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There should be laws against this practice.
In my life, this is especially true when it comes to religion. People seemed so convinced that believing in God is going to make my Depression go away. In fact, I used to be Lutheran Christian and part of the reason I am so messed up now has a lot to do with a belief in God. I’m better off without religion in my life.
When writing the text for this strip, I took the part about God and pills right out of an advertisement.
Change depression to Cancer or any chronic condition and the song is still resolutely the same. There are bottom feeders of every flavour out there
Because that’s capitalism. Unfortunately.
Xactly. They prey on everybody. You’re not that special just because you’re depressed. You’re just another possible consumer group like overweights, alzheimer’s patients or impotents.
I don’t know, maybe it is just me but I don’t mind when people share what works for them with me. I look at everyone I come across as a teacher – maybe they are teaching me that I really dislike the religion/product they are pushing/selling but maybe there might be something I can learn from in their experience too. In the end most people telling you stuff just want to help …
The only thing you can learn from listening to con artists is not to listen to con artists.
not everyone who has suffered from depression and found a way out for themselves is a con artist. seriously.
yah i don’t think i belong on this page any more … peace
I think you’re commenting on a different strip, because this one is about the commercialization of depression cures.
To my way of viewing it – it is a commentary on people who have found a way out of depression and want to share that with others and so then start a business out of it. Write a book, draw a comic, start a group, market vitamins, workouts, religion whatever to help others. Which is cool and freaking righteous in my life experience. To each their own. I’d rather be around people who aren’t being slagged off for helping others.
I think you’re confusing “sharing” with “selling”. If I knew of a surefire way out of this hell, I’d share it free, like I do with this comic.
Also note in the examples in the comic people are being dissuaded from seeking out real help — from taking their meds or seeing a therapist. I honestly believe a cure for depression, like cures for all medical ailments will come from science. Chicken Soup books are not science. Alternative medicine is not science. Religion and Scientology are not science. If it’s not science it can’t be tested, it can’t be proven it works. If there is no science behind the cures they can be dangerous at worst (not that there’s no risk associated with therapy or meds, but at least they are rigorously tested before given to the general public).
Hence, if anyone markets a cure that makes claims without testing it, it is irresponsible, not “cool and freaking righteous”.
Damn. One person disagrees with you and you jump down their throat with post after post. Not cool.
I thought Love Barton’s comments were patronizing as hell, as well as completely missing the point. The author’s response didn’t seem over the top.
If I critiqued your work and you disagreed, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a response. Part of the reason there are so many reponses is because I keep forgetting that hitting return on Facebook does not start a new paragraph, but sends the response. If you look at my response, I criticized the response, not the person. It would be “cool” if you could do likewise.
Just bringing up a different viewpoint, but not all alternative medicine is a scam. There has been research showing marked improvement in depression and anxiety with acupuncture, for instance. I agree with the major point of this comic, but that’s one point I can’t dismiss.
Thank you.
“I keep forgetting that hitting return on Facebook …” I do the same thing. I’ve gotten into the habit of writing my longer posts in a word processor then copying and pasting, because trying to change my typing habits wasn’t working.
Marcelle NicCullach it is important to note that in the research acupuncture was compared to humanistic counselling which isn’t that robust. It should be compared to more robust therapies such as cognitive-behavioral, and compared to an acupuncture placebo (e.g. Streitberger & Klienhenz, 1998). This isn’t to say there’s nothing to acupuncture, just that more research is needed to address these issues.
Tim Carmody it really is annoying. There should be a send button.
Because if you’re evil enough to prey on someone, you’ll prey on the most vulnerable first.
the most vulnerable are the most likely targets to get money from…… hence why they target the old, the sick and people in crises like divorces, foreclosures. taking what few bucks they have have left and might have helped but greedy scammers got one over and not a cop or court to do anything about it. Because the cost of a civil suit is prohibitive. Most these very people will be church claiming how good they are showing how their business caters to those people______. It is sickening and the laws do nothing. When your down the scum of the world comes out to kick you and the most programs unresonable demands you can’t complete to justify their screening process. just making them as bad as the scammers. Social Security and welfare it takes them years but if you don’t get the forms in 30 days they close your case out despite they can not take any action for months to years at a time but you have a tight deadline of now. It is no one wonder the suicide rates climb higher when people enter the system and scum come out to prey on them.
