I was sitting in psychology class today and we learned about 'TOTAL BEHAVIOR.'Basically my teacher said that TOTAL BEHAVIOR is governed by 4 variables: actions - directthoughts - directphysiology/biology - indirectemotion - indirectAnd you are probably wondering why I have "direct" and "indirect" tagged along the 4 variables.Basically, I was taught that you have direct control of your actions and thoughts. A deterministic point of view would strongly disagree with this. But as I was saying, you have direct control of your actions and thoughts. You control what you think and how you act. Through your actions and thoughts, you can control your physiology/biology and your emotions.With that said, you wouldn't need medicine would you? Think about it. It makes sense. Certain events or situations don't make you feel a certain way. You have a reaction to those events. You perceive those events in a certain way. Some of you might perceive them very pessimistically. Some of you might perceive them very optimistically. Depending on how you perceive those events, you feel a certain way (a.k.a. emotion). So let me give you an example. Someone shouts at you and calls you a bad name. You can either perceive that as:(A) You must pay for shouting at me.-OR-(B) I wonder why he is shouting at me.Option (A) might lead to you hitting him.Option (B) might lead you to asking, "What's wrong"Yes. This implies you have a choice for your behavior and how you feel. This implies that you only let yourself feel that way. Nothing else can MAKE you feel a certain way. Now I think this is from the humanistic perspective of psychology. But you can choose another perspective.But I just thought this was cool. I was depressed before and everyone was telling me that I had to take medicine, and then I read about some Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), which was recommended by another member on this board, and I really haven't felt depressed since. I feel a lot more stable. If I am not mistaken, I believe REBT is based off the principles of TOTAL BEHAVIOR.What do you guys think?
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You might not need to take medicine for depression
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I think it may be a bit simplistic to assume we can always control our emotions by rational thought. After all, emotions are more deep-seated in the brain, and evolutionarily more primitive than rational thought. However it is certainly true that our thoughts have a strong influence on our emotions, so by getting our thoughts right we can make a difference.My impression is that this type of therapy is sometimes very helpful and sometimes not enough. If it works, that is excellent.
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It is simplistic. You are right. That is the beauty of it. You can always control your emotions if you want, from what this is telling me. I don't see an instance where you cannot do so. One can teach themselves how to overcome certain emotions. I don't believe that someone's emotions can control them and that he/she ABSOLUTELY can't help it. To say that emotions can control you would be like saying you are a prisoner of your emotions, and you will never be able to control them.I don't know if that's what you were getting at or not, but I do think it can be as simple as changing your thinking. P.S. I don't believe in most disorders. They call things 'disorders' for marketing purposes in my opinion. Everyone is simply different and has there own different quirks and what not. You just have to learn to deal with them in the best way possible for yourself. People aren't OCD or ADD. They just think differently.
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Quote:What do you guys think? i think the word depression is a a word for many diffrent things. it's just not as simple as the saying the word. Quote:Yes. This implies you have a choice for your behavior and how you feel. i don;t what type of psychology class your in or what units you have already been threw but one of my units in my psychology classis the types off depression / resons for depression and other units that touch on depression. We have a few units that are on mental illness and in those touch on depression and the needed medicine and therpy for them. Quote: One can teach themselves how to overcome certain emotions ONE can not do it. well maybe one can with a certain type of depression but one needs help from a therapist to teach how to rethink and learn missed skills and bla bla… well the more complex the more needed to help. Like chemical imbalance depression - they can’t teach themselves, they have a chemical imbalance, meds are need in order for them to help. Depression can be diagnosed or it can be a system of another . I suffer form depression (it’s on and off. Something can trigger it and sometimes it can just hit me) bu ti have not been but on meds cuz I do not have depression. Depression is one of my systems of c-ptsd. Quote: I don't believe that someone's emotions can control them and that he/she ABSOLUTELY can't help it. I’m guessing you have never met a person with ptsd or a scitsoprenic.I am a prisoner of my emotions. Quote:P.S. I don't believe in most disorders. They call things 'disorders' for marketing purposes in my opinion. Everyone is simply different and has there own different quirks and what not. You just have to learn to deal with them in the best way possible for yourself. People aren't OCD or ADD. They just think differently. i think i'm going to let someone else have a go at this one.
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Quote:i think the word depression is a a word for many different things. it's just not as simple as the saying the word.I agree. The way I am using depression is meant to mean:Both expected and pathologically chronic or severe levels of sadness, perceived helplessness, loss of interest or pleasure, and other related emotions and behaviors.Therefore when you claim that you are a prisoner of your emotions, that is perceived helplessness from my perspective. But, that's MY perspective. Quote:i don't what type of psychology class your in or what units you have already been threw but one of my units in my psychology classis the types off depression / resons for depression and other units that touch on depression. We have a few units that are on mental illness and in those touch on depression and the needed medicine and therpy for them.First of all, your words are a bit difficult to understand, but I'll try to make sense of them. I will say that just because your psychology book says something, doesn't make it the absolute be-all end-all truth. Because a book tells you that you NEED medicine for depression, doesn't mean that it is true. There are different perspectives and points of view on everything, even depression. It is up to you to choose what you believe about depression, not a book. Quote:ONE can not do it. well maybe one can with a certain type of depression but one needs help from a therapist to teach how to rethink and learn missed skills and bla bla… well the more complex the more needed to help. Like chemical imbalance depression - they can’t teach themselves, they have a chemical imbalance, meds are need in order for them to help.Depression can be diagnosed or it can be a system of another . I suffer form depression (it’s on and off. Something can trigger it and sometimes it can just hit me) bu ti have not been but on meds cuz I do not have depression. Depression is one of my systems of c-ptsd.Can you please elaborate and make this a bit more clear for me? I am guessing you are referring to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Like I said, I don't personally believe in disorders. One can only make themselves stressed or depressed about something. One chooses how they feel. One can either stress out about something and let it eat them up, or they can learn how to deal with it. I am not saying that you are going to be able to do it all by yourself, with no help. I am trying to imply that a person can seek out that help and seek out the therapy or whatever they are in need of. One can take the steps towards changing their thinking process. Quote:I’m guessing you have never met a person with ptsd or a scitsoprenic.I am a prisoner of my emotions.I have met people with PTSD, actually. I am friends with someone who is in the Marines right now dealing with PTSD. I don't know enough about Schizophrenia to comment on that.All I can say is that I find it funny how two people can experience something such as their best friend getting shot right in front of them. Those two people will handle that "traumatizing" experience, very differently. One might let it eat them up and lead them to suicide, while one can put it behind them and move on. It is up to the individual.
