genetic cause. All of my instincts incline against this theory, not least because difficulties in people’s lives frequently, and very clearly, lead to depression. One seldom observes a happy person leading a perfect life starting to get depressed, although it has been known.

In terms of the opposite phenomenon, I suppose that if a person is ill any biological mechanisms which protect the mind against depression and other illnesses will be compromised. Having said that, this area is not well researched or understood.

I know many cases in which depression has struck as a result of personal difficulties and would be interested to hear from anyone who was leading a normal, unexceptional life and depression suddenly struck out of nowhere.

Also the sorts of thing which can cause depression, as a warning to other people, particularly anything which may not be obvious.

 

[Prasada]

Many human ailments, physical and mental, consist of some positive natural process which has either gone wrong or is massively over-reacting to some threat or other – auto-immune problems being a case in point, and I have often wondered whether depression could be one of these, although it is difficult to figure out what the original positive natural process might be.

 

[Soren]

i suffer from depression, anxiety and chronic fatigue syndrome; and the more i experience of these problems, the more i see the limitations of the mind/body distinction.

of course its useful (and unavoidable) to make that distinction on an everyday basis, but when you really think about the nature of being human, you realize that we're not two separate substances, but rather, just people. the mind/body distinction is a conceptual one, rather than an existential one.

 

[intelgal]

A lot of the reasosn for my depression came from my weight and apperence but it was others who had issues with them that made it an issue for me ( mainly childhood experiences but negative experiences as an adult contributed)

However, I cannot be certain I would not have become depressed if I had been thinner or prettier as its all about how one percieves themselves.