Is Depression Really a Mental Illness?

Not according to Jaime Flexman of Huffington Post UK. He writes"

"The media, bless 'em, do their best to paint any form of mental illness in a positive light. Explaining that depression, anxiety, addiction and anything related to those three are now legitimate diseases that deserve the same respect and attention as anything physical.

Well thanks but the last I heard, the brain was a part of the body, and a damn important one at that.

As long as we treat an illness of the brain as something different from the rest of the body then it will never receive the same amount of attention."

There are some other great insights in the piece, which you can read in its entirety here.

10 Tips for Happiness Backed by Science from Lifehacker

I love Lifehacker.

Their articles on, well, hacking your life to make it better have really useful and practical tips. That's why, when I found this article, I knew I had to put it up here. The tips themselves (exercise, sleep, smiling, meditation, etc.) are probably not anything you haven't heard but the perspective and research in the article is what makes them useful.

Below is an excerpt on helping others more.

One of the most counterintuitive pieces of advice I found is that to make yourself feel happier, you should help others. In fact, 100 hours per year (or two hours per week) is the optimal time we should dedicate to helping others in order to enrich our lives. If we go back to Shawn Achor’s book again, he says this about helping others:

…when researchers interviewed more than 150 people about their recent purchases, they found that money spent on activities—such as concerts and group dinners out—brought far more pleasure than material purchases like shoes, televisions, or expensive watches. Spending money on other people, called “prosocial spending,” also boosts happiness.

There you go. Sometimes we just need to live outside of ourselves for a bit. Please read the full article here.

Have a happier day.

Comedian Rob Delany on His Own Depression and His Advice to Others Struggling

Porpoise Delaney by @jtmcgillicuddy

Today we feature a powerful piece about a person's struggle with depression from one the funniest—if not one of the most crass—comics making the rounds today, Rob Delaney.

While he's a funny guy, he takes his and other's depression seriously. Here's an excerpt:

"The sole reason I’ve written this is so that someone who is depressed or knows someone who is depressed might see it. While great strides have been made in mental health over the years, certain stigmas still exist. I strongly resisted medication at first. But after having been through depression and having had the wonderful good fortune to help a couple of people who’ve been through it, I will say that as hard as it is, IT CAN BE SURVIVED. And after the stabilization process, which can be and often is fucking terrifying, a HAPPY PRODUCTIVE LIFE is possible and statistically likely. Get help. Don’t think. Get help."

Great advice. Read the full heartfelt blog post here.