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My points are very simple. Should have just said this instead of all the other crap in the first place. A fucked up mind can’t think right. But it really makes no difference since you believe there is no such thing as disorders. Like depression there is different levels of ptsd. C mean complex. That is form what I’ve been told means prolonged trauma. Meaning the abuse for 12 + years. Quote:All I can say is that I find it funny how two people can experience something such as their best friend getting shot right in front of them. Those two people will handle that "traumatizing" experience, very differently. One might let it eat them up and lead them to suicide, while one can put it behind them and move on. It is up to the individual. All I can say is it’s not worth it to get into this shit with some one that 1. don’t believe or 2. don’t; want to understand. Everyone handles traumatizing things different. Even the same person can have two traumatizing things happen and deal with them diffrently. ... And ptsd is different than c-ptsd. On the psychology classI either miss wrote or you miss understood my meaning. I didn’t mean do what the book said. Books are only wrote by people. I meant that that text book (like mine) has more chapters / units… there has to be more to that class.
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I think your belief, droppydees, that how a traumatic event affects an individual is under the control of that individual, is incorrect. The idea that there are no disorders, no mental diseases, just people consciously thinking wrongly, may be a comforting one to you, but it is inconsistent with reality, and insulting to those who grapple daily with nightmares, flashbacks, panic attacks, crippling anxiety, compulsions, or overwhelming moods.
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I knew someone would take what I said very personally. I am not trying to insult anyone. I am simply saying that I believe that if you can change the way you think, you can change the way you emote. I am not saying that it is simple to do so. I am saying that it can be as simple as changing your thought process. Once again, I am not trying to insult someone. I am sure someone who has been labeled as having a disorder may need more therapy/help in changing their thought process. I am not saying the process is easy, because the journey may be long, but if you believe that you can control your emotions by the way you think, and you can practice, and hone that skill, then that is awesome. You have more control over your life. Does this thought comfort me? Yes, it does. It comforts me because it lets me believe that I can have full control over my emotions. It depresses me to think that one is a prisoner of their emotions, and cannot escape them. That is a very pessimistic point of view. I choose to be as optimistic as possible about everything. I am sorry if that offends you. I do sympathize with the people who misinterpret my words as an insult and I do sympathize with the people who believe that they cannot handle emotions. Also, I believe that you shouldn't say that you can't do something. If you say you can't, then you will believe you can't, therefore you will most likely give up and convince yourself that you can't do this, that and this. And that is a very pessimistic point of view as well. Pessimism brings all sorts of bad things. Optimism brings all sorts of good things.
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This is a very interesting thread to me. I see some good information coming from multiple sides of the argument.Your title was well put "You might not need to take medicine for depression" and I personally believe that medication has it's place, but should be used only after other treatments are not successful in most cases.The point I wanted to add, regarding having complete control over your emotions and actions. Well after living your life a certain way for years, or maybe even your whole life; your mind becomes programmed to react certain ways, and it can be a long time to feel remarkably better. Expect to be feeling better in as little as weeks or a month, but don't expect to be 'cured' if your problem has existed exponentially longer than this. This concept of "reprogramming" your mind is real, and the longer you have had certain behaviors the longer, and harder it will be to overcome them. This is why it is very helpful to deal with a problem like depression sooner rather than later. Anti-depressants can be helpful by giving you time to get used to a life without being so depressed, but you should still be dealing with the personal issues that are making you feel this way to begin with.This isn't a one step process, and it will take lots of time for most people. A good therapist, or supportive others with or without anti depressants will be most helpful in this process. You must start by understanding yourself and finding which parts of your emotions or behaviors, and possibly how you became this way. Then you must be completely open and honest in discussing these personal issues with the right person. Then you can begin the reprogramming process.I only use the word 'programing' because I feel it is suiting to the process, even though I know we are not computers.This is actually very similar to how they go about treating drug addiction in many rehab centers. This can be effective with any behavior disorder, although there are cases where a chemical imbalance, or other issues will have it's effect even after changing your behavior for any amount of time.In the end it should be up to you to decide if therapy is enough, or if you need something else to help you along. Therapy may not require a professional to be involved, but personally I think a good therapist (one who works for you, may not be right for another, and the other way around) can be remarkable helpful, especially since many of us do not have anyone around who we can be completely honest and open with in their life (many may like the internet for this, but it may not be personal enough for others).This is not a perfect explanation of my beliefs regarding this, and if it was it would still not be perfect. I tried to explain it open enough to accept any extreme or variable cases, and this is just what I believe. If you want to add some kind of information, I will consider it with sincerity. You may even be able to alter my beliefs, but be kind if you disagree and I will accept any input for what it is.---Well. I was just throwing in my 2 cents, didnt realize I was writing a book.---