Don’t credit UA-cam , with today’s tech and without UA-cam ...someone else would do it , and with the same ease , never give a world Corp that redefines definition of words too much power , although it might be too late
with all due respect to him, for which I have loads, there is nothing that he is sharing here that is either highly technical or new data that you couldn't have found from another source.
@@leefithian3704 Yes, this..... The same can be said about "professional" sports teams and players who the general public is stupid enough to pay millions of dollars apiece. There are hundreds of other individuals who could make up a "team" who could beat the "superbowl winners" but they just aren't known about.
@@jecky82 Good, I'm just chillin' and studyin' depression and human behavioral biology from my friend Sapolsky here; the usual stuff, you know how it goes 🥱 Wbu classmate?
It's honestly a beautiful thing that any old average Joe can listen to this without being enrolled in Stanford. Probably the coolest thing about the Internet imo.
Totally agree!! I'm good at med terminology.. but who he is and his teaching technique.. they are why I know what's up.. i especially like how he moves allot. I was the kid in the back next to a window and I usually ended up staring out that window watching grasshoppers mate lol .. but not because I wanted to get an entomology degree. Lol I was stone cold bored . He keeps me focused ... Wish he was ALL my teachers All through school!
I’m 71 and I’ve been dealing with this since I was about 9. I’ve have countless therapists, physiatrists and more meds than you can imagine. No one ever really got it but this guy gets it. Someone gets it!
I’m 23 and scared of dealing with it for 50+ more years. Recently, it’s really felt hard to imagine myself dealing with it for even 7 more years; I doubt I’ll live to 30… Any advice?
@@j.w.r.i2910 there is some wisdom to what he says, the shallowness of American culture and to some extent the whole of western culture is a large factor in why so many of us are depressed
"It's a biochemical disorder with a genetic component with early exposure experiences that make it so someone can't appreciate sunsets" Nothing has hit me harder than this
I'm realizing that I seem to have major depressive disorder. Talking to my kids lately, they'd suggest going or doing something, all i could think about were the problems... Um, i haven't done laundry in a couple months... Fortunately, I'm in that state where everything is too much trouble. So i'm confident i won't commit suicide anytime soon, that would be way too much effort... :)
The inability to derive pleasure from _anything_ - it's called _ANHEDONIA!_ I only move from this bed if there's absolutely no other choice. I use the sunrise/sunset analogy also, and music, nature, any hobbies I once enjoyed etc. (just smoking myself to death, really).
@@halloweendancing no it isn't: it's a business, an industry: I heard a group therapist say once she had to 'make production'. Guess who are 'the product'? The clients. Not saying therapy is bad/useless per se but the way it's organized it's not really set up for success IMO because it's run as a business from the top and a business benefits from more (returning) clients.
@@yarly3180L take. Therapy save my life and unless your therapists are evil people they want to help you. Same logic as saying all doctors don't help because they make money when you get sick again.
"It's a strange poverty of the English language, and indeed of many other languages, that we use the same word "depression" to describe how a kid feels when it rains on his birthday, and to describe how somebody feels the minute before they commit suicide." Andrew Solomon, TED Talk Depression, the Secret we Share.
@Levi Brennan true but we colloquially lump together meanings under a same word all the time which really gets in the way of understanding nuances especially with something like depression. Without the understanding of the nuances problem solving is flawed because which kind of "depression" is it this time? Or is it even depression?
@Levi Brennan You say : "Can't blame the language for the ignorance of its speakers." Unless "the ignorance of it's speakers" as you say, is a direct corollary of the in-exactitude and non-specificity of the majority of it's terminology and definitions. I think maybe we should do what the Germans do, and jam words together to make a new word that is highly specific. In this case, maybe something like "StrongKillSelf-HateLife-Feeling-Motivation" might work okay. Then again, people still might get these concepts mixed up....
I have a friend that is always saying, "but everyone gets depressed sometimes." She just doesn't understand the difference. Like I am being over dramatic or exaggerating. It frankly makes me mad when she says that.
gotta be right. most of (if not all???) my depression i can trace back to my seething sorrow and hatred for humans, and the fates we have constructed for our own species.
So glad to live in the age where educational material like this is free to the public and that there are those who would also freely share it. Thank you!
