Can philosophy cure depression ?

Can philosophers help resolve the real problems that people have in their lives?

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NielsBohr
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Re: Can philosophy cure depression ?

Post by NielsBohr »

duszek wrote: Are there any persons from French literature that make you laugh ?
-Try this ! :arrow:
Vladimir: So, there you are again.
Estragon: Am I?
Vladimir: I'm glad to see you back. I thought you were gone for ever.
Estragon: Me too.

Samuel Beckett - Waiting for Godot.
-------------------------------
In french:
Vladimir: Alors, te revoilà, toi.
Estragon: Tu crois ?
Vladimir: Je suis content de te revoir. Je te croyais parti pour toujours.
Estragon: Moi aussi.

Samuel Beckett - En attendant Godot.

-If you wander to which proposition Estragon is saying "Me too", I think you'll begin laughing...
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attofishpi
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Re: Can philosophy cure depression ?

Post by attofishpi »

duszek wrote:Everything around me sucks.
I always find watching a little Big Bang Theory or whatever else in the way of a decent comedy gets my mind off the crap...

The below little snippet of Blackadder is 'around you' - if you don't get a giggle out of it get some medication.

blackadder ink and incapability
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOSYiT2iG08
duszek
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Re: Can philosophy cure depression ?

Post by duszek »

Yes, I did get a giggle out of it, yes. Thank you.

But it´s not a permanent solution, it´s a pain-killer for a second or two.

I try to create small islands of pain-killing around me. I read a thriller to my American ex in the evenings and yesterday we laughed because Elvis P. was wearing a jump-suit on a poster in the book and Germans call a jump-suit an "Overall". So we laughed because in the German translation Elvis was kind of wearing a farmer´s outfit ...

:lol:

We are both non-native speakers of German and we learn it together in a relaxed way.

Does the name Gunnarstranda mean something specific in Norwegian, Voice of Time ? If you happen to read here.
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attofishpi
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Re: Can philosophy cure depression ?

Post by attofishpi »

Getting back to the original thread title, and in consideration of the aftermath of Robin Williams I truly believe depression is something that cannot be reasoned 'away'. I believe depression is an imbalance within the brain that requires medication.
I have been in the lowest pit of hell thanks to our 'God' many times in the past and been very close to having a schizophrenia diagnosis, im sure there are plenty of atheist psychiatrists that would still label me so....but one thing that ALWAYS got me through was my sense of humour, which comes from a sense of self, a belief in who i was from my beginnings as a child and the path that the light (nb. panentheism) mapped two steps ahead.
One thing that i very rarely suffered was the black dog of depression....but i know that when you are feeling as such there is NO AMOUNT OF REASONING that will make it any better....ergo medication is required if it wont break its grip...logic is useless.
randallbenak
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Re: Can philosophy cure depression ?

Post by randallbenak »

I think it depends on why you're depressed. From what I understand, depression can be a physical problem (chemical imbalance), so while Objectivism will help you identify the root cause in this case, you won't be cured simply by "thinking correctly". On the other hand, bad philosophy can certainly lead to depression; good philosophy will equip you with the knowledge you need to lead a happy and fulfilled life.
sjeff70
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Re: Can philosophy cure depression ?

Post by sjeff70 »

Living poorly could be the reason for chemical imbalances.
We reap what we sow.
Blaggard
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Re: Can philosophy cure depression ?

Post by Blaggard »

sjeff70 wrote:Living poorly could be the reason for chemical imbalances.
We reap what we sow.
As can living well, we sow what we reap. if only it was that simple being sad would not exist.

No offense but I don't think depression can be formulated by such simple means. I think if you are depressed the means are more complex than living poorly, that seems to me to just be a cop out.
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Sculptor
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Re: Can philosophy cure depression ?

Post by Sculptor »

attofishpi wrote: Mon Aug 11, 2014 2:55 pm
duszek wrote:Everything around me sucks.
I always find watching a little Big Bang Theory or whatever else in the way of a decent comedy gets my mind off the crap...

The below little snippet of Blackadder is 'around you' - if you don't get a giggle out of it get some medication.

blackadder ink and incapability
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOSYiT2iG08
For the Americans looking in, yes, that is Hugh Laurie ("House") playing the stupid Prince Regent.
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attofishpi
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Re: Can philosophy cure depression ?

