Posted: Oct 31, 2018 8:05 am
I don't agree with your contention about cancer, but cancer was just an example. Pick any illness from thousands - they're mostly natural.
From my perspective, you're not describing severe depression in a coherent fashion. It is NOT a normal reaction to circumstances - that would be feeing appropriate emotions and then when the circumstances have passed, a lessening, and an expression of new emotions in accordance with the new circumstances. Severe depression is when one feels severe sadness, lack of motivation, suicidal ideation, etc. when these feelings are not in response to circumstances. It is an illness. Its causes are many, and not fully understood, but there are many illnesses which are not understood. That does not mean we can define them any way we like. Severe depression is always a sign that something has 'gone wrong' - but again, this is a pretty nebulous phrase which does not necessarily entail the gone-wrongness being to do with 'mind makeup' (yet another nebulous term).
This puts me in mind of how mental illness continues to be the poor relation of physical illness. People just seem to feel fine about making up their own explanations for what it is or how it is. This in turn can lead to judgement. This in turn can lead to those suffering being ashamed or embarrassed. I haven't seen you judge, but as can be seen by Macdoc's comments, it happens. People are dying from severe depression. Is that a perfectly natural and normal normal reaction?
From my perspective, you're not describing severe depression in a coherent fashion. It is NOT a normal reaction to circumstances - that would be feeing appropriate emotions and then when the circumstances have passed, a lessening, and an expression of new emotions in accordance with the new circumstances. Severe depression is when one feels severe sadness, lack of motivation, suicidal ideation, etc. when these feelings are not in response to circumstances. It is an illness. Its causes are many, and not fully understood, but there are many illnesses which are not understood. That does not mean we can define them any way we like. Severe depression is always a sign that something has 'gone wrong' - but again, this is a pretty nebulous phrase which does not necessarily entail the gone-wrongness being to do with 'mind makeup' (yet another nebulous term).
This puts me in mind of how mental illness continues to be the poor relation of physical illness. People just seem to feel fine about making up their own explanations for what it is or how it is. This in turn can lead to judgement. This in turn can lead to those suffering being ashamed or embarrassed. I haven't seen you judge, but as can be seen by Macdoc's comments, it happens. People are dying from severe depression. Is that a perfectly natural and normal normal reaction?