Golden Era Cures for Depression

[Fleur De Guerre]

Yes it's called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder nowadays...

Yup, that's why I said "which could even be symptomatic of borderline personailty disorder/PTSD" in my last but one post.

 

[tempestbella42]

See, I debate there wasnt as much depression in those days. People were interdependent. They socialized in large house holds, went to church together, helped out on each others farms, etc, etc. I do attribute a great deal of modern depression with solitary lifestyles that many live today (me included).

They may not have liked all of who were around them, but the people had a chance to vent, purge, if you will on nearly a daily basis a lot of small things that can build up. Im not saying there wasnt sadness, but I dont think depression as we know it was what it was back then.

LD

There was more community spirit in the past, personally the more contact i have with "real" people the better i am, i enjoy helping/ meeting people.
Edward - ive just switched to the same antidepressant your on..(.so far so good!! )i smile now when i come home to my dog thats pleased to see me, instead of an empty flat :cool2: ...

Fleur- your grandad sounds like one of mine,although he wasnt in a camp, one of his brothers was in a japanese POW camp and him and his brothers came back different men!
nowadays were aware of post tramatic stress, PMT,PND and plain old depression and the different effects on individuals so we can get help and talk openly about it, although theres still a little stigma to mental health its a far cry from how our grandparents were treated...i know id of been "institutionalised" (ive had THEM and still live with the last!)
I get upset/annoyed by the way women like your(fleurs) grandma must of felt, and at the same time amazed at their strength to live through it..[angel]

im just thankful for progress made in mental health treatment!!

 

[Paisley]

My father (b. 1930) says that a lot of men came back from the war changed. Many of them took to alcohol and some lost their faith. Having seen Ken Burns' The War, I can see why: the fighting in the Pacific must have been the closest thing there has ever been to hell on earth.

I vaguely recall that the military has trained GIs to hold up better psychologically in POW camps.

 

[Dr Doran]

"The cure for anything is salt water -- sweat, tears or the sea." - Isak Dinesen

There is something brilliant in that.

 

[Edward]

See, I debate there wasnt as much depression in those days. People were interdependent. They socialized in large house holds, went to church together, helped out on each others farms, etc, etc. I do attribute a great deal of modern depression with solitary lifestyles that many live today (me included).

They may not have liked all of who were around them, but the people had a chance to vent, purge, if you will on nearly a daily basis a lot of small things that can build up. Im not saying there wasnt sadness, but I dont think depression as we know it was what it was back then.

LD

Certainly, I think the often isolating nature of modern life can exacerbate depression and other issues. I'm sure it still existed back then (given that a lot of it is chemical rather than environmental in origin), but perhaps the very different pace of life and greater sense of community did help.

Edward - ive just switched to the same antidepressant your on..(.so far so good!! )i smile now when i come home to my dog thats pleased to see me, instead of an empty flat :cool2: ...

Yeah, it's grand stuff.

FWIW, I do feel that while treatment has improved enormously, there still remains something of a stigma about mental health. I remember a girl I knew at University about ten years ago immediately lost interest in a guy she'd been swooning over for months when she discovered he was on anti-depressants. And she was a psychology major to boot!

As it becomes a more common thing, though, I think atittudes are slowly changing. I found people at work, both personally and in an official capacity, have been enormously supportive which has helped me no end. This has also given me the courage to be pretty open about it: I do believe that if all of us who suffer psychological illness are more open about it, this will do a lot to decrease any remaining stigma.

 

[Warbaby]

There is something brilliant in that.

She's one of my heroes. She also once wrote, "Of what value are our lives if we are not prepared to risk them in the pursuit of pleasure?".

 

[carter]

"A good night's sleep, or a ten-minute brawl, or a pint of chocolate ice cream, or all three together, is good medicine." Ray Bradbury, Dandelion Wine

 

[Paisley]

I've talked to Kim on the phone a few times and she sounds a lot perkier. She found a job and sounds like she is back to her old self. Maybe she really was just in a bad rut.

 

[dhermann1]

I recall a quote from the late 1700's, I believe, the gist of which was that whenever your spirits are down, look to the body. It usually means your body needs rest and sustenance.
Of course, we are now coming on the time of year when we pull out the greatest vintage, one might say downright ancient, cure for depression. I'm speaking, of course, of the winter solstice. Whatever faith or tradition you may follow, the fact is, it gets DARK in the winter in the northern latitudes. Which leads to depression (seasonal affective depression disorder, if you want to be trendy). Which led our ancestors to build big bonfires on the solstice eve, and leads us to put up strings of electric lights.
'Tis the season, almost!