Post by attofishpi »

Sculptor wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 11:50 am
attofishpi wrote: Mon Aug 11, 2014 2:55 pm
duszek wrote:Everything around me sucks.
I always find watching a little Big Bang Theory or whatever else in the way of a decent comedy gets my mind off the crap...

The below little snippet of Blackadder is 'around you' - if you don't get a giggle out of it get some medication.

blackadder ink and incapability
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOSYiT2iG08
For the Americans looking in, yes, that is Hugh Laurie ("House") playing the stupid Prince Regent.
lol. I can't say I've ever watched House but shows what a bloody good actor he is. I think it was when Laurie was on Letterman where they showed a clip of Blackadder with him as the Prince, I think the audience were stunned as much as anything ..and who would have thought Baldrick would start teaching us stuff!
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Sculptor
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Re: Can philosophy cure depression ?

Post by Sculptor »

attofishpi wrote: Wed May 25, 2022 2:24 am
Sculptor wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 11:50 am
attofishpi wrote: Mon Aug 11, 2014 2:55 pm

I always find watching a little Big Bang Theory or whatever else in the way of a decent comedy gets my mind off the crap...

The below little snippet of Blackadder is 'around you' - if you don't get a giggle out of it get some medication.

blackadder ink and incapability
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOSYiT2iG08
For the Americans looking in, yes, that is Hugh Laurie ("House") playing the stupid Prince Regent.
lol. I can't say I've ever watched House but shows what a bloody good actor he is. I think it was when Laurie was on Letterman where they showed a clip of Blackadder with him as the Prince, I think the audience were stunned as much as anything ..and who would have thought Baldrick would start teaching us stuff!
I think one of his greatest performances is Berty Wooster in Jeeves and Wooster, which he played alongside Stephen Fry as the inimitable Jeeves.
If you ever see the DVDs get them. Especially if you love Wodehouse.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098833/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
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attofishpi
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Re: Can philosophy cure depression ?

Post by attofishpi »

Sculptor wrote: Wed May 25, 2022 12:14 pm
attofishpi wrote: Wed May 25, 2022 2:24 am
Sculptor wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 11:50 am

For the Americans looking in, yes, that is Hugh Laurie ("House") playing the stupid Prince Regent.
lol. I can't say I've ever watched House but shows what a bloody good actor he is. I think it was when Laurie was on Letterman where they showed a clip of Blackadder with him as the Prince, I think the audience were stunned as much as anything ..and who would have thought Baldrick would start teaching us stuff!
I think one of his greatest performances is Berty Wooster in Jeeves and Wooster, which he played alongside Stephen Fry as the inimitable Jeeves.
If you ever see the DVDs get them. Especially if you love Wodehouse.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098833/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
It must have been on TV over here as I remember enjoying an episode-but on at a ridiculous hour (as with most Brit comedies).

DVD!!? I might have to see if I can stream it or just download, my DVD player broke years ago and there are no antique dealers near me :wink:
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Sculptor
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Re: Can philosophy cure depression ?

Post by Sculptor »

attofishpi wrote: Thu May 26, 2022 12:32 am
Sculptor wrote: Wed May 25, 2022 12:14 pm
attofishpi wrote: Wed May 25, 2022 2:24 am

lol. I can't say I've ever watched House but shows what a bloody good actor he is. I think it was when Laurie was on Letterman where they showed a clip of Blackadder with him as the Prince, I think the audience were stunned as much as anything ..and who would have thought Baldrick would start teaching us stuff!
I think one of his greatest performances is Berty Wooster in Jeeves and Wooster, which he played alongside Stephen Fry as the inimitable Jeeves.
If you ever see the DVDs get them. Especially if you love Wodehouse.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098833/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
It must have been on TV over here as I remember enjoying an episode-but on at a ridiculous hour (as with most Brit comedies).

DVD!!? I might have to see if I can stream it or just download, my DVD player broke years ago and there are no antique dealers near me :wink:
I'm given to understand that DVD players can be bought for next to nothing, even new ones!!
I don't know anyone who is streaming it.
Phil8659
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Re: Can philosophy cure depression ?

Post by Phil8659 »

duszek wrote: Wed Aug 14, 2013 6:38 pm Modern literature has become so ugly and disgusting that it can depress you even more.

