Posted by Greg on March 14, 2001, at 11:36:20
In reply to Re: What DOES one do?, posted by Dr. Bob on March 14, 2001, at 3:10:44
Hi Bob,
Long time no talk to..
You make some valid points here and I think by the fact that this person makes no follow-ups to his/her original post makes eveyone realize that this was just yet another "hit and run" post designed to inflame the masses.
I must admit that the post made me angry as well. To insinuate that treating depression is so simplistic as to simply get up in the morning and brush your teeth leads me to believe that this person is sadly uninformed. Were it that simple, we could start our own "Depression Anonymous".
We could all sit around meetings, drinking coffee, telling our stories and getting phone numbers from the other members so we could call them before we make a concious (sp?) decision to have our next depressive episode. Before anyone rips me for making fun of 12-step programs, I am a recovering alcoholic of thirteen years and am active in AA, so please understand that I'm only trying to make a point...The bottom line for me is, that while this person's post was "friendly and helpful" in nature, it was still irresponsible in it's content. I'm with Shar in thinking that it would have been appropriate for you to have communicated that, IMHO of course.
I hope everything is well with you.
Greg
> > I was quite surprised that you, Dr. Bob, chose to reprimand the post that was "sarcastic." Jeeze, is the original post ok because it is "friendly" (ie, just trying to help) even given what it says?
>
> Being friendly and trying to help I do think make a big difference...
>
> > If you substitute race or sex for depression in that post, we would have people up in arms!
>
> Hmm:
>
> > > I believe that sex is a composite of unaddressed feelings... Exercise. Clean the house. Brush your teeth. Move do not give in to sex. 4. Pray and ask the God of your understanding toremove the fear, the anger, the resentment. Believe it or not God will remove sex...
>
> :-)
>
> > It seems to me the "sarcastic" response was funny and a worthy/appropriate response to the post. Did you, Dr. Bob, expect people here who are struggling with trying to drag themselves out of bed and fight the paralyzing depths of despair to Ignore the original post, Embrace It, Feel bad that they are such losers, Get Angry or what? The fairly modest sarcasm in the response you pointed to seems really mild to me, and in comparison, not worthy of a reprimand, and someone (maybe the moderator here?) needs to help the author understand a bit more about the stultifying impact of depression plus its chemical bases.
>
> I understand what you're saying. But still. The main idea here is support and education, not being funny or even giving people what they deserve. Ignoring the post would've been fine. Getting angry, OK, but not *posting* something sarcastic; some just leads to more. Helping the author to understand, *that* would've been a nice response. :-)
>
> Bob
>
> PS: Now I feel I over-reacted myself in my above post to you, but you did post what you did, so I guess I'll let my response stand. But I do appreciate this second, more measured post.
poster:Greg
thread:787
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20001124/msgs/801.html