Some idiot from The Guardian...

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2013/aug/09/pills-unhappiness-reinforces-sad-human


I have to be honest, I'm not entirely sure what Fraser's point is. It appears he has no understanding of mental illness, nor has he concrete evidence on which to base his utterly absurd points. Yes, I will agree that many people are mis-diagnosed with depression, that people often confuse unhappiness with a severe mental illness, however it seems to me he does not believe in the condition at all. Classifying depression as "something quasi-medical" is definitely one way to really, really piss off somebody who has had the misfortune of depression in their life. 
As somebody who has suffered greatly with the illness, and knowing many other people who have fought the same battle, I feel educated enough on the subject to be able to say 'Giles, this is balls'. Depression is not feeling unhappy or simply dissatisfied with life. Depression is great periods of time drifting by in a cloud of darkness, with the sufferer helpless, unable to alter their own situation by themselves. For many people, this is a reality to which they do not want to face, thus hiding from society becomes the only option. Those who suffer with depression (and of course, many other illnesses such as Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, ADHD etc, etc) often have no choice but to take medication. Far from what Fraser is suggesting, it is common not to be diagnosed and given a pill on the first visit to the Doctor. It was 4 months before I was given the choice of medication, and that was only because I posed a severe risk to myself. Had I not taken Fluoxetine (aka Prozac) I would probably be dead. Although this was not the drug for me, and neither was Citalopram (Celexa), to which I changed after a couple of months, without the medication I simply would not be here. Anti-depressants save thousands of lives, and the fact that Fraser is even suggesting otherwise is absolute bollocks. 
"if we translate misery into some sort of chemical imbalance" ... Um, Giles, it is? Depression is commonly treated by a group of drugs called Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) which work by increasing the levels of serotonin in our brains. For an increase to be required suggests there was a lack of the chemical in the first place, thus proving depression is a chemical imbalance, with the prevailing symptom of misery. 
I completely could not believe what I was reading when I read this article last night. I could not believe somebody could have such a bigoted mind and could insult such a large group of sufferers. I feel for those people battling with undiagnosed symptoms of any mental illness, who read this article and now feel that they have no reason to go to the Doctor, that they are fine and will soon get better. If you have depression, you will not get better by yourself. This article is so close to the crap such as 'get over it', 'pull yourself together'. If you have depression you cannot 'get over it'. You wouldn't tell somebody with cancer to 'get over it' so why would you someone with depression? It is an utterly debilitating illness, at the hands of which so many people die. It's about time people stop pretending mental illness doesn't exist and begin to do something about it.