Objectivism as Anti-depressant
Posted by davidmcnab 9 years, 9 months ago to Science
A disturbing proportion of people in the USA take antidepressants on a regular basis - 10% of the adult population average, ranging up to nearly a quarter of women aged 40 and 60.
One of the most depressing things anyone can live with is the belief that they exist for others. This axiom spawns the corollary that no matter how much you do, how hard you work, how much you invent, how much wealth you generate, it'll never be enough. If that's not a big black suffocating wet blanket, please tell me what is.
We recall that uplifting scene in The Fountainhead where Howard Roark hangs up his architect hat for a few hours and becomes a therapist to the sculptor Steven Mallory, delivering an improvised form of therapy not practised by any MD or ClinPsych, and how this snaps Mallory almost instantly out of chronic depression and substance abuse.
So I put forward a conjecture: A significant proportion, maybe the greatest proportion, of the endemic depression we see today is caused by people having lost themselves, by believing they are obligated to live for others; that their mental health can dramatically and permanently improve simply by being taught that it's safe and acceptable to honour themselves; that the most amazing thing they can do to support others is not live for them and bleed to them the fruits of their own labour, but to live for themselves, and set an example proving to others an amazing honourable life is within their reach as well.
Pack this up into a therapeutic protocol and I suggest you'd see antidepressant medication prescriptions and suicide rates plummet overnight.
One of the most depressing things anyone can live with is the belief that they exist for others. This axiom spawns the corollary that no matter how much you do, how hard you work, how much you invent, how much wealth you generate, it'll never be enough. If that's not a big black suffocating wet blanket, please tell me what is.
We recall that uplifting scene in The Fountainhead where Howard Roark hangs up his architect hat for a few hours and becomes a therapist to the sculptor Steven Mallory, delivering an improvised form of therapy not practised by any MD or ClinPsych, and how this snaps Mallory almost instantly out of chronic depression and substance abuse.
So I put forward a conjecture: A significant proportion, maybe the greatest proportion, of the endemic depression we see today is caused by people having lost themselves, by believing they are obligated to live for others; that their mental health can dramatically and permanently improve simply by being taught that it's safe and acceptable to honour themselves; that the most amazing thing they can do to support others is not live for them and bleed to them the fruits of their own labour, but to live for themselves, and set an example proving to others an amazing honourable life is within their reach as well.
Pack this up into a therapeutic protocol and I suggest you'd see antidepressant medication prescriptions and suicide rates plummet overnight.
Meanwhile, the most authentic Atlantis is the temple you construct in your own heart. That will subtly steer you into chance meetings with like-minded people, into weaving a web of fresh new connections and inspirations. The Atlantis you build within will take form without.
These days, it's got to the point where looters have to be factored into the business' strategic plan, along with other environmental adversities like fires, floods, major electrical outages, earthquakes etc.
I am fully aware that this is easier said than done. I hope jbrenner that your next business epiphany turns out to be much more looter-resistant.
Regarding my next business epiphany, I am laying the groundwork for it now so that, when we have Atlantis built, I will release my product to those who can appreciate it fully.
Sorry that you've got such a fundamental philosophical division in your family, that sure can't be easy.
The light at the end of this particular tunnel is that the Gulch no longer demands a geographical place. It's a state of mind - the feeling of waking up on a bright early spring morning, smelling the rain-kissed grass, hearing the birds twitter and feeling that beautiful music in your heart, saying "OMG it was just a nightmare after all. My life is MINE! I can't wait to start this glorious day!"
Hearts with this kind of charge naturally seek like-minded company, within local community and across the information superhighway.
retirees like me;;; you're inventing the future faster
than I ever did! . Thank You! . Keep Up The Work!!! -- j
Several Gulchers commented that they think that, when they see society clearly, they become depressed. My response to this is that there is a difference between ignoring reality and refusing to wallow in negativity. I _observe_ what is happening in the world; I choose to surround myself with beauty and brilliance and efficacy.
Have you read the book Lest Darkness Fall? It is a story about an archeologist (nicknamed "Mouse" - no bulge muscled dork) who is transported back to Visgothic Rome...and decides to prevent the Dark Ages. I do not know that I can prevent the fall of dark, but I can keep my candle and a few others around me burning as brightly as I can.
Why are there 10K people in the Gulch? Because we can all take our candles out and illuminate this site for each other. This is a fine anti-depressant: When I have had to deal with someone who is trying to get something for nothing, I can spend a few minutes enjoying the conversation here.
Jan, trying for khalling's 'zen-optimist' but not there yet
Depression can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. I prefer butterflies (and you probably have some gorgeous ones).
Jan
Let me have some success. Then I'll turn optimistic.
As for the Obushama Administrations, and similarly retarded governments in other parts of the world, to me that reflects the current stupidity and disengagement of the voting population, not exactly uplifting.
Objectivism with its emphasis on internal attribution and invidivual empowerment can certainly relieve a lot of the angst. We learn to make the f***tards irrelevant and just get on with our lives, creating, striving, trading, and sharing with enlightened people in our lives who we care about.
Not always easy, but can be accomplished.........
Psychiatry is just one of several businesses that really need to exist off-the-books, just so people can use them without betraying themselves.
depression in reference to me (once or thrice),
I laugh -- and they have no idea why, *blaming
depression.* . I think it's a cult of medical and
therapeutic work-generation, as well !!! -- j
Not too long after coming into Galt's Gulch, I remembered a quote and looked it up:
"We do not hold the belief that this earth is a realm of misery where man is doomed to destruction. We do not think that tragedy is our natural fate.........It is not happiness, but suffering that we consider unnatural."
I think each of us has the capacity to choose to be depressed or to be happy. I choose joy.
That's the thing that has hit the hardest since 2008; my powerlessness.
So I don't watch the news, although I check Drudge report every day, and I try to concentrate on the many good things in my life.
What am I missing, khalling?
PS just got your book and started reading it today!
Mostly I try to point out to them that only we have a right to what we earn.
Thanks for taking the time to answer.
"Enthusiasm: You can't beg, borrow, buy it or steal it! You have to catch it! The only way to catch it is to walk with enthusiastic people." (My Dad is a genius)
Paul Hogan (as Crocodile Dundee) said it pretty well.
These people need to wake the ___ up! The light from another's candle diminishes your none.
Even with that, I still leaned on ethanol as an anti-depressant thru school prior to being granted State permission to write prescriptions for toxic drugs, at which time, my wife & I switched from buze to diazepam in the form of Valium ‘cause it was cheaper & more convenient.
In 1973, we invited Covert Bailey to our Lake Tahoe home for three weekends where he taught us … & 35 other dental teams, how to effectively teach prevention to our clients. During that time, he successfully helped us to convert from drugs to aerobic exercise as a great health benefit … including attenuation of depression. We’ve been enjoying that, and freedom from drugs, ever since … and all the side effects of aerobic exercise are positive.
you maybe right about 10% of the population taking antidepressants from a doctor, but what percent use alcohol or street drugs for the same reason? 50%?
That said if objectivism were a cure it would have changed things years ago. keep in mind that AS is only second to the bible as the most influential book read in the USA. now for some reality; in order to comprehend objectivism one must have an education as a base. In the USA today we have a population of primarily uneducated people because the educational system in the USA has deteriorated so badly for almost 100 years. I personally do not see any changes as you would like to see. From comments I have read by Ayn Rand I do not believe she had any hope of a positive change either. Her primary reason was directed towards the educational system which starts at the top, the universities and they are not interested in making any changes, therefore the level of stupidity that they exemplify will continue to be taught.
The second aspect of our country at this moment in time is the simple fact that we have an infrastructure that is deteriorating and it is happening much faster than even AR would have projected. I have mentioned a book on this site that you should read, AYN RAND ANSWERS the author so to speak is Richard Mayhew.
today, but when I previously said "H--l, no," as to
whether an Obama supporter could be a resident
or Galt's Gulch, I had misunderstood what it meant
to be a resident. I had thought that a resident of
Galt's Gulch meant a consistent supporter of
Objectivism, but now I see that it is supposed
to be a sort of association of people comment-
ing upon it. So that is not quite the same.
I've taken SSRI's on and off for about 15 years (I'm 71) primarily at the request of the women in my life, who do not like what I vehemently assert when I'm off them. I see the world more clearly then, and am more than willing to say it like it is - the truth - and when one's partner is liberal, it makes for fireworks and great discomfort on their part.
So, why do I have them as partners? A subject for another time, I suppose.
Suffice it to say that reading the Gulch over the past few years has made a huge difference in my ability to know there are others like me, and it supports my ability to tell the truth, no matter how drugged out I might be on SSRI's.
So consider this a therapeutic moment for me, until I can finally attain that entry into the Gulch not only of my mind, but also of my geographical location.