Objectivism as Anti-depressant
Posted by davidmcnab 10 years, 2 months ago to Science
A disturbing proportion of people in the USA take antidepressants on a regular basis - 10% of the adult population average, ranging up to nearly a quarter of women aged 40 and 60.
One of the most depressing things anyone can live with is the belief that they exist for others. This axiom spawns the corollary that no matter how much you do, how hard you work, how much you invent, how much wealth you generate, it'll never be enough. If that's not a big black suffocating wet blanket, please tell me what is.
We recall that uplifting scene in The Fountainhead where Howard Roark hangs up his architect hat for a few hours and becomes a therapist to the sculptor Steven Mallory, delivering an improvised form of therapy not practised by any MD or ClinPsych, and how this snaps Mallory almost instantly out of chronic depression and substance abuse.
So I put forward a conjecture: A significant proportion, maybe the greatest proportion, of the endemic depression we see today is caused by people having lost themselves, by believing they are obligated to live for others; that their mental health can dramatically and permanently improve simply by being taught that it's safe and acceptable to honour themselves; that the most amazing thing they can do to support others is not live for them and bleed to them the fruits of their own labour, but to live for themselves, and set an example proving to others an amazing honourable life is within their reach as well.
Pack this up into a therapeutic protocol and I suggest you'd see antidepressant medication prescriptions and suicide rates plummet overnight.
One of the most depressing things anyone can live with is the belief that they exist for others. This axiom spawns the corollary that no matter how much you do, how hard you work, how much you invent, how much wealth you generate, it'll never be enough. If that's not a big black suffocating wet blanket, please tell me what is.
We recall that uplifting scene in The Fountainhead where Howard Roark hangs up his architect hat for a few hours and becomes a therapist to the sculptor Steven Mallory, delivering an improvised form of therapy not practised by any MD or ClinPsych, and how this snaps Mallory almost instantly out of chronic depression and substance abuse.
So I put forward a conjecture: A significant proportion, maybe the greatest proportion, of the endemic depression we see today is caused by people having lost themselves, by believing they are obligated to live for others; that their mental health can dramatically and permanently improve simply by being taught that it's safe and acceptable to honour themselves; that the most amazing thing they can do to support others is not live for them and bleed to them the fruits of their own labour, but to live for themselves, and set an example proving to others an amazing honourable life is within their reach as well.
Pack this up into a therapeutic protocol and I suggest you'd see antidepressant medication prescriptions and suicide rates plummet overnight.
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I've taken SSRI's on and off for about 15 years (I'm 71) primarily at the request of the women in my life, who do not like what I vehemently assert when I'm off them. I see the world more clearly then, and am more than willing to say it like it is - the truth - and when one's partner is liberal, it makes for fireworks and great discomfort on their part.
So, why do I have them as partners? A subject for another time, I suppose.
Suffice it to say that reading the Gulch over the past few years has made a huge difference in my ability to know there are others like me, and it supports my ability to tell the truth, no matter how drugged out I might be on SSRI's.
So consider this a therapeutic moment for me, until I can finally attain that entry into the Gulch not only of my mind, but also of my geographical location.
"Enthusiasm: You can't beg, borrow, buy it or steal it! You have to catch it! The only way to catch it is to walk with enthusiastic people." (My Dad is a genius)
you maybe right about 10% of the population taking antidepressants from a doctor, but what percent use alcohol or street drugs for the same reason? 50%?
That said if objectivism were a cure it would have changed things years ago. keep in mind that AS is only second to the bible as the most influential book read in the USA. now for some reality; in order to comprehend objectivism one must have an education as a base. In the USA today we have a population of primarily uneducated people because the educational system in the USA has deteriorated so badly for almost 100 years. I personally do not see any changes as you would like to see. From comments I have read by Ayn Rand I do not believe she had any hope of a positive change either. Her primary reason was directed towards the educational system which starts at the top, the universities and they are not interested in making any changes, therefore the level of stupidity that they exemplify will continue to be taught.
Paul Hogan (as Crocodile Dundee) said it pretty well.
These people need to wake the ___ up! The light from another's candle diminishes your none.
As for the Obushama Administrations, and similarly retarded governments in other parts of the world, to me that reflects the current stupidity and disengagement of the voting population, not exactly uplifting.
Objectivism with its emphasis on internal attribution and invidivual empowerment can certainly relieve a lot of the angst. We learn to make the f***tards irrelevant and just get on with our lives, creating, striving, trading, and sharing with enlightened people in our lives who we care about.
Meanwhile, the most authentic Atlantis is the temple you construct in your own heart. That will subtly steer you into chance meetings with like-minded people, into weaving a web of fresh new connections and inspirations. The Atlantis you build within will take form without.