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May 16, 2022Liked by Robyn Chuter

Lots to unpack and comment on, suffice as to say that I agree.

1. Interesting that more women are “depressed” than men. Is it just that blokes are reluctant to seek help ? My mum was probably sad due to loneliness but still enjoyed life.

In days gone by I’d have a few pints with mates after work and a whinge, that was my therapy. These days I still ride to and from work, sedately, but I suspect the exercise is enough to chill emotions and or just give me an emotional boost in.

2. I very much agree with the sentiment that life is full of ups and downs, you can’t always be happy. These days society has become softer.

3. The destruction of the family unit doesn’t help

4. A close family member went through some real bad times, self harm etc. the health dept. was insistent on prescribing some anti- depressants and we reluctantly acquiesced. I will say that they did perhaps take the edge off whatever they were going through, and we were fortunate to find a proper counsellor and a CBT course that resolved their issues. It did need a lot of family support and commitment and not everyone has a supportive family. I’m not sure where I’m going with this, it perhaps reinforcing point 3.

4. Social media doesn’t help. It must put enormous pressure on kids, and interferes with the values and traditions of the family. And now the government is getting in on the act...

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Re 1., evolutionary psychology has some theories about why women are more prone to depression than men: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5439380/. I would say that generally, men have a more externalised coping style (i.e. they do things to distract themselves) while women have a more internalised coping style (i.e. they ruminate and talk to their female friends, who validate their feelings which encourages more rumination!).

Totally agree with 2. and 3. Antidepressants were sold on the lie that we could feel happy all the time. We can't - and I would argue that we shouldn't. If we're happy, we're not solving real problems that need to be solved.

4. Anarchist rant: the state more often than not interferes with family support by insisting on medications as a condition of treatment (bearing in mind that medication induces apathy and decreases the quality of emotional connections with loved ones) and even removing suffering people from their families to imprison them in psychiatric wards.

5. Social media is an absolute curse. It is destroying young people in particular, but there are plenty of people my age who are addicted to social media.

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While I wrote the post to focus on the COVID vaccines, psychiatric meds are one of the most common medications doctors gaslight their patients with. I know a lot of people who had their lives ruined by them and were typically just told "that's just proof you need the antidepressant." It's very sad to see it happen over and over.

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Your series has such broad applicability, I feel it should by everyone who is concerned about the medical tyranny we find ourselves living under (which SHOULD be everyone!).

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Interesting article and I agree. I stopped taking my antidepressants a few years ago. I'd be interested in seeing an article about high blood pressure medications. I was on a hypertension medication for a long time and I think it gave me a "very rare side-effect" that no one in the medical community would acknowledge. I'm no longer on any medications and no longer see a primary care doctor after 2020.

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Great idea! Stay tuned - I'll cover this issue within the next month.

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Nailed it. This applies across the board e.g. kids who get fidgety in a boring class have 'attention deficit disorder' rather than a normal reaction to boredom; shyness is redefined as 'social anxiety disorder' and now there's even a diagnosis of 'bereavement disorder' for people who are sad for 'too long' after the death of a loved one.

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On its way, I'm sure.

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Many, many rackets.

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