Thanks.

A few observations first.

It is posted on a blog called "Superorganizers". What does being organzied have to do with depression?

The host stated; "It's an honest, and brave account of her struggle with depression", that is what I am disputing. And I can, because I have experience in the field and it was posted on HN.

To begin, talk to any psychiatrist and they will tell you there is a clinical distinction between sadness and depression. This is the only distinction I am making and I know any of you cannot understand that which is part of my problem both explaining why this is bad. And maybe my vulgarity towards the author was uncalled for but it signals my deeper frustration with the way Mental Health is often confused with Mental Illness and how comfortable people are with throwing around clinical tersm to describe ordinary mood changes.

We all get sad, it is human, and yes, there are skills to get through it. However, depression is DIAGNOSED when you cannot get out of sadness.

https://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/is-it-depression-or-t...

"Feeling sadness, loneliness, or grief when you go through a difficult life experience is part of being human. And most of the time, you can continue to function. You know that in time you will bounce back, and you do."

Brie went to a Therapist. Brie might have been diagnosed as depressed. But based what I have read from, Brie was likely misdiagnosed. There is no blood test for depression and therapists frequently over diagnose depression. This is probably more likely to happen to pateints who have money to spend on therapists.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6818431/
"Paris argues that major depression is seriously overdiagnosed. He notes that the term dates back to the DSM, Third Edition (DSM-III), where there was an attempt to distinguish depressive episodes with clinically significant effects on functioning from minor symptoms that are passing and not disabling. He notes that the percentage of the United States population taking antidepressants had risen to 11% by 2011, expressing concern about the frequency with which treatment for depression is pharmacological and does not incorporate psychotherapy."

So on to Brie's article, she wrote;

>"Just over a year ago, I was hit with my first and nasty—and I mean nasty—wave of depression."

>"I’m on the other side of it now. And, from this admittedly fortunate position, I can say with confidence that I’m grateful I went through it. Having my back against the wall forced me to understand more about what makes me tick, shuts me down, and picks me up. And it forced me to make some big changes in my life to get acquainted with and comfortable accommodating them. I wish I had done a lot of this work sooner"

She is on the other side, she "bounced back". That by definition means she was not depressed (clinically). This is the human condition called sadness, it is not a disorder. This is just a definition and I have no idea why people feel hurt that I insist on calling it sadness instead of depression. I have a reason for insisting on this distinction and I will get into this later.

But, to go on, her sadness was situational;

>"My depression came on a few months into the pandemic when the uncertainty of it all was at its height. "

I am not bringing it up to make the sadness less real, but situational sadness/depression, are different from Clinical Depression of unknown origin. She can literally point to when it began and what triggered it. There is no way I can do that.

Why is this a problem for people who have Clinical Depression or people like me with Schizoaffective Bipolar Disorder? Because none of what she offered will work for us. NONE OF IT. That is why they wanted to electrocute the sadness out of me at one point. Our condition is not simply situational. (I can make an argument that clinical depression is also situational but that is more complex and not solved without clinical testing).

But you see, SHE got through her "depression" with these "hacks" and her "Proactive Tracking System". And she has a sections called "Time To Get Happy" where she puts it all together.

Only people who are sad can tell themselves it is "time to get happy". When my depression comes I try to kill myself. It is a scale, i know, and that scale needs marks to measure it by. She is sad, I was depressed. It does not her expeience less true, it was jut not depression.

Now, here is my problem which many of you will not understand because you probably do not have depression and what you can only relate to sadness.

People will read that article, see the word depression, and suggest all these "hints and tips and hacks" to me when I tell them I take Prozac. It happens all the time, even from strangers (I am open about my disorder). And when I say they do not work they refuse to believe it and they blame ME. I am too lazy, I just have to get out more, or do 45 minutes of HIIT and throw some sticky notes on the wall. When people ask me why I am on disability they suggest maybe not working that is causing my disorder!

And that, you see, is how stigma is born. All the Mentally Ill who are homeless, why are they homeless? Because society thinks they are worthless. And that idea incubates in articles like this.

And it is not only stigma from others, it is the self-stigma which is probably the worst. There are many people with clinical depression who will read that article and try her "hacks" and they will fail (because these thing do not help people resolve clinical depression). So then they feel like even more of a failure. This happens EVRYDAY. So how does that help depression? You see, if Brie has a mental illness, and SHE can get over it, then I must be REALLY bad. No hope but the rope.

Articles with this poor choice of wording will most likely increase self-stigma and suicide.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5077239/

"People with a high level of self-stigma agree on the societal preconceptions about individuals with psychiatric disorders and thus are convinced of their inferiority or untreatability of their mental problems. Self-stigma frequently leads to dysphoria and decline in self-esteem and quality of life (QoL). Social avoidance or other forms of potentially maladaptive behavior are also common. Self-stigma might also lead to suicide. Self-stigma may also have a deleterious impact on the treatment efficacy in mental disorders."

https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/February-2021/The-Many-...

What I am literally doing is fighting to keep people like me alive. It took me 20 years of therapy to see through this bullsht and I refuse to let it continue.

Her article was not a "brave account of her struggle with depression". It was a bunch of tips on how to distract yourself because COVID took all your fun away and mad you sad.

COVID caused a lot of people to suffer with actually having to look at themselves and I do not think they liked what they saw. But that is not depression, it is the sadness of seeing how empty your life is.

She uses "depression" to describe her sadness because it sounds so much more romantic and a heroic struggle that they overcame with sheer grit and ingenuity. And best yet, she actually falls in LOVE!!! What an ending!

If she substituted "sadness" for "depression" in that article I would have had no complaints. What, is sadness not bad enough?

But why is she really writing this article? She wrote it because she is a writer.

>"That learning turned into conversations with lots of people I admire, which turned into a series of consulting projects. And that turned into a capital J Job that I absolutely love and that pays the bills. I hope I do this work forever, and it looks like I might just get to."

>"I acquired many tools for dealing with low moments of any shape and size and maximizing the happiness and satisfaction in my life. "

Why he is the Henry Ford of Mental Health! Maximizing happiness and satisfaction! Just follow my tips on my new App! Read my next big thing!

And that is why I am angry with the article as well, because it seems like a ploy to try to profit off of people's sadness and depression.