people.

[Zee.]

I'm not too sure whether I should have posted this in the "serious discussion" section, but oh well.

I checked the mail just before and i saw an envelope, it was an envelope from a depression support group and i noticed at the very bottom in smallish print was this message:

" This is not a request for a donation. This envelope contains information on depression and where to get help "

and it was just.. sad. Looking at this envelope from people who went out of their way to help others and they have to put at the bottom of an envelope which was filled with helpful information for those who needed it, a message that pretty much meant " don't worry, we're not asking for money, please don't throw this out "

I'm not too sure if i'm making much sense, and i don't really know the point in this thread, i just thought to share that with you and would like to hear your thoughts on it

[skib]

Well, I see it one of two ways: the optimistic side of me is glad to see that people are going out of their way to help those with depression. Having had more than one bad case of it, I can say honestly that something like that might have helped me a lot sooner than it took me to ask.
However, the skeptical side of me says 'They aren't asking for money, but they're asking for money.' I obviously can't see the stuff, so I guess I'll stick with being optimistic for now. :nod: Those are my thoughts on it

[JBI]

I dunno - maybe they were asking for money, and that was some sort of code, like when you ask if a telemarketer is telemarketing, and they tell you "we just want to discuss something."

Lets be honest, they may not be asking for donations, but they clearly are sending a message unsolicited - it makes sense then that they should have to put it there.

[Zee.]

Hmm i mean, it's not the " not donating " thing, that bothers me, it's that they feel obliged to put that on their envelopes because if they don't, people are more than likely to throw it away thinking they're asking for money. It was just a bit of insight in to the way a lot of people are today ( as in, the people who would receive it, assume they want money, and throw it away ) . Bothered me a little bit.

[Lokasenna]

The unfortunate thing is that you do recieve a lot of junk mail begging for money, and the first inclination is always to chuck it. If its not an envelope addressed specifically to you, then it is tempting to dismiss it.

[Niamh]

I know what you Mean Lima, and yeah it is a shame the have to print that on their envelopes just so people will read the information they have gathered. Depression is a big thing, its all around us, but many people dont know much about it, or know how to tell if someone they love is depressed. I've suffered from depression on and off for at least ten years. My dad has had it in the past. My mothers best friend had it for a very long time and unfortunately she could overcome it and she commited suicide. My sisters friend had it and she did the same.
I think its very important that we know about depression.

[papayahed]

The unfortunate thing is that you do recieve a lot of junk mail begging for money, and the first inclination is always to chuck it. If its not an envelope addressed specifically to you, then it is tempting to dismiss it.

I agree. If I get mail from some organization I'm not familiar with and there's a return envelope chances are great that I'm going to toss it without reading it. It may be a worthwhile subject but I already have charities and organizations I support.

[Lokasenna]

I think the problem is that there are so many demands on one's charitable disposition these days, it desensitises us. I have a few core charities that I support - any further demands feel like an invasion of my privacy to some degree. You should give to a charity out of a sense of benevolence and respect for your fellow man, not because the institution sent you a begging letter as emotional blackmail.

[Niamh]

yeah there is way too much around these days. on an almost daily bases we get thinks sent through our door for old clothes to go to charities, notices for buying goats to help third world countries, charities looking for donations... then you head into the city and their are collectors everywhere asking you to sign up to this charity or another. I've signed up to three, and i get really really peeved when i tell them this and they go "cant you fit in one more?". half the time i feel like going "how many do you contrabute to?". Then there are the Romanians who are all up in your face trying to get money out of you, all the while you are clinging to your bag cause you felt a tug and following you till you have to tell them to f-off (gypsies. I'm not saying Romainians in general as there are some really nice people from Romanian that i have had the pleasure of meeting. I'm on about the ones that give the country a bad name.). Sometimes i head home from the city so disillusioned that i realise i forgot to give to old homeless guy on the street a coin or two.

-Edit to add-
Rereading this i've come across very insensitive. I'm all for helping find cures for cancer, helping third world countries, fighting blindness, the enviornment...

[Dirtbag]

It's important for society to have depressed individuals. It's also important to spread awareness but no one here seems to be vouching for the depressed so I thought I'd speak up.

For the sake of realistic human beings...

"Studies by psychologists Alloy and Abramson (1979) and Dobson and Franche (1989) showed that depressed people appear to have a more realistic perception of their importance, reputation, locus of control, and abilities than those who are not depressed.

People without depression are more likely to have inflated self-images and look at the world through "rose-colored glasses", thanks to cognitive dissonance elimination and a variety of other defense mechanisms."

...and creativity.

"In a study of 1,005 prominent 20th century individuals from over 45 different professions, the University of Kentucky’s Arnold Ludwig found a slight but significant correlation between depression and level of creative achievement. In addition, several systematic studies of highly creative individuals and their relatives have uncovered a higher incidence of affective disorders (primarily bipolar illness and depression) than that found in the general population."

They suffer from lower IQs and cognitive functioning but it's trade off. Vices for virtues. Depressed people are just wired up differently and not all of them want to change. Or atleast not all of them want help. Some people need to figure things out on their own. It's their mind to mold...

But yeah... I'm glad their are organizations devoted to helping.

I don't know what I'm getting at. Sorry.

Wait, one more thing. I like the labelled envelopes.

[Niamh]

*scratches head* thought i was vouching for them in an earlier post... ah well.

[Dirtbag]

*scratches head* thought i was vouching for them in an earlier post... ah well.
I interpreted your posts as pointing out the misfortunes of depression. I was pointing out the benefits.

[Niamh]

well i was standing up for them in the sense of that its all around us and thats why its important for us all to be aware of it so we can help them... different approach i suppose.

[Dirtbag]

well i was standing up for them in the sense of that its all around us and thats why its important for us all to be aware of it so we can help them... different approach i suppose.
What you're saying makes sense. We should help the depressed around us if they need it. And in one way that's what it means to vouch for the depressed.

However, when I was talking about vouching. I was referring to people that were happily depressed. People who accepted their depression as a part of life. I was talking about vouching for a society with depressed people in it. The world would have less art and more egomaniacs without depression.

We shouldn't try to help those that don't want to be helped. Depression isn't a monster to everyone. It's a brain in an outlying place that has it's own problems but also it's own advantages and it works for some people.

I'm not saying we should encourage depression but I don't think we should wipe it out.

[Niamh]

I think help is important in a sense of providing them with somewhere to go if they need to talk to someone etc. Personally from my own experience, i found it easier for me to deal with it, when at least one or two people knew. I also didnt want there help, i did that on my own. I've always been a firm believer of if one ones help they seek it. If ones wants to help themselves, they will and i always got myself out of it. I found focusing on something good, something to look forward to helped. But then for everyone it is different and everyone deals with it differently, some dont deal with it at all.

[Dirtbag]

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