I'd like to thank Stanford and Professor Sapolsky for making their educational materials like this lecture open to the public. This lecture was quite eye opening for me.
"It's a strange poverty of the English language, and indeed of many other languages, that we use the same word "depression" to describe how a kid feels when it rains on his birthday, and to describe how somebody feels the minute before they commit suicide." Andrew Solomon, TED Talk Depression, the Secret we Share.
"You can't shame me out of feeling depressed. If shame worked, then I would have shamed myself out of it long ago." So smart, and so right. I hope you find a path that lets you deal with the negativity. CBT did a lot for me, but it's still a struggle.
If CBT helped then there's hope for you, as there's likely significant psychological factors. If you've been a chronic lifelong sufferer, without any environmental justification, and all psychological as well as pharmacological interventions have failed... well, join my lost cause group (if it actually existed).
The humor - okay fine - but the people in the back laughing about it is part of the problem - it feels like it is not taken seriously - for someone who is depressed this is not a laughing matter.
@J L Okay, tell us about the cure. I'd love to hear about a cure! Depression is so complex, what with the interplay of neural and hormonal dysregulation, genetics, individual experience, individual coping strategies, immune dysfunction and structural changes to the brain. Not to mention information yet to be unearthed and possible spiritual imbalance (if you approach health holistically). A cure would be incredible. Tell us about the cure. Share your knowledge with us all.
@Quetzalcoatl Holy hell mate.. like you were paying attention to all classes in primary school and other schools you went to. Some people just don't care about some subjects and it's alright. People who never experienced depression or don't know anyone who experienced it might not care about this topic. There are people like that who live their entire life without experiencing it themselves. All they experience is sadness, so this topic might not interest them.
@Quetzalcoatl It's good then that they recorded this lecture and uploaded it publicly for everybody to see. Maybe some of the people who attended it back then will watch it again with different "set of eyes".
@Quetzalcoatl Of course. It make sense that in 10 years we would know more, but it looks like it's still not enough to figure out how to get rid of or reduce depression in people. At least in those who got depressed due to imbalance in brain chemicals, not other factors like something external.
I don't remember a time when I didn't have major depressive disorder. Not only did I learn some important new information from this video, I received something I didn't realize I needed so badly: validation. Thank you for also addressing the semantics of words like "depressed". I often get asked why I'm depressed and then I realize they don't know what I'm talking about. Thank you for this. Sincerely.
Damn, as a MD I really envy the students in this class and wish my teachers were this good. He managed to convey a great summary of the literature of depression in such an easy way to understand for even a layperson and with great eloquence. This was an amazing lecture and I'm thankful this is free for anyone to watch
Worse part is crying and having a complete breakdown at random and not knowing why. It just hits and you don't function again for days, weeks. That's the disarming part, I hope everyone who's suffering keeps fighting.
@task force whisky hey man. Genuine question: Why do you want to be this way? It's the internet, so I figure its just to get a rise, clicks, a laugh etc. But...why do you want to make people feel so badly about themselves? Is this who you were called to be? What traces of yourself you want to leave behind to strangers?
My son had crippling depression and anxiety. Great guy…he overdosed and died thanksgiving eve. Great guy…I’ll miss him all my days left in this world. God bless you son
I can totally relate, I actually tried to take my life and I can remember times when I prayed to God that I wouldn't wake up in the morning. I was going through a divorce and had recently lost both of my parents and through my divorce I lost everything and eventually found myself homeless. There is nothing worse than just existing and not living. Today I have a great job, a home, and the best life I've ever had, but I still deal with depression every single day of my life.
I'm so proud of you really, I can't imagine what that time must have felt like, I'm happy you managed to get better, it takes so much strength to get back up after all you've gone through. I hope you have a depression-free future.
I saw this video for the first time in 2013 when I had been diagnosed with major depression, and it meant so much for me. It really helped, and I’ve gone back to it over the years. Thank you Doctor Sapolsky
@@PrinceKoopa It took a lot of time, like another seven years, but I finally pulled out of it, I’m happy to say. Therapy and the right combo of meds and, well, time.
@@shadowplayish That is not about the having a galaxy brain, it is about being familiar with your content and having talked about it many times previously. Even doing this takes a lot of effort and the lecturer's relaxed body language while talking in his course shows that he is incredibly experienced and well versed on his subject.
