Newspaper article which stigmatises people with depression

[Sparkle1984]

This article (http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2013/aug/09/pills-unhappiness-reinforces-sad-human) about depression was actually published on the Guardian website last Friday, but I only discovered it today. It is written by the priest Giles Fraser.

I think the article is terrible and irresponsible - he promotes the idea that depression is merely "unhappiness" when actually it is far worse than that. I can tell by the way he's worded the article that he has never suffered from depression himself. He seems to think that "happiness can be reclaimed" merely by doing a bit of exercise or socialising more, thereby implying we're all just lazy. As if someone who is severely depressed is going to have the energy or motivation to exercise or go out socialising in the first place! :angry:

Also he condemns the use of medication for depression. Who is he to judge people in this way? Surely it's better that people are given access to medication rather than being at risk of harming themselves?! I bet he has never known the level of despair and hopelessness that someone reaches when they feel that medication is their only way out and their only way to function in day to day life. :weep: Some people (like Giles Fraser) really seem to have a bee in their bonnet about people with anxiety/depression taking medication, and I can never understand that as it's not as if it affects his life in any way, if you know what I mean? So why can't these people just mind their own business?!

Maybe he believes it's somehow morally wrong for people to take any kind of mind-altering substances, but I think it's morally wrong to let people suffer when there's something available that could help them.

Articles like this only serve to stigmatise people with depression, and it could also discourage people from speaking out and seeking help, thereby putting them in danger. This is the sort of thing I'd expect to see in the Daily Mail, not a broadsheet like The Guardian!

As it is, nowhere near enough money is invested in CBT and counselling, yet people like him want to deny sufferers access to medication which could help them, at least in the short term.

So in summary, my response to Giles Fraser's article is that there should be no restrictions on access to medication, and that funding for CBT/counselling should be substantially increased so that no one should have to wait more than a couple of weeks for therapy (but they should be allowed it sooner if their illness is particularly severe).

[AuntieMoosie]

That man, never mind the fact that he's a priest, does not know or understand what he's talking about!!!!!

Would he tell someone suffering from arthritis or MS or any of the other illnesses out there, not to take their medication and to just get out and socialise?????

It's always people that have never suffered that come out with this absolute rubbish!!!!!

Depression is an illness, it has nothing whatsoever to do with being happy or unhappy, they are 2 completely different things.

If you're feeling unhappy or sad, you FEEL it..........if you suffer with depression, you feel NOTHING!!!!!! It's like having a dead mind in a live body.

Please don't let this stupid ill informed man make any one of you feel stigmatised or anything else for that matter.

DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY AND PANIC ARE ILLNESSES!!! IT'S NOT A CHOICE WE MAKE, IT'S A CONDITION THAT WE HAVE TO LIVE WITH!!!

Sparkle I totally agree with everything that you have said hun, you are right on ever level.

Don't ever try to reason or even understand these ill informed and careless people, they're not worth your energy hun :hugs:

[PanchoGoz]

Then there is the comeback article (http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/12/depression-unhappiness-antidepressants-overprescribed) which says how doctors are having to prescribe to those on CBT waiting lists as they have no other choice :D

[Sparkle1984]

Then there is the comeback article (http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/12/depression-unhappiness-antidepressants-overprescribed) which says how doctors are having to prescribe to those on CBT waiting lists as they have no other choice :D

That's a good point. I do think that in certain cases people might not need meds if they are given faster access to therapy. It's important that people are given a choice. If someone thinks they'll be able to focus on better on their therapy if they have meds, then that should be fine.

[AuntieMoosie]

I totally agree Sparkle and PanchoGoz :)

We are all different and therefore different treatments and therapies will suit different people.

The thing is, we can all moan about doctors dishing out antidepressants like there's no tomorrow, but really what else can they do??

They are faced with a patient who is either depressed, anxious or suffering with panic attacks or all three.

The doctor knows that the waiting lists for any kind of therapy are long and getting longer and they probably realise that the patient isn't going to be able to wait that long without their condition becoming worse, which could eventually lead to having to have the mental health team involved or even an admission to hospital, so what option does the doctor have??

The doctor may well be a firm believer in therapies rather than medication, but really they have that choice taken away from them with the waiting times and the health and well being of their patient.

So what more can they do apart from prescribing medication?? the have a duty of care to that patient.

So at the end of the day, it's down to the government again to provide the services that patients need.

The government though will look straight away at costs.

But if they stopped for one minute and looked at how much it's costing for the endless prescriptions for drugs, the pressure and money it costs for mental health teams to be involved, the massive costs of keeping a patient in hospital, then they would probably find that to provide more therapists would be a damn site cheaper all round. But they can never seem to look at the whole picture and that's where they endlessly go wrong with so many things nowadays.

