Posted by laima on August 13, 2006, at 19:25:04
In reply to Re: Optimistic part, posted by willyee on August 13, 2006, at 16:51:56
> Im trying my hardest to follow this thread as it has me concerned,however in all honesty and i guess im just not quick on the draw im quite lost,can anyone put any of this into a lamons term at all,i know linkadge and scott alone can have a conversation that would loose me in a milisecond,i suppose i should just get the book eh,lol in all seriousness im left only with the conlusion that im screwed trying to make anything from this thread,is that pretty much correct?
Very, very loosely, and hopefully someone can jump in, correct, and fill in for me, Dinah has been reading Kramer's book which sounds as if it is saying something about how depressed brains are not the same as "normal" brains. That that depressed brains are "atrophied", or somehow shrunken or damaged. Maybe even that a depressed brain can never be like a "normal" brain. The thought of this is obviously rather depressing in itself, so Linkadage and the rest jumped in to offer evidence that a depressed brain CAN change, CAN get better. "Neurogenesis" is something like "growing new brain cells", or getting better. One of the the major theories of depression these days is that depressed brains have "atrophied", or somehow shrunken. The agreement of the thread is that a depressed brain can in fact grow new cells and get much better. So why would Kramer write this sort of stuff? Possibly because some people don't believe depression is a real, actual condition- that it is merely an "attitude problem" or something like that- and he's trying to convince them that it is much more serious and "real" than that. It is a genuine medical condition. The good news for depressed people here is that hopefully others will learn more about what we go really through. Dinah let us know that she understands Kramer believes that a brain can get better, too. But nevertheless, it sounds like a depressing book. However, probably nothing we should worry about, we are probably not even the audience he intended it for. We already know what it is like to be depressed, after all.
In any case, this is what I understand about the thread- but I might be wrong, because I haven't read the book.
poster:laima
thread:675829
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060810/msgs/676141.html