Why are they pushing it on you? BECAUSE you are at your weakest. I had an anxiety attack in an elevator a few months ago, and of course, as soon as I got to really start weeping, a guy came up and tried to get me to accept Jesus, right on the spot. These people are like blowflies, they smell injury, and they come swarming in to drink. they feed on weakness and sickness. And as soon as you show a weakness they can exploit, they are right there.
Oh yeah, SO spot on. One time I was overwhelmed and while going to work, inside the metro, the tears started flowing from my eyes. I was already ashamed because I was crying in public and then a lady *jumps* to my side and starts “you know Jesus loves you, right?” Nice, now I’m feeling overwhelmed, ashamed AND invaded AND disrespected.
Spot on. As an atheist who was raised catholic, I can tell you right now that faith and religion didn’t help my depression. It fueled it.
“Because you’re at your lowest point, so you are an easy prey”.
Leave God out of this.
Signed, a depressed person.
We are generally not the ones bringing god into this. The people who prey on the depressed do that.
218: Never a truer word spoken – http://t.co/Gz7W7yZUSW via @depressioncomix
Just because you have religion doesn’t mean your life is perfect, and, being a more religious Christian, I constantly get talked to like it does.
Exactly; I’m pretty sure that John the Baptist, Paul, Stephen, Job, etc, would attest to that, as well.
“218” the latest from Depression comix – really resonates. http://t.co/CyJGU9FRhK
God, medicinally, is a multi digited sticky icky.
Depression and religion in the same sack? Bound to be outcries for and against!
In all my adult life, though, I have failed to understand why otherwise educated people embrace religion. Seems paradoxical…
Education eliminates immanence? How does that work?
I’m going to quote Ian Haworth from a Vice article originally published in the UK version of the magazine.
” I don’t use the word vulnerable very often, but I’d argue that we’re all vulnerable to the techniques used by these groups. The late Dr. John G Clark, who I quote a lot, said the safest people are the mentally ill. The easiest people to recruit are ones with alert, questioning minds who want to debate issues with other people. You take a strong-willed, strong-minded person and put them into a cult environment and the techniques used will break a person down very, very quickly. The smarter, the healthier the mind, the quicker and easier you are to control. It’s just one of these tragic realities.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_Information_Centre
http://www.vice.com/read/uk-cult-information-centre-interview-202
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gordon_Clark
Now mind you, this is talking “cults” not even “mainstream religion”. If people can be educated, sane, and sound and embrace honest to goodness cults that want to exploit one, they can embrace main stream religion.
Yet a negative correlation between intelligence and religion has been found.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religiosity_and_intelligence
We, the sick, must do what we can to make ourselves well, and we must be careful to be skeptical of quick and easy answers. If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him. That said, I am a pragmatist; if the Buddha helps you, then go with him; if Buddha does not help you, shun him. And if the Buddha asks for your credit card number, shun him and warn others about the false Buddha.
the god part hit me hard. I used to be catholic but because of depression now I’m not (it made me realize no one was out there to help me) and I fought a lot because many people pushed their religions onto me. obnoxious.
“Overpriced so it makes you think it works!” http://t.co/2iZ5OfdajK
218 http://t.co/Hr6MNushJg via @depressioncomix
god helped me when I was in my lowest point of life.. it seems that many of you havent been that low yet.. crossing my hands and feeling the comfort, it helped a lot
Whether or not religion helped you or not is something that shouldn’t matter but it’s very unkind to judge the severity of other people’s illnesses by it.
THIS>> http://t.co/MjuVM1nywf
This reminded me a lot of the time i got the courage to go see a GP to get a free psychologist referral about getting help for my depression. Instead of being helpful, the doctor started to be a councilor and spent half an hour being invasive and stating that if i had god in my life, I would be fine and that I need direction since it sounded like i was aimless.
Some people, even in places of power and authority, will exploit your weakness for their own gains.
Because CAPITALISM.
“Preying” is exactly the word. Like predators targeting the sick and the weak members of the herd, because they’re typically easy catches.
I can’t agree more. I’m tired of hearing pray to God or God’ll make it better.
They’re like vultures: they can smell your weakness…