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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by DarkWind on April 15, 2001, at 1:26:55
i'm just a bit curious about this phrase. i've heard it from several people, to include my doctors; but i really question it at this point. for starters, a common cold doesn't make me want to give up on life - it doesn't cause me to ponder the darkest realities of any given situation. a common cold goes away after a few weeks at the most. sure, it might come back, but it's usually going to hang around for a few days and then you're back to normal. i haven't experienced that with depression - i'm going on two years of misery, and it seems that HAPPINESS is that comes and goes after just a few days. right now, considering this phrase, i'm really wondering where my "chicken soup" of mental recovery is....
so where does this phrase come from? is it called that because the average person has a much easier time with it; or is it called this in order to keep people from panicking when they are told that they have "major depression?"
Posted by Gracie2 on April 15, 2001, at 17:48:13
In reply to the common cold of mental disorders...., posted by DarkWind on April 15, 2001, at 1:26:55
I've never heard the expression, but I imagine all it means is that depression is common -unlike,
say, multiple personalities, a disorder that's quite rare. You could also say, "your run-of-the-mill depression" or "your garden-variety-type depression" because so many of us have to struggle with it. You may be unique, but depression is not.
Posted by DarkWind on April 15, 2001, at 20:09:44
In reply to Re: the common cold of mental disorders...., posted by Gracie2 on April 15, 2001, at 17:48:13
an interesting perspective - i can see where cases of depression would far outnumber multiple personality disorder, but i still see nothing "common" about it. i'm probably just overreacting to a word/phrase because i hold a different meaning for the words in my head.
Posted by Ignatz on April 16, 2001, at 11:00:37
In reply to Re: the common cold of mental disorders...., posted by DarkWind on April 15, 2001, at 20:09:44
I've always found the expression soothing. It reminds me that I'm not alone, and that depressions, like colds, do eventually end. Those are two things I need to be reminded of constantly when I'm depressed.
Posted by dreamer on April 16, 2001, at 18:13:59
In reply to Re: the common cold of mental disorders...., posted by Ignatz on April 16, 2001, at 11:00:37
Depression for me,an analogy that I can only describe when out of depression.
Waking up to discover that you've been buried alive.
Everyone experiences depression,the blues,I think its time to find a new name for the condition that so many poor souls have to suffer when all around people are telling us to pull ourselves together,there is no self to pull together.
Posted by sar on April 17, 2001, at 12:55:48
In reply to Re: the common cold of mental disorders...., posted by dreamer on April 16, 2001, at 18:13:59
This is the end of the thread.
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