Oh yeah, I wish they'd quit fucking marketing drugs for heart attacks and strokes and incontinence and men who can't get their dick up and diabetes and allergies and...

Really...that's the most dismissive statement on the subject to date, merc.

It was not meant to be dismissive and you should not have taken it that way. It was an observation of marketing forces in today's society. Stop trying to twist the shit I say into something it is not.

I'm not trying to twist anything...you said it exactly as twisted as it came out. People who suffer from depression are poor little victims of the big mean pharmaceutical companies. People who suffer from depression and take medication for it are different than the millions who take drugs for other illnesses. You're perpetuating the myth, and it's dangerous to do so.

But hey, with you, as long as you get some kind of crack in about whatever entity you are pissed off at, that's all that matters right?

We all know about the tactics of the pharmaceutical industry. Take your soap box to a thread where that might be closer to the topic at hand.

It was a useless statement.

To quote a genius: fail.

Bull shit. No such thing was stated or implied.

No shit.

More bull shit. It is not a myth that pharm markets to the population.

No, as I stated it was a simple observation.

It was not a soap box statement. It was an observation.

Sure.

Dumbass, I didn't say they didn't. You were perpetuating the myth that drugs for depression are only a marketing trick by the pharms, and are different than drugs for ANY OTHER ILLNESS. Maybe the pharms should keep all the meds a big secret? WTF, dude, I thought you loved you some capitalism.

You're an idiot, and I think you like being so. I hope they come up with a drug for that soon, and you too can be a poor helpless victim of the pharms.

WTF is wrong with you today. Take the stick out.

WTF is wrong with you at all? That's a comment I expect from you though: there's a stick involved because I am arguing with you.

Man, redux has you pegged.

Redux is a partisan hack. Whatever you think.

Umm...I have had real depression. Having a dog helped me. Not because they cheer you up, so much. If anything there have been times where having a dog added to the sense that i was in some way hiding my self even from myself, most of the time. What it did, though, was put an alternative focus into my room. Not getting out of bed for 3 days wasn't an option: the dog had to be fed and walked, even if I didn't have it in me to interact with him. Anxiety at night was often alleviated somewhat by his presence in the house.

And during more stable times, he's one of the things that has helped me stave off times of depression, at least for a while longer. A pet who relies on me, is immediate and there. In my constant flight from the feeling of utter futility, his needs keep me grounded. But unlike a child, he can be more or less ignored, apart from walk and food, for a day or so without it causing massive psychological damage.

So, actually, I would advise a pet as something that might help someone living with depression.

I know my mom's been immeasurably helped by her dog in this year since my dad passed away. Much the same as Dana -- someone with needs to be met, affection to give, and who won't judge you if you spend most of the day sobbing in bed.

(And I'm with Merc. Big Pharma needs to have its advertising knocked waaay down.)

I'm considering getting getting a light therapy device. I suffer from SAD every year but usually it really kicks in around the end of January. This years it has started already and I think it is because we have had so may overcast days. Its horrible.

Thanks Dana & Pie - you both stated it better than I.

Dana:Yes. Pilau has enhanced my life as well. :) I just love that Pilau. I love his photos and his stories!

But aren't we merely assuming that Toran doesn't have a pet? Did Toran say somewhere that he doesn't have an animal?

Pets have certainly helped me with short periods of depression. Esp when I first was out of college. I got a dog and it was really great to have that kind of interaction that a dog gives humans. Cats I don't think do as good a job of interacting with people like dogs do.

Well it needs to be said. There are many who just want a "happy pill" for those days when everything isn't perfect. Thats life - suck it up! Thats not depression.

Ask someone who IS depressed - they know the difference.


Now someone quote the Rolling Stones song . . . I can't find it.