Yep. I had a history teacher at Bard who went on to lecture at Harvard that I always noted did the exact same thing - never searched or stammered to explain. She repeatedly told me that it was because she knew the material so well for so long but what made her towering intellect even more awe striking was her equal surplus of humility. Really, really smart people are quiet; sans boast. I think it’s because they can see into the darkness so much further than us mortals and know of the vast complexities that we can only dream of.
My father lived through a lifetime of depression and still was able to raise a family. I suffered a minor version (Dysthymia) and it was extremely painful and difficult to get through.
It's encouraging to see that, 12 year after this lecture, depression is widely accepted as a biological disease, is often seen in public discourse on general health, and not longer carries the same kind of stigma as it used to (along with PTSD and other mental diseases), all thanks to the tremendous efforts from medical workers and researchers like Prof. Sapolsky in their tireless education to the general public. Salutation!
@@capybarawithanorangeonitsh4190 I have to exercise to extremes in order to be normal and outside at least 4 hours a day in sunlight, Sunbox saved my life along with medications. First time I felt the effects of Prozac was a major experience for me, wow this is how other people feel all the time?! And I am grateful for ECT, it has saved my life a number of times.
...Please check out the updated version of this UA-cam lecture from Dr. Sapolsky. (Posted very recently).Very much worth viewing. The basics in research and understanding of depression are still there, but new developments are always coming to light. ...and thanks, once again, for the ready availability of these lectures from Stanford. You remind me how much I miss working with people in the Sciences.
This is why I hate that when someone commits suicide they're considered "selfish" and they "didn't think of the people around them" when they're literally talking about a person whose mental state was in such a bad place that they were willing to take the most extreme measure to end their own suffering.
It's missing the point that seriously depressed people get into the mental state where they believe the people around them would be better off if he/she was gone.
@@SW-fn7cl Exactly! They believe it is more selfish to stay alive when they are "worthless" and just dragging their loved ones down. Then they hear others say they're "just selfish" and feel even MORE worthless. There's nothing like a shame spiral to really guarantee a depressive will go through with suicide.
I once read this as an explanation for understanding suicide and it really helped me: the depression is like being inside a burning building and jumping out to a certain death beats being consumed by the flames.
I lost my father to a brain tumor when I was 11 years old. I'm 16 now and still haven't lost in my battle against depression and I'm determined to never let it win.
Keep your head up bro. I lost my father, the greatest person on earth for me, at the age of 9. I'm 27 now, still keep him in my prayers every day. Try to focus on the good and be thankful for every new day you live and the fact that you have other family around and that you can look forward to being a great day one day too.
I lost my father when I was 10, he died at the dinner table one night. I’m 39 and still treating it. I had two really major depressive episodes in my life, but I’ve been ok for a few years. Three pieces of advice for what sounds a lot like a younger me. 1. Don’t pour alcohol on it. It’s a short term fix to a long term problem ultimately makes it much, much worse. 2. Never stop going to therapy. It’s hard to find a therapist that you will gel with but don’t stop looking until you find one and don’t stop going once you do. 3. Be careful with the amount of medications they want to put you on. You may need them sometimes but a lot of meds ended up just making it worse for longer for me. I’m really sorry about your father. Things can be ok. Every feeling is temporary, even though it may not feel like that at the time. Good luck.
This is one of the greatest one hour lectures anywhere. Sapolsky has a tremendous gift for distilling tons of complexities down into an hour that is digestible and understandable.
This made me openly weep. I’ve struggled with major depressive disorder for 20 years, and to know that there is one person who completely understands exactly what I have felt is unreal. Thank you for doing this work.
Depression and obesity. I've had both forever. They are also the two diseases where everyone, including doctors, says "just get over it." Interesting. You can't "will" your hair to change color any more than you can take your metabolism and turn it into that of a person who has never been, and never will be, overweight. Same with depression. The diseases themselves are bad enough, but when the bumbling hordes step in and say "eat less, move more" and "just feel happy", it is 1,000 times worse. Do you tell someone having a heart attack "now, use your willpower to make it go away"? I feel your pain.
That's how I felt too: he described some of the elements of my depression so well that I had never even made some of the connections myself. He is a fantastic professor.
I’m sorry to hear that. Leave everything to god my friend. I pray you’re forever happy and all your dreams come