What is Depression? - Is it an illness, or a character flaw?

Question

Some people say that depression is an illness.

Some people say that depression is a character flaw - that people are not emotionally resilient enough???

--- Which is it? WHAT IS YOUR OPINION?

Thank you for your answers.

Answer 1

It certainly is NOT a character flaw.

Depression is a condition that may be described as an illness as with 'clinical depression', or a state, as in 'reactive depression'.

I would suggest the only character flaw lays with those who express an opinion upon something they are obviously completely ignorant of.

Clinical depression is a psychiatric illness and is typified by  the patient withdrawing from their environment and becoming increasingly unable to cope with the world around them.  There is no obvious cause for its onset.  Reactive depression carries less severe symptoms and is the result of a specific event such as a bereavement.  It is also usually a shorter term condition and though it may be treated with medication, it is usually not considered to be a psychiatric illness, but more of a temporary condition.

Answer 2

Illness.

Depression is in the ICD-10 diagnostic manual for psychiatric disorders, so it is officially a mental illness.

Answer 3

I think it can make character flaws more apparent and tangible... if you're generally a lazy person, no big deal. Add depression, and you can get stuck in a rut for months. At least I can... Things will get better once I save up enough money for a car. Better get a job first... but I feel so down today :( maybe tomorrow. Maybe I just don't deserve a car. See my point?

Answer 4

Manic depression is an illness but we now call it bi-polar, I have just been reading about it on wikipidia. Apparently Bi-polar is what we call it now, it`s the modern name...

If you go to wikipidia, type in Bi-polar and it will explain it all....

Answer 5

Depression is certainly not a character flaw - Winston Churchill had it. It has to do with a chemical inbalance in the brain.

Answer 6

it is a non contagious decease.that's they only way you can explain it.

Answer 7

depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. when the serotonin levels are low then it causes depression.

it is definitely NOT a character flaw. it is an illness.

Answer 8

I've had people tell me often that I was "weak" for having depression (I'm bipolar type 2 by the way).

It is true that there are two types of depression: those caused by an imbalance of hormones in your brain; and those caused as a reaction to a traumatic event ( like loosing someone you love, loosing your employment, witnessing crime or being a victim of crime itself, etc.)

But even if you try to "educate" the people that are telling you that it's a character flaw, they won't accept it more because they still believe that we "listen" too much to our emotions...So they can think whatever they want and be ignorant in all the ways they want!!

And when you think about it, having emotions is what differentiates us from animals and what makes us human, therefore: I'm proud to say I'm "more" human than them !!

Be proud of yourself and don't let ignorant people faze you! ;)

Answer 9

It is not a character flaw. It isn't about how strong you are. If you are depressed you are NOT weak or faulted or bad in any way.

People deserve help so they can live the happiest life possible, just like they deserve.

Answer 10

erm im not sure. i think it could be a bit of both but i find it very difficult to agree with the term "character flaw" :-@

Answer 11

For me depression has always been associated with my hormones. For example PMT; post natal depression and when I was menopausal. I'm now a firm believer that a good diet works wonders for depression.

Organic Green leafy vegetables;

Sweet Potatoes;

Organic Poultry & eggs;

Wild Salmon.

These do help fight off depression and coupled with exercise you can control it. However, it is important to take the advice from your GP as depression is an illness that can trigger mental health problems if left untreated.

However like it or not depression is classified as a mental illness with varying degrees. This is why people are often referred to a clinical  psychologist for assessment.

Depression is treatable though the patient has to be receptive and recognise help when treatment is offered as part of the cure.

A character flaw no but it can be inherant in someone's biological makeup

Answer 12

It is definitely an illness and not a character flaw.If it was a character flaw I think people would recover much quicker.Some people suffer for years.

Answer 13

it has ben proved that depression is an illness caused by an imbalance of the chemicals in your brain that make you happy i.e seratonin for one if you have to little you will suffer from depression there are many different tablets both medical and herbal that will help you with this problem if you have it .i know one person that when they are depressed they eat choclate it makes them happy for a while but its not long lasting,so yes it is an illness not a character flaw and its no good people saying pull yourself together

Answer 14

I think that depression is neither an illness or a character flaw, to me depression is an emotion just like any other emotion that we have like happiness and anger. It's just another emotion that makes us human  

Answer 15

No one with even the smallest amount of education thinks depression is a character flaw. Believing so is a sign that you have a character flaw of your own - ignorance.

Depression is a chemical disorder of the brain. Pretty much every bit of research ever done confirms that, and depression is one of only two mental illnesses (the other being schizophrenia) which is recognized in every culture on earth over thousands of years.