There Is always a reason why.

Who agrees and to what extent and what are the exceptions?

By this i mean there is a reason behind conditions and illnesses like anorexia, depression, ritualistic thoughts etc.
But I believe that bi-polar, clinical depression and schizophrenia are chemical imbalances that also require medication

[avlady]

I also believe in chemical imbalances in the brain, it is a organ like any other one in our bodies and can be deseased just like any other and i believe meds can help.

Doctors understand this, most at least. I do know of doctors who think herbal remedies work best. I think it's the vast majority of the population in my country anyway that are so un educated on mental health. I think we have a long way to go before the stigma improves and I guess it will never be eradicated.
My medication is like insulin to a diabetic or warfarin to thin the blood. It stops me from having another heart attack (breakdown u get the picture).
Celebrities are allowed in the bi-polar club but ordinary people, face unbelievable judgement. I didn't think I would EVER escape the ghosts of my past without emigrating to another county but I was in a catch 22 . I can only get my meds in this country and I wouldn't be granted a visa . Yet it's d $#n near impossible for me to make a living, as I just have to pray that an employer will take a chance on me or months later finding out I have lied and sacking me.

[Entity06]

Originally Posted by SapphireRed

There Is always a reason why.

Who agrees and to what extent and what are the exceptions?

By this i mean there is a reason behind conditions and illnesses like anorexia, depression, ritualistic thoughts etc.
But I believe that bi-polar, clinical depression and schizophrenia are chemical imbalances that also require medication

I think you're right. Obviously conditions like bi-polar or schizophrenia and some forms of depression originate in the chemical imbalance of some difference in the way the brain functions and regardless of outside stimuli.

At the same time, though, there is a reason behind most behavior, most decisions, most reactions. Depression is a good example because in some people that chemical imbalance that leads to depression happens "naturally" regardless of external factors, yet in many people it's also true that the chemical imbalance comes as a result of external stimuli.

Plus, the way things manifest, whether depression, anxiety or other things, the way we react to outside and to inner stimuli is influenced to some extent, great or not, by what is going on around us, by life experiences, by environment, etc, so they come as a reaction, an adaptation to those things.

There's a reason behind everything, the condition itself can be the reason and what provokes it, whether biological or external, is the reason why it exists.

Actually, if I can get a bit more philosophical, everything we call by one name or another, depression ,love, sadness, illness, is ultimately only a set of reactions to something happening either externally or internally. Everything is action and reaction all around us, there's nothing without a cause and even that cause has its own cause. That's also why everything you say or do in relation with other people and the world around you matters, because everything interacts with everything and has an affect.

A lot of mental issues are either triggered or aggravated or created by some sort of negative experience, traumatic events, deprivation of needs and so on. It's foolish not to acknowledge that.

For ex, I find it fascinating to look at serial killers, there's always a reason, always something more than psychopathy that got them on that path along with, in some cases, psychopathy.

Originally Posted by SapphireRed

There Is always a reason why.

Who agrees and to what extent and what are the exceptions?

By this i mean there is a reason behind conditions and illnesses like anorexia, depression, ritualistic thoughts etc.
But I believe that bi-polar, clinical depression and schizophrenia are chemical imbalances that also require medication

It’s not true. The answer always lies in balance - the subject and the environment. You can also change the environment for the subject and they can feel better

[amicus_curiae]

Originally Posted by SapphireRed

There Is always a reason why.

Who agrees and to what extent and what are the exceptions?

By this i mean there is a reason behind conditions and illnesses like anorexia, depression, ritualistic thoughts etc.

But I believe that bi-polar, clinical depression and schizophrenia are chemical imbalances that also require medication

Yes. There is “always a reason why.”

The reason may have nothing, at all, to do with brain function or, rather, disfunction, or bad chemistry or genetics or any Spinoza/Freud influences.

Sometimes, my reasoning has been, “because I wanted it,” or “because it makes me feel good,” or “because I loved you,” or any other farce.

The second is the most common, I think. Even if the risk of impulsivity hangs like the Sword of Damocles, we generally do that which feels good.

***Sweet Anodyne***

[Steiger]

The "why" or for what purpose, is always subjectively defined. Value, purpose, importance, significance, etc, is determined by the individual. Of course that may be based on any number of factors such as, proper nutrition, genetic abnormalities, trauma, chemical imbalances, environmental conditions, political views, belief systems, etc. Primarily you have the physical or biological system which effects the emotional system which in turn effects the psychological system which then interacts with the sociological and environmental systems. A feedback loop is created from the environment to the individual. I suppose I'm ranting.