I wonder if philosophical writings of a person full of life energy would not have a positive effect on one´s psyche.
Not someone like Sören K. or Nietzsche.
Perhaps a friendly teacher of philosophy ? His kindness will express itself through the way he explains.
Have you ever heard of the GI Joe program? GIGO, Garbage in, Garbage Out. In order for a mind to use Philosophy to escape depression, one has to realize that depression is not an illness but an signal that something is wrong with one's ability to think, to do the job of a mind. If you are simple minded, you chase your own tail imagining that this or that is the cause of depression, unable to see what is true, Today, this moment, is very little different than any other day.

Philosophy can only help you cure depression when you can control your own mind in order to figure out why you are really depressed, and it has little to do with objective reality.

A mind is a symbolic information processor, all it can do is read information with the body, process that information, and write it back to the body as behavior. So, see if you can define the factual mind.

A mind, when functional, is the most powerful life support system possible. Therefore, a mind has a well-defined biologically determined job to perform and well-defined physically determined means of doing its job. The mind controls your every behavior and it can only do this by processing factual information.
A thing is defined by a binary, a relative constrained by correlatives, i.e. a binary construct. By knowing how to use this fact to construct grammar systems by which to do the job of a mind means that you can find the two squared results, Common Grammar, Arithmetic, Algebra and Geometry. Each of them a method of utilizing binary recursion in a specific manner. So, the only power a mind can have is the ability to make judgments using binary recursion, and since binary recursion can never contradict itself, to claim that one of these can contradict another, or that one can be literate in one but not all, is a fallacy.
Plato called this fact Dialectic, grammar in accordance with the two elements of a thing.
And as binary is exactly the same binary in the perceptible and the intelligible, a mind that functions as the image, i.e. a commensurate pairing, intelligible and perceptible, is functioning. However, there is no such grammar teaching today. Mankind thinks and speaks gibberish, and you do too, garbage out more than you realize.

So yes, if you actually know what philosophy is, as defined by Plato, you can beat depression, but as long as you are delusional, believing you have made it possible for you as mind to do its biologically defined job, when by provable fact, you cannot, it is depression, the only response a mind has to warn you.
Who can stop the GI Joe program? Only you and only you if you are very dedicated to doing it.
Only you can choose to live and eat the garbage. Only you can, by your own effort change it.
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Re: Can philosophy cure depression ?

Post by attofishpi »

I just want to say to everyone on this here forum...that I apologise for much of my terrible, disdainful language towards you over the years. I have been put through some horrible tests where, at times, I have considered that I must have been Hitler or worse in a previous life.

I would not wish my existence, my path of life upon anyone. God doesn't fuck about - see there I go again with my bad language.

Right now I dropped a bunch of codeine to go with the tail end of some Guinness and it's making me feel rather nice. The liver turns the codeine into morphine (apparently_) and so I drift on a cloud of euphoria..

I think you all are awesome in your own way. I love how everyone has their own path, and their own way of expressing themselves.

I have sounded extremely arrogant of recent times too...and well. Not sure about apologising always, but I respect you all no matter what you have believed in, since you all have strived to comprehend what we perceive to be real...and reasoning other peoples comprehension of stuff, well that's worthy of respect.

Fuzzy wuzzy I feel sometimes.

I have had some extreeeemeeeeleey puzzlings times over the past few weeks. God is very peculiar...it's like we are indeed a brain in a vat, like God whether divine or other, did intentionally create our existence to be as efficient as possible - ergo, a brain-in-a-vat is far more efficient than a material body in existence. (*** nose)

I wonder how keen any of you are... to truly experience the lucid dream of reality projected to your conscious comprehension? ..such that you have close to no DOUBT that we are indeed embedded within an intelligent system.

I actually still like the fact that God exists...understand there is reason for doubt. God tells pretty much 'white lies' to instil doubt, and there are reasons for that. I prefer heaven to hell, hell is not a nice place to be.

Getting back to the thread title, re depression. Honestly, if any of you are feeling depressed...just pause for a moment in your life, say a prayer and thank God that you actually have life...you have no idea the struggle that God (may have) went through to create our reality...so do be thankful for your existence - and POOF...it works for me, you won't even need to medicate for God runs through your entire being, every atom of your existence...and you will feel better.
Sometimes life is so vivid and beautiful...and that is what God wants...for you to be happy and marvel at it all...life is like a miracle, reality is amazing.

Takes a lot to get me embarrassed these days (*even more than spelling mistakes) ...so yeah, just appreciate what you have..we are very lucky.
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Re: Can philosophy cure depression ?

Post by Advocate »

No. But it can give perspective and context to your suffering and help you experience it more clearly.
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