I have succumbed to the lure of the troll!

>>lack of purpose<<
>>hopelessly flawed evolution theory<<
>>sleep with every other willing participant<<
>>all we are is an accident that happened by chance<<

This, runner, is a hopelessly flawed misunderstanding of the process of evolution.

Evolution doesn't happen by chance, it happens because any change that improves the reproductive opportunity of a hereditary replicator will be adopted, and anything that harms its ability to reproduce will die out. Evolution is a simple process which actively seeks organisation. It is the only known natural process that actively reverses entropy. There is nothing random about its outcomes.

It's worth mentioning that reproductive success cannot sensibly be measured by counting offspring. Longevity of a genetic legacy over many generations is far more significant than number of direct offspring. This is particularly true for complex, long-lived organisms such as ourselves, who are helpless in infancy.

Understanding the process of evolution does not provide us with a moral purpose, but it provides us with a very good explanation of how we came to be, and some idea of how to *continue* to be.

Evolutionary biology has provided us with the best understanding we have of biological health. As the science of the mind develops, I have no doubt that evolutionary biology will contribute to an ever-improving understanding of the human mind and the proper meaning of mental health.

I understand that a sudden loss of confidence in a religious "truth" which incorporated an axomatic moral imperative can impart a sense of purposelessness. That is a consequence of losing the psychological crutch of faith and has nothing to do with scientific knowledge. One can be a purposeful religious practitioner and believer whilst accepting and pursuing scientific knowledge, or one can live a cheerful if ignorant life with neither faith nor science.

As an atheist myself I do not believe *purpose* is something that can be imposed on a human being from without; purposefulness is something one obtains in an existential fashion, by setting goals and aiming for them.

SHARING SERVICE PROVISIONS (Alma Ata) is a Local, National and Global call to invest in Community HEALTH Development.

Pivotal is creating a culture of citizenship and belonging, safety, openness, participation, citizenship, and empowerment is the level of support of peer services and peer staff, both independent of and integrated into existing service delivery systems.

Too many people are becoming caught in Social Drift caused by 'risk transfer' - household debt, work stress, bullying being among the growing disturbances.

Recovery involves a social dimension, a core of active,interdependent social relationships being connected through families, friends,peers, neighbours, and colleagues in mutually supportive and beneficial ways.
 
This helps to overcome social and personal isolation, poverty, emotional withdrawal, controlling relationships, poor social skills, immigrant status, disabling health and mental health conditions, past trauma, and social stigma which impede the recovery journey.

Through language we must address the unintentional systemic consequences hindering Recovery.
 
·       People have basic subsistence needs that 'the safety net' does not meet.
 
·       Social welfare and mental health programs are fragmented and difficult to access.
 
·       People do not want to have to deteriorate in order to receive help, nor do they want to lose vital supports when they make progress toward recovery.
 
·       Psychiatric services can be experienced as a means of social control, countering individual efforts of recovery.
 
The health service system more often overlooks trauma (itself) is a central experience of psychiatric disorder and thus the system fails to incorporate trauma knowledge in existing explanations of, and responses to, mental health issues.
 
The experience of trauma and abuse reported by consumers is well documented throughout all studies mentioned above.
 
The impact reported by consumers includes;
 
* internalised stigma,
* the repeated or re-traumatisations by the system, and;
* the historical trauma of past abuse.

Consumer programmes and efforts in Peer-to-Peer support involve a need to return to the basic core of helping.

It promotes a 'therapeutic alliance' that highlights the need for positive helping relationships based on partnership.

http://www.miacat.com
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"Depression" appears to be the latest IN thing to have. No one will admit to being miserable,sad,unhappy not even woebegone anymore. They are all victims of Depression.It sounds far more glamorous.
The real depression is a monster, it is the 'black dog' .
Too many who have grown up in our pampered society lack the rigour,the strength of will and purpose that made our country great. They want instant happiness ,instant fulfillment-without having to put any effort into it.
Trouble is 'instant happiness' like 'instant food' lacks in flavour and taste.Depressing ain't it?

Its a complex issue. On one hand you risk having people labelled and treated as depressed when its really life's circumstances that has them down. On the other if you take things too narrowly you risk missing some who are truly depressed and in need of assistance. I completely sympathise with the author's viewpoint and agree that we can be too flippant with diagnosis now. Or is it that there are different levels of depression, with those that truly suffer from the "black dog" at the worst level, and those that suffer continual anxiety and insomnia at a somewhat milder level? I can only comment from a layman's viewpoint, but do live in a family where there are a number of people who have been diagnosed with some form of mental illness or disorder - some I feel are genuine, whilst others I put down to little childhood discipline or parents that failed to teach their kids that bad things do happen and its best to get on with things as best you can. These diagnosed conditions range from anxiety disorder (1), ADHD (1), bi-polar (2), depression (2). There is also another family member who I would bet my last dollar is truly bi-polar (taking into account manic episodes and suicide attempts), but hasnt been diagnosed. This sounds like a lot, but bear in mind that I am referring to large extended family on both my and my husbands sides.

xoddam, I agree with every word you say. But you have yet to learn the futility of reasoned argument when it comes to runner. Give up! I did.

Country Gal and M.Whitehouse,

Inappropriate prescriptions for the grey areas of mental health are the bane of the field. It is very, very common for psychoactive drugs and antidepressants to be prescribed for people who have simple stress symptoms who would best be served by readjusting their schedules to include roughly 8 hours decent work (with decent pay), 8 hours decent sleep and 8 hours play in each day. And yes I mean 8 hours play! Play is something seriously neglected by adults in this day & age.

On the other hand, the overprescription of drugs has led a lot of people to a virulent opposition to any use of psychoactive drugs, which in a *few* situations are the only reliable way of getting predictable, half-sane behaviour from people with real psychological or psychiatric problems. This is not to imply that the problems are properly understood, merely that some treatments have empirically proven effective.

Reynard,

I confess I wrote my previous post to entertain myself more than with the intention of convinving runner of anything. But if one less person blames the tree of knowledge for the ills of the world as a result of reading what I've written, I'll be happy (even if that person isn't runner).

miacat,

Thanks for your regular contributions. You seem to have a broad awareness of global justice issues. What you have to say is usually interesting, I think. But unfortunately I've never quite been able to understand it, so I can't be sure.