[Takeshi]

Pursuit of happiness or something is where it's at. The question of why or what a purpose means to a consciousness/brain is up to every individuals. By what you mean, SapphireRed, is asking for objective truth, I'm guessing.

Who agrees and to what extent and what are the exceptions?

Lemme think about it. I don't agree, most regular folks, the slave minded controlled sheep won't mind not seeking 'why' of our existence, I think it won't be too difficult to find evidence for this from sociological studies. What you meant by this question and the follow ups exhibits that you believe in the classification system, I forgot how they call it in medical field. Is it reasonable? Somewhat.

Chemical imbalance theory was refuted(retracted is more precise, makes no difference to me though...) by a leading psychiatrist, J.Lieberman is the name if I remember correctly. Their (,by this I mean bio-psychiatry coat wearing authoritarian dictators) reasonings in our 'History!!' have too many logical faults and inconsistencies.

Please don't mix up human psychology and biomedical model of study field where you believe chemical intervention is necessary. I'm not here to make an argument with anyone, it's just my opinion, as a non-American. And this is important, in many of countries outside of the West, a lot of folks with severe mental illnesses are treated as less than human, and the thinking of the West affects the rest of the world. The moral implication can not be taken lightly.

Obviously, English is not my first language, so I could be misphrasing some things, please keep that in mind. The statistics can not be trusted because the modality of diagnosing mental disorders are WEAK. The subjectivity of human psych in relation to our agreed objective reality is highly debatable in my view, moreover ethical and mortal cost of treating/understanding what we don't yet fully know is simply too high, the burden of proof is on the side of bio-psychiatry doctors. They'd better put their medical degrees into practice in all seriousness.

I suggest people to start with philosophy and 'the development' of psychology before we start talking about various scientific aspects of our place in the society. Y'all sounds too certain about facts, let the famous Trolley Problem destroy your egos.

Hypotheses non fingo

Can we define truth/self through deception? Hedonism don't agree with me in the matter of life and death.

Occam's razor

Holy ****, I don't know anything, do I?

[amicus_curiae]

Originally Posted by Steiger

The "why" or for what purpose, is always subjectively defined. Value, purpose, importance, significance, etc, is determined by the individual. Of course that may be based on any number of factors such as, proper nutrition, genetic abnormalities, trauma, chemical imbalances, environmental conditions, political views, belief systems, etc. Primarily you have the physical or biological system which effects the emotional system which in turn effects the psychological system which then interacts with the sociological and environmental systems. A feedback loop is created from the environment to the individual. I suppose I'm ranting.

You can’t possibly list every variable that contributes to the ‘why’ behind each thought or action. I think, still, that the answer is much closer to our primitive natures than within our political parties.

We are selfish apes and self-preservation is always going to be our first response. The answer of why we do that which we do is going to lay between an unequal range of selfishness (again, self-preservation) and altruism, with the former usually predominant.

And then there are Heroes. Not the people who, e.g., sacrifice for their progeny, because that’s a selfish preservation of their personal legacy. I think that I might be a Hero. I don’t buy the lie that Heroes are brave! Heroes are trying to crawl back into their mother’s wombs. To be born again.

I think that if self-preservation is assured, man turns to our next primitive natural instinct, pleasure. From there, it’s every man for himself.

1, 2, 3, <snap>

***New York is Cold***

[Onward2wards]

We are all a complex feedback loop between genetic presets (temperament), our environment (physical, social, biological) and the sum total of this loop running up to this exact moment. We all have a personal history. This implies we also have habits of thought, emotional reaction, and physical behavior, acquired over time.

It seems to me that I have some learned fears and coping or defense mechanisms which keep inadvertently getting in my own way. This is, I believe, what causes my excessively negative mood states. I have come to this conclusion based on several decades of meds, therapy, reading, journaling, trying all kinds of things. I believe that there is no one specific treatment that is right for everyone.

I agree, there is always a "reason why". The first order of business is to define the actual problem. All too often, our conscious minds are not as completely self-aware as we like to think.

[Takeshi]

Le fils de l'homme, that we all are. Check out René, man. I'm not talking about that Renée Zell who says things like,

“Can officially confirm that the way to a man's heart these days is not through beauty, food, sex, or alluringness of character, but merely the ability to seem not very interested in him.”
― Helen Fielding, Bridget Jones's Diary

Or that loopy mustached lady with nonexistent life. That guy did us all in as a “Father of Modern Philosophy.”, but his contribution to the philosophical thought of aesthetics is not negligible, read up on the entry for 'Empathy' at SEP,,, ahh, the OP is from uk with lower case, if that's the case, then I don't know...

