February 25, 2004

• my best friend is a neuroscientist who works on depression issues at NIMH. it's a huge problem, compounded by the stigma of mental illness. the public needs education. thanks for a really interesting link.
• So SideDish, does he know The Secret of NIMH?
• Initially, I was surprised to see this in CHEMICAL & ENGINEERING NEWS: The Newsmagazine of the Chemical World; then, I read the article. Depression described as diverse disruptions of the body's neurochemistry: good. Exclusive focus on pharma antidepressant therapy, with only a brief mention of the mighty placebo effect: not surprisng, but much less good. Anecdotally and personally, I have had great success in controlling depression through exercise. Chase that last link only if you're color-blind, or else can fiddle your browser to override the fonts and colors therein. Ouch.
• ah...depression....one of my *favourite* topics.. a great article which i have quickly sent on to my daughter. she's the fourth generation manic-depressive in my family, and that's just as far back as i know of. i was first diagnosed with depression in the early 70's when the first generation anti-depressants came out...and when i took them, i thought i'd died and gone to heaven, so remarkable was the relief. needless to say i never went complaining to anyone when i was swinging on the 'up' scale. it took another fifteen years before i would acknowledge to myself or the doctors that perhaps being too happy had it's problems as well. i've hit the bottom of the pit with two suicide attempts that left me hospitalised and under the ect treatment. bipolar disorder, unfortunately tends to be progressive with age and for awhile research and treatment didn't keep up with me. it's only been the last few years that i've learned the secret to success in maintaining some control of this nonsense and medicine is only half of it, unfortunately. the individual has to "medicate' their own life style as well in terms of identifying and avoiding external stimuli that will prompt or accelerate such moods. i'm hoping my daughter will one day learn such. maybe next year when she's thirty??? anyway, i meander...the subject does that to me...there really is no quick fix...only temporary repairs that hopefully will allow the person to then do the rest of the work themselves. it troubles me, however, how over the last decade, depression has become such a popular 'disease'. i see far too many children and others being medicated instead of their real needs being addressed instead. now i must go find a more cheerful thread...but thanks for that link.
• It's a good article, thanks! Asian societies - especially Chinese and Japanese societies - tend to think of mental and emotional disorders as some kind of contagious disease, or weakness on the part of the sufferer. If it's found out that one is going to a psychiatrist or psychologist, that becomes a social stigma. It's very sad, and individuals can feel very helpless against this social pressure. I know I have mild depression myself (attempted suicide once, self-mutilation a few times, and contemplated suicide seriously too many times to count). A few times, especially in my youth, I tried to broach the subject to my father, who was the more liberal of my parents. He felt very strongly that emotional problems could be handled by "getting over it". I've never seen a psychologist in my life, except once to talk to my ex-fiance's about his problems. I never told my father that my ex was seeing one, or I think he would have made an effort to break us up sooner. I don't blame my father for his views. But it can be extremely alienating to know even one's dearest and nearest cannot understand. I just hope more research like this will help change the views of societies in the world and make treatment for depression and other disorders more acceptable.
• A chronicler of the storm is crushed by its sorrows. A skeptic on depression is consumed by a disease he doesn't believe in. A man teetering on the cliff finds his salvation in an unexpected place: modern medicine.
• Great column, H. A worthwhile read, thanks for posting. why isn't MoFi ever serious anymore?
• Indeed, another well-played link. A good read. Wish him the best 'o luck. Ralph, I think MoFi is still serious - when it feels like it
• I came across that story as well and was thinking it would make a good fpp--do you want to post it? I stopped hoping for serious content/discussion here in the land of dopey one-liner derailments and it's helped me avoid losing my shit like this again.
• That's a depressing thought. *cough* But I disagree - what about the recent SimianXX thread or the "back to the past" thread or the various Iraq war / Abu Gharib / ShrubCo threads (All props to the H-dogg where due)? And while the poetry threads aren't necessarily "serious discussion", they are (or can be) mature and reflective. While we may have more eekishness in threads, I disagree that serious discussion isn't to be found or expected. The "serious" threads don't typically go as long with as much input, that's true. And due to the way cookies are structured, that means they tend to fall off the sidebar relatively quickly in comparison to the chatty silly ones. And which filter is it that's so serious minded anyway, when it's at home? Hmm?
• My original tiny tiny "why isn't MoFi ever serious anymore?" was meant to be ironic, in that the post that preceded it was deadly serious, whereas people on the blog and elsewhere are gnashing their brandished teeth about how every thread turns into a party after five minutes. Indeed, I meant it to point out the fact that there is, indeed still meat to be found amid the carbohydrates, this thread being one fine and useful example. We now return you to our regularly scheduled foodfight.
• I have to strongly disagree with those who gripe about lack of serious content on MoFi. I honestly don't know where it's coming from; granted, about 97% of what I post isn't serious, but I have to think that those who find serious content lacking are either not reading enough threads, or are focusing on a few little bursts of levity in a serious thread and completely ignoring the constructive comments people have made, which is completely unfair. I think it's probably the latter. The balance of seriousness and levity on MoFi is exactly why I keep coming back. GAH, I am SO SICK of this discussion! /end rant
• RTD, I had originally interpreted yr comment as a joke, perhaps in reference to the recent IgSlu mini-fiasco thingy in the other thread...I'm glad to hear that you weren't serious {pun intended, I suppose) cause I agree with Koko 100% here.
• :^|
• I think there used to be more threads of thoughtful discussion, that's not what mofi is as much anymore and that's fine, it just required an adjustment in my expectations of mofi.
• If it's any consolation mandyman, I still put down some serious thinking cap with your mix jamming in the background!
• Rose's story of dealing with the constant stress of the storm's aftermath, and people not wanting to read about it, makes me rankle once again at some of the condemnation I've heard of CNN for airing footage from their embedded reporters of soldiers being killed. Some people are saying that parents of servicemen and -women should be spared the sight. All I could think was, "Iraqi parents don't get to be spared that, and it's happening on their soil."
• If you like my mix, come listen to radio free mofirc sometime (even better, become a dj!). Unless you're an insomniac, I'm probably on too late for you to listen, but the other dj's play some great stuff during the day. I just discovered the IgnorantSlut pile-on in that other thread, so now I get why what I took was serious was actually a joke. What I wrote is what I honestly think and if you want to take that as my feeling superior to mofi or something like that, I can't really stop you. I found myself getting increasingly cranky in threads and I had to stop and ask myself where that was coming from (if you know me irl, you know I'm not a cranky person generally) and what I was going to do about it. And there you have it.
• Think you're better than us, do you?
• Said by the man who corrects mefites on their interpretation of Lacan.
• Only the ones who don't understand it.
• as one who knows her irl, I can assure that mandyman is better than you :P
• mandyman vs. Wolof! Two monkeys enter, one monkey leaves!
• I can't choose! They both rock!
• Please, guys, this is serious.