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New York, 6:16 PM
Sat Nov 7
42 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/06/09
06:43 AM
@IBleedGlitter: The High Priestess of Tinsel: maybe you're better off without a maniacal toddler plotting your demise #babiescryinmothersaccent
11/06/09
11/06/09
No word yet on whether she learned to cuss more efficiently or picked up Excel tips, though. #babiescryinmothersaccent
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11/06/09
Southern babies: WAAAAHHH, YA'LL!
Northeastern babies: WICKED WAHHHH GUY!
West Coast babies: LIKE, FREAKIN' WAAAH!
Midwestern babies:WAHHH DONCHAKNOW? #babiescryinmothersaccent
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"WAAAA-OYYYYY!" #babiescryinmothersaccent
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11/03/09
Our natural intellectual problem solving skills no longer serve our evolutionary role. Of course depression goes way beyond what our bodies and brains need, because we shouldnt have stress over half the ridiculous things we manage to create stress over in the first place. We ought to only have depression when we know we haven't done what we need to to get enough food and shelter for our family. Instead we wonder if we will get rich enough to throw a million dollar sweet sixteen party.
11/03/09
The SciAm article raises a lot of interesting points and does not dumb down the research quite to the level of a Newsweek audience. Especially interesting was the author's point that this finding could lead to better therapies for depression which actually focus on helpful rumination rather than discouraging the person from ruminating on the issues behind their depression at all.
I know a lot of people are up in arms about this, but as a person who has suffered from long term mild depression (in addition to more serious bouts for those of you who would say it isn't the same), it's refreshing to see depression discussed as a state of brain activity rather than a horrible affliction, which must immediately be solved by the drug companies. #depression
11/03/09
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11/03/09
Also, I'm exasperated with the "Well I don't see how this applies to me, so this science cannot be true" way of thinking that is so, so common. #depression
11/03/09
11/03/09
Emphasis added by yours truly, because that "in response to stress" is key here. It's logical to be depressed in response to stress. I don't think anyone wants to get rid of our capacity to feel depressed, period. But people with clinical depression experience these feelings in the absence of explanatory stimuli. That's when the receptor becomes a problem. So you use drugs to counteract a malfunction (e.g., serotonin reuptake) in another area of the brain.
11/03/09
Our environment (which is largely made up of human-created technology at this point) has changed much faster than our brains. #depression
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11/03/09
While evolution is a wonderful thing, I am beginning to wonder if the field of psychology should start staying far far away from it (speaking as a psych student myself). #depression
11/04/09
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11/03/09
"This does so much for you! Give me some!"
"You don't have my disease, it won't do shit for you because there's nothing to fix."
It's like seeing somebody sick improve on antibiotics and trying to steal Penicillin so you can look and feel that much better. #depression
11/03/09
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11/03/09
I just feel that that sort of statement can lead to the idea that people shouldn't help others who are having trouble, because they would be taking a way an opportunity to grow. Most people who make it through hardships don't do it completely alone. Some do, but most do not.
I don't have depression, thankfully, but I have been through hardships and the tone of these articles rubs me the wrong way. You don't look at someone in pain and say "but it's good for the species! It's good for YOU!" That's awful. It minimizes the issue that people out there are hurting and hating themselves and their lives and the world around them.
The study I think is helpful. The spin it gets and that I think it could get is not. #depression