Stupid Facebook post about depression

[Reluctant2ndtimer]

I have just copied and pasted this because I’m staggered that anyone can really think mental health is so simple. This friend is genuinely a lovely person and has been through some shit times in her life, how on earth does she think like this?
I’m struggling with my own mental health right now and I’d love to be able to ‘change my way of thinking’!

Controversial Some people will hate this post & maybe begin slating it (me) behind their phone, some people will embrace it and it’ll encourage them to have a little think.. I honestly don’t believe in depression, I have never had a health professional be able to tell me what it is, I was put on anti depressants when I was in school & even then I knew this was wrong, all because I had a wobble & thought bad things. I think bad things now but I’m far from ‘depressed’ Medication is there to mask the ‘problem’ not solve it, it’s to change your way of thinking, but why can’t you change your own way, after all they’re your thoughts.. why has a doctor who sees you for 10 mins got the ability to tell you you’re depressed & prescribe something so mind altering.
You altered your own mind into thinking this way, re-alter it. Stop thinking things on the outside have the ability to change you on the inside.*

My mum sometimes says she's depressed. She's not, she's pissed off and not prepared to make the changes which will instantly improve her life (leave husband etc).
That is not depression and like your friend it gives MH a very bad name. Ignore her post, it's bollocks, she's obviously never been depressed or experienced the drowning blackness my DH describes - if she had she would quickly realise she's talking out of her butt. Like my sister telling me my MS will disappear if I stop drinking Diet Coke. 😤

Your friend is a pillock. Yes, if one is experiencing a bout of low mood triggered by circumstances, it is possible to overcome that by changing circumstances etc.

But if one is in the grip of Depression, then that is a while different ball game. But your friend wouldn't know this as she is a pillock.

I will say though that no good ever came from FB "discussions" yes, looking at you dsis, step away from the FakeBook of Doom

That is the most garbled post ever. Not the op, but the shared bit.

Some of it is perfectly true, but the message is so hidden in the shite, that it makes even the sanest brain blink. I read it a couple of times.

I'm going to go with this being a spam Facebook status that people with limited understanding are encouraged to share and by doing so try to make themselves seem wise. The results being: a massively mixed response (to a horribly jumbled argument, tbf) at best, this; at worst, some people not getting help when needed.

Yes, it’s bollocks, but to be fair it’s bollocks written by someone who’s probably been badly let down by the terrible mental health services provision in the UK. I’ve read a lot of psych reports in my career, and I’ve never seen a psychologist or psychiatrist who says that medication on its own is an effective treatment for depression. The recommendation is always for psychotherapy alongside it (normally CBT). So she’s right in a sense, the ‘cure’ isn’t meds, but equally you can’t just talk yourself out of it. But the waiting lists for CBT are huge, you get 5 sessions when you really need 15, and depressed people do have a tendency to drop sessions and then they just get discharged. If we invested more in mental health services, the ultimate savings to both the NHS and the welfare state would be massive, but it’s all about short term strategies and fixes. (And, to be clear, I accept that there are some people for whom depression is a lifelong and debilitating problem, but there are certainly people who could be helped who are falling through the net.)

It sounds very Scientologist. The idea of just needing to think differently and anti-depressants being mind altering and bad.

Any chance she had fallen in with them? Doesn’t make it any less bullshit but that’s the first thing I thing thought of when reading it.

My close friend asked me very seriously was I sure that my counsellor wasn't placing things in my mind as reasons why I was depressed. (I don't think she actually believes in depression either). Was one of the most astounding conversations I've ever had - when you decide to open up to a close friend and they look at you as though you are making it all up.

PurpleDaisies I am surrounded by the people who tell me to "Just pray and read your Bible more" crowd and "If you claim you have the mind of Christ, you will get well." I am a Christian too, so not knocking God but this glib response just annoys me!

sunflowersandroses YES! I hate that. I think what hurts the most is that it takes a lot of courage to open up about MH.

I get told I am just attention seeking or being manipulative. It hurts so much. sunflowersandroses

I tell people (yes that’s you BIL) who spout bollocks like this how lucky they are- if they had ever suffered from depression (which has a very accurate clinical description and psychiatrists can diagnose it often just by looking at the person) they would get it.