Yep. Victims.
"I'm this way because I have depression."
No, you have depression because you are that way.
"No, I have depression because I have a chemical imbalance!"
That's very likely, however, you have a chemical imbalance because you are fat.
"What?!?"
Just as fat people are likely to get diabetes, they are likely to "get depression". Yeah, and once you have "depression", you cough up all sorts of money on drugs to coddle yourself with and indulge in your misery, thus making you broke, and thus giving you even more reason to be depressed. And the doctors see suckers coming a mile away and cater to their "oh boo-hoo, I'm sick doctor, prescribe me something to make it go away!"
When life sucks, you get sad and depressed. The chemical imbalance is there BECAUSE YOU ARE SAD! It's driving down the road and running out of gas, and when you get towed to the service station, they tell you "you have a chemical difficiency". Rather than put gas in your tank, they sell you a tow truck to tow your car around with - it doesn't fix the problem. If your life didn't suck so bad, your chemicals would be balanced, because you would be happy with your life. If gas was a motivator (which it is) rather than go to the service center and get a bill for gas, you get a bigger bill, for something you don't really need. Put the motivator in the tank and get down the road, don't look to fix something that isn't broken.
I laugh at people who "have depression". Alcoholics use booze to escape, other cocaine and heroin addicts use those drugs, "depressed" people use the meds their doctors prescribe to escape their realities. Does noone ever draw this conclusion? Needing drugs to cope with life? Finding excuses rather than dealing with the problem?
I can hear it now: Vulpine, you're crazy, Doctors are nothing like drug dealers, and fat, broke, depressed people who can't sleep that take zoloft, or ambien, or whatever are nothing like drug addicts.
Watch, 800 people are going to jump on here and push excuses on me.
Consider this - have you went to a doctor and had them tell you were depressed? Did you do it BEFORE or AFTER you were feeling gloomy? Do you go to the doctor BEFORE or AFTER you broke a bone? It's the same thing: just like a doctor looks at a broken bone after the damage is done, doctors measure chemicals after the damage is done. In this case, a person's life is crap - the damage is done. A doctor will tell you "your chemical imbalance requires ongoing treatment" in order to keep you prescribed to meds. Now, if a doctor told you "your crappy life requires ongoing treatment", he wouldn't sell nearly as many drugs, would he? Doctors treat ailments. They are motivated to sell drugs, they are motivated to sell services, they are people motivated by money just as anyone else at their job. If automakers made cars that never broke down, a lot of technicians would be out of work, and a lot of automakers would be out of business: their cars would never need to be replaced.
Much, too much, of the victim mentality you see is cultivated by capitalism. Drugs companies, oil companies, and many seemingly unrelated businesses have painted glorious pictures of themselves. They help us, we need them, they couldn't do anything wrong because they are a step beyond their stooges. Oil companies buy up the patents to the technologies for more fuel efficient vehicles before automakers can get ahold of them, or flat-out out bid automakers. Noone blames the oil companies, motivated to sell OIL, for gas guzzlers. :nono: They blame the automakers. Common sense. The technology for cars to get 100mpg has been out for 20 years - the patent is sitting in a dusty vault in some oil companies headquarters. Then, the same oil companies produce products claiming to "improve" gas mileage? Hillarious sort of blatent hustle, that works, unfortunately.
Drug companies are the same hustlers. Buy the technologies and patents for medications that actually FIX the problems, and push the drugs that TREAT the problems (because you have junkies hooked) and make more $$$. And we all know how corrupt the government is... the FDA is an extension of that government. How convenient it would be if some drugs were approved, and some, weren't... oops... can't cure that disease, I guess, but we can treat it at least. *shrug* That's just too bad, I was really hoping for it to pass. *passes check behind back*
The relevance to happiness you've been wondering? When you start to realize how hustled and duped you've been into being unhappy and for how long, it will make you want to start an underground boxing club and blow up credit buildings.
Train yourself to see through the lies and embrace the reality that things aren't nearly as complicated as everyone wants you to think. Happiness isn't a big SUV, a trophy spouse, a big house, lots of fun toys and dust collectors... happiness is a mindstate. Many people never get to achieve that mindstate because they are so busy doing things they hate to acquire things that "represent happiness" that they never get to enjoy those things. They never get time to enjoy anything, because they are so busy chasing a dream that was sold to them, maintaining all the crap that "represents happiness", or worrying about making ends meet because they've lived beyond their means.
It's the great American hustle. "The American Dream" is merely classic bait and switch. Your perception of happiness, currently, is a dangling carrot. For $19.95, I'll sell you the carrotgrabber2000, supplies are limited so call now, operators are standing by.
Understand that society has you looking at what everyone else has to guage how you rate. Just look at suburbs, it's sick. Look at the commercials with "Bob" and his big fat schlong: Bob's got a big cawk, now he's got a happy wife. Poor Bill, Bill could be happy if he had a big cawk, and his wife would be happier, too! What are they selling? Happiness? No, drugs.
Nevermind what anyone else has, what do YOU have? When you stop seeing life as a series of minus signs and start seeing things as a series of plus signs, things start looking up.
Fatness? "Content" with obesity? It's more like "just let go of the reigns". Fat people, who are "happy" with being fat, lost control of themselves, and embraced the consumer lifestyle. You'll find that fatties are often heavily medicated, too.
And people have to ask, "Why was Fight Club such a good movie?" Even when their eyes are opened, they quickly blink them shut again - like Neo falling to the ground and throwing up. "No. It can't be. I won't believe it, I WON'T!"