All treatments and access to therapies should be available at the point of need, I think we three already know that, but how do we get the government to listen and understand that?? :)

[Sparkle1984]

That's a very good point Auntie Moosie. I wish the government would realise that cutting access to these services is a false economy and will actually cost the country more in the long run. For example, if someone isn't given help quickly enough, they may end up so ill that they have to stop working.

Another thing which bugs me is that a lot of the wellbeing services in my own area seem to be only open during weekdays, meaning working people can't access them unless they take time off work. Even though it may in the short term be more expensive to provide access to CBT in the evenings and at weekends, I think it would be worth it in the long run if it means people can be treated before they reach the point of being unable to work.

[Tessar]

The way I read Giles' article, he's only interested in promoting his sensationalised theory about anti-depressants being an unethical money maker for drugs companies. That these companies spotted a niche in the market & needlessly push anti-depressants onto people who are just "unhappy" with their lives. He seems to suggest that people "make do" with taking pills instead of finding ways to improve their lives.

Clearly he doesnt appreciate that depression isn't just about being unhappy. It's much deeper than that & involves many other symptoms as well including physical ones & it's complicated to cure.

Or maybe he DOES understand depression but rather than "tell the truth", he sees an opportunity to make a name for himself. After all, there's been alot of negative press over the years in relation to anti-depressants.

To my mind, his "sensational story" wouldnt stand up if he factored in all the reasons people get depressed, such as: traumatic/sad experiences; biological factors affecting ability to cope with life's troubles or making it more difficult to maintain feelings of happiness than others.

Its a strong possibility he is IGNORING these groups of people deliberately to jazz up his story. He suggests everyone on anti-depressants takes them for one reason only .... they have a bad life. As a matter of fact, sometimes when life is going really well for me, I can still sometimes feel down! So, Giles, you stick that in your pipe & smoke it.

He bases his article on the assumption that unhappy people automatically reach for anti-depressants. We know this is rubbish since in most cases it's not a knee-jerk reaction to take them. Perhaps Giles should visit NMP & read the many, many posts from people who fight NOT to take them & even when they are on them they'd rather not be. I'm sorry but he's just an ar$e!!

I'm sure to those of us who have been (or still are) depressed Giles will come across as callous & very dismissive. What he has written reflects badly upon people diagnosed with depression. I found him disrespectful of the troubles that people suffer in life. Maybe he's never had any kind of trauma or upsetting experience because if he had, I dont believe he would have written such an article. Or maybe he just doesnt have any feelings at all.

As Giles so charmingly puts it "If you have a $h1t job or a $h1thome life, being unhappy is hardly inappropriate". Well this is one bit I do agree with ..... of course if your life isnt good then you will be unhappy!! But thats not the only reason people get depressed. That's the point he is missing or....(or as I said - he is trying to sweep it under the rug just so he can sensationalise anti-depressants).

He would rather ignore or belittle people so he can paint a picture that the drugs companies are only pushing their meds onto people to make money. That these people dont really need meds because they are just unhappy & not depressed at all. What crap!

I for one discovered anti-depressants not only helped me recover from depression by offering me respite from my awful feelings but they helped me with things like PMT. I guess he'd probably try to tell me that PMT doesnt exist or something. I'd quite like to meet him when I have aggresive PMT & feel really rubbish. I could tell him a thing or two about depression. Maybe when I'm finished with him he'd feel depressed, now wouldnt that be funny?

Do you suppose Giles has ever been depressed or known someone very close to him with depression? I dont know. I really dont know.

Despite his poor & uncaring attitude I did agree with his statement that .... "unhappiness is often a perfectly proper response to the state of the world". Of course it is. I think we'd all be most uncaring & unfeeling people if the news or terrible things that happen to us or others didnt make us unhappy. At least he got that right.

Overall it's clear to me he's more interested in making a name for himself than actually contributing anything worthwhile to the debate about such a sensitive issue.

---------- Post added at 20:23 ---------- Previous post was at 20:18 ----------

oh, there was a lot more I wanted to say about this Giles character but I didn't because it would have meant getting really personal & saying things that might have upset people. his article is definitely not helpful at all because it presses buttons that I for one would really rather not have someone press. I guess its not worth me wasting any more time over him really.

Still, at least he is bringing us all closer together in our fight against depression eh?

---------- Post added at 20:33 ---------- Previous post was at 20:23 ----------


Then there is the comeback article (http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/12/depression-unhappiness-antidepressants-overprescribed) which says how doctors are having to prescribe to those on CBT waiting lists as they have no other choice :D

this is a much better article, more balanced and true