Are we getting 'cogito ergo' enough education yet? Seriously dude, the title of this thread seems weird to me, 'a questing' you say? I'm acting like a pleasure filled ape who can clobber you with one big swing of my arm, the Empathy Quotient checksheet would be snatched out of their hand, no questions, no squeal, 'n no seroquel, doc. Do you see the talk at right next door? I haven't read it but 'fakin'' anything,,, wgaff.

Altruism is something a lot of people are interested in, for me, 'belief' matters when I think of stuff like this. I probably have more reserved opinion on this, and neuro and cognitive science folks have been tackling this our mode of being, I used the word 'education' but I may not even believe in it, I could just come up with my own theory on the fly, trying to explain how things could be understood. Misplacing psychology is something many people do these days, and my prima facie morality could be wrong, you're not Psychology Today Spy, are you?

I smell Western Spy Technology, our Doc J knows the story behind this torturous hoops for regular folks, I don't know, man, some stuff that I've been talking about comes directly from "the main website", their 'pro' articles are goldmine, don't be afraid of jargons, and jump right in there too.

Woopsa this is a ****ing daisy, my time's almost up. Oh, yeah, I didn't say anything about post #3, did I? I just got nothing to say to that. If that works for you, stay on it, make a good habit of it. And Maslow's not going anywhere, man, it's worth investigating what's so positive, good luck.

Edited to Add:
Non compos mentis post, supplemental. The Matrix deux and that Frenchy lady's orgasm is something to seriously think about. And since you said something like stigma-blah-blah-blah, let me remind you that many countries that fought world war thought about eugenics. We hear that the UK has become police state as of late, **** mommy, a MAN has a Lot to think about. Jus tryna capitalize on the heritage, kwim?*in cool low tone voice* "Do I feel lucky, punk?", "Oh, yessir!"

[Takeshi]

Originally Posted by SapphireRed

There Is always a reason why.

Who agrees and to what extent and what are the exceptions?

By this i mean there is a reason behind conditions and illnesses like anorexia, depression, ritualistic thoughts etc.
But I believe that bi-polar, clinical depression and schizophrenia are chemical imbalances that also require medication

My journey started with 'clinical' depression, whether it be the case or not. It took me a long while to realize it didn't matter at all, people love labels/brands let's just be honest about that. And it's not a matter of body/mind issue? It's a little embarrassing to admit that I haven't looked at the famous 'problem' and I still likes to talk philosophy in a very pretentious way. You used the word 'illness' too, those distinction matters no more, because those are all petty concern for people/souls that endures all the life's challenge coming their ways. Illness, the word indicates (psycho)pathology, what we call NOT pseudo-science needs scientific theories and proof to back that argument.

Like I said in my previous post, one's disposition matters when we act or just be to do anything. When I look at your post, the scope of thoughts go easily beyond medical concerns, and I hope you know why by now.

There Is always a reason why.

Think of it this way. There are 'why' or a 'purpose' for our 'existence'. This is all it takes for wisdom seekers to get the ball rollin', picture a soccer ball dropping on the field, that's your game kickin' off!

@amicus_curiae,

Fancy meeting a New York kat on this thread. "1, 2, 3, <snap>", I believe those are Noumenon. I **** with it all the time, but you know what? The perception and understanding of time is quite psychological, isn't it? That's too Pavlovian for irreal me, I just don't get what you mean by that. You mentioned 'Altruism vs Psychological Egoism', I thought about that not long ago and it came from sitcom 'Friends', there are academic paper that one can read/learn online. To me the proposition seems a little unfair, one way to look at it would be The Godfather Philosophy/Business. I say it's a good inquiry, I tell you to keep inquiring, "I do not think much of a kat who can not rap wiser today than he was yesterday.".

The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that the state of entropy of the entire universe, as an isolated system, will always increase over time. The second law also states that the changes in the entropy in the universe can never be negative.

[amicus_curiae]

Originally Posted by Takeshi

.1) The perception and understanding of time is quite psychological, isn't it? That's too Pavlovian for irreal me, I just don't get what you mean by that. 2) You mentioned 'Altruism vs Psychological Egoism', I thought about that not long ago and it came from sitcom 'Friends', there are academic paper that one can read/learn online. To me the proposition seems a little unfair.

In re time: 1) Mmm, well, no. Time, to a physicist, can remain dimensional yet an hour can still drag by so I would say that the perception of time is psychological but that the understanding of time is mathematical.

2) Altruism in re the ‘evolutionarily novel.’ Stepping outside of one’s tribe altruism. Not certain that this specific type of altruism would have been mentioned on Friends?

***Sharing the Same Sorrow***