Objectivism vs depression

[anthony]

I said, "there are others", I should have said "a few." Of course I do not see only the belligerence - surely you must realize that by now!

As to for/against, I do know how integral that is in the philosophy. But even Stephen Boydstun has expressed doubt that the percept love demands an equal-opposite percept hate. (Mangling his analysis I am sure, but forget where he said it). And of course to struggle for what you love is usually about opposing others. But I personally do not subscribe to the theory that love is only real when counterbalanced by hate, or even that love and hate are exact opposites - or indeed, that everything must necessarily even have an exact opposite.

There I agree, well said. Even those few, exact polar opposites are on the same circle.

Many, like love and hate, are closer.

[caroljane]

and yet the circle with its polar opposites, is in fact not a perfect circle but a fat oval, with an incomparably beautiful Aurora Borealis.

[shifty]

Becoming clinically depressed is the same as breaking an arm, or developing benign tumours. It has no conjunction with philosophy

I have to second lynam on this.

I didn't read the entire thread but I like to add that I was very much attracted to objectivism AND was heavily depressed. The thing is that when I first read Atlas Shrugged I was superficially shielded from my depression by a sense of superiority that I drew from the "truth" that was in AS. I also thought that for a while I was cured just by reading AS. However it turned out that I wasn't cured at all but just propped up by a false sense of self-esteem. Later on I started trying to live in the real world and slowly realized that I was far from capable of ANYTHING, and so my inflated self esteem collapsed over time.

I now, for the most part, managed to get it under control. It only took me YEARS of introspection to find and correct all the metal gymnastics my brain was doing to keep me in such shitty depressed state. It also seems that chugging tons of coffee and working manically didn't help my mental state (according to a clinic doctor I saw today).

So, philosophy is indeed separate from mental well being. It guides you on how to be happy, but it doesn't think for you, and so it won't help jack if you are depressed.

Just my two cents.

Edit: forgot to add the word "read" and formating

[BaalChatzaf]

I said, "there are others", I should have said "a few." Of course I do not see only the belligerence - surely you must realize that by now!

As to for/against, I do know how integral that is in the philosophy. But even Stephen Boydstun has expressed doubt that the percept love demands an equal-opposite percept hate. (Mangling his analysis I am sure, but forget where he said it). And of course to struggle for what you love is usually about opposing others. But I personally do not subscribe to the theory that love is only real when counterbalanced by hate, or even that love and hate are exact opposites - or indeed, that everything must necessarily even have an exact opposite.

The opposite of love is not hate. It is indifference.

Ba'al Chatzaf

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

I didn't read the entire thread but I like to add that I was very much attracted to objectivism AND was heavily depressed. The thing is that when I first read Atlas Shrugged I was superficially shielded from my depression by a sense of superiority that I drew from the "truth" that was in AS. I also thought that for a while I was cured just by reading AS. However it turned out that I wasn't cured at all but just propped up by a false sense of self-esteem. Later on I started trying to live in the real world and slowly realized that I was far from capable of ANYTHING, and so my inflated self esteem collapsed over time.

I now, for the most part, managed to get it under control. It only took me YEARS of introspection to find and correct all the metal gymnastics my brain was doing to keep me in such shitty depressed state. It also seems that chugging tons of coffee and working manically didn't help my mental state (according to a clinic doctor I saw today).

So, philosophy is indeed separate from mental well being. It guides you on how to be happy, but it doesn't think for you, and so it won't help jack if you are depressed.

Shifty,

I know exactly what you are talking about. I, too, had to get out of the illusion of Rand's world (with same false sense of superiority) to discover how to integrate her ideas in my life for real. And it was a long hard slog, with stops along the way for alcoholism and drug addiction.

Good luck with your self awareness. NB says (but I paraphrase), if each day we try to become 5% more aware than the day before, good things will happen. Going for self-aware, that is, before trying to become aware of other stuff.

Anyway, welcome to the human race. You're human just like other humans and that's OK.

Maybe that's belated given your experience, but you matter.

Michael

[shifty]

Anyway, welcome to the human race. You're human just like other humans and that's OK.

Maybe that's belated given your experience, but you matter.

Michael

Lol, thats a good way to put it. I appreciate it very much.

Alex

[BaalChatzaf]

Depression is all about serotonin re-uptake