tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098361547792425611.post730600018908068742..comments2023-11-14T20:22:36.929-08:00Comments on Knowledge Is Necessity: Name One Good Thing About Depression. Okay ...John McManamyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857174305041382349noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098361547792425611.post-86003221182144851912009-02-01T20:40:00.000-08:002009-02-01T20:40:00.000-08:00Wow! Many thanks for sharing this, Anonymous. You ...Wow! Many thanks for sharing this, Anonymous. You speak for a good many of us. I know I've been humbled many a time by depression, which taught me humilty - and humanity. Welcome to Knowledge is Necessity. Please keep coming back and please keep posting.John McManamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11857174305041382349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098361547792425611.post-89381677495846607532009-02-01T05:13:00.000-08:002009-02-01T05:13:00.000-08:00hi everybody,Please bear with my poor english...I ...hi everybody,<BR/><BR/>Please bear with my poor english...I discovered this blog last year,in the midst of one of my blackholes as I call them (major depression with episodes being the official diagnosis). I was amazed to see that my feelings were actually common and shared by thousands of people in the world, sometimes in the exact same way or at least described with the exact same words. ThanksAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098361547792425611.post-87816635037365810672009-01-29T10:59:00.000-08:002009-01-29T10:59:00.000-08:00HI, John. In a few days I'll probably be posting a...HI, John. In a few days I'll probably be posting a blog based on the old Buddhist saying, "If you meet Buddha on the road, kill him." In other words, anyone who tells you that they have all the answers is an idiot who is full of crap.<BR/><BR/>So I take your point whole-heartedly. <BR/><BR/>I'm looking forward to a robust exchange of views here, where we all listen and learn and work our way in John McManamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11857174305041382349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098361547792425611.post-12118947188513800462009-01-29T09:45:00.000-08:002009-01-29T09:45:00.000-08:00John - Thank you for opening this issue so well. I...John - Thank you for opening this issue so well. I'm certainly one of the people who has been angered by so many books - and I hasten to say I've not read Tom Wootton's yet - talking about the helpfulness, or spirituality or normality of depression. I respect anyone's adaptation to this condition, based on any and all beliefs, that helps them live more fully and happily. What gets me so upset is Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098361547792425611.post-57887501024915445912009-01-24T18:10:00.000-08:002009-01-24T18:10:00.000-08:00Thank you for sharing that John. Getting people t...Thank you for sharing that John. Getting people thinking is what I'm all about! Thank you also for the kind words in your most recent post. I look forward to continuing this conversation with you and your readers. <BR/><BR/>It's funny, I was just talking to Tom (Wootton that is) a couple weeks back about Tom Cruise and that infamous interview with Matt Lauer. I'll probably share my thinking Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098361547792425611.post-66138311589272499782009-01-24T16:42:00.000-08:002009-01-24T16:42:00.000-08:00Hey, Francesco. You really got me thinking. My fir...Hey, Francesco. You really got me thinking. My first reaction was to launch into a diatribe against antipsychiatry, but instead I came up with a more nuanced response which I just posted as a blog. <BR/><BR/>Many thanks for taking the conversation to a new level. Let's keep the discussion going ...John McManamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11857174305041382349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098361547792425611.post-21032499255610434662009-01-24T03:59:00.000-08:002009-01-24T03:59:00.000-08:00I first learned about Tom Wootton when I read Phil...I first learned about Tom Wootton when I read Philip Dawdy’s interview with him on his blog Furious Seasons back in February of 2008. I remember the excitement I felt simply by reading the titles of his books: Bipolar Advantage and Depression Advantage. Before having read any more of the interview besides just the titles, I was thinking – “That’s genius.”<BR/><BR/>At the time, I was Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098361547792425611.post-16677806538690453842009-01-24T00:10:00.000-08:002009-01-24T00:10:00.000-08:00Hey, guys, great discussion. Very much appreciate ...Hey, guys, great discussion. Very much appreciate your input on this very misunderstood topic. Welcome to Knowledge is Necessity. Make yourself at home ...John McManamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11857174305041382349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098361547792425611.post-37221621879952908372009-01-23T23:42:00.000-08:002009-01-23T23:42:00.000-08:00I understand completely. After all, what good cou...I understand completely. After all, what good could ever come from something that drained the very life out of me. <BR/><BR/>However, I have also become aware of positives from my depressed episodes. One of which is the spiritual aspect. While it feels as if my belief system is failing, I become more aware of the caring God who carries me through. <BR/><BR/>It may sound like a cliche but theAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098361547792425611.post-6761423596477944272009-01-23T23:41:00.000-08:002009-01-23T23:41:00.000-08:00I tend to have varying levels of connection with t...I tend to have varying levels of connection with the Divine that usually correlates to my ups and downs. I definitely have more insight, creativity and intuition when I'm "up".<BR/><BR/>I spent a long time - years - hating everything about depression, but late last year I started to look at it differently. The way I look at it is similar to a spiritual concept that we cannot recognize good Sophiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12988429133719659700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098361547792425611.post-89764126084333753362009-01-23T23:38:00.000-08:002009-01-23T23:38:00.000-08:00I do! Even before I found the Bipolar Advantage, I...I do! Even before I found the Bipolar Advantage, I believed that I lived life as it is meant to be lived; while others, those whom the psychiatric community views as "normal", live a lesser life.<BR/><BR/>I often discuss this perspective with my psychopharmacologist at the end of many of our sessions. After substituting yet another drug for the one from before that didn't work, I suggest to him Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098361547792425611.post-7084495750654209772009-01-23T22:53:00.000-08:002009-01-23T22:53:00.000-08:00When I'm depressed, I seem to gain a lot more spir...When I'm depressed, I seem to gain a lot more spiritual insight into myself. Somehow, I become more open to God, and I allow Him to "share" more of Himself with me, if that makes any sense. It's in the slowing down that I can really "hear" what God has to say to me. When I'm manic, I'm too busy to stop and listen to anything! So, I've found that depression can be positive in that it slows me Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098361547792425611.post-73056689879660414362009-01-23T18:03:00.000-08:002009-01-23T18:03:00.000-08:00Before writing The Depression Advantage I would ha...Before writing The Depression Advantage I would have argued with anyone who claimed any good as a result of depression. I struggled with the idea and concluded that the only good is what we make of ourselves in spite of it.<BR/><BR/>Since that time I have seen many advantages that are of a different nature and am writing a new book about seeing depression, bipolar and schizophrenia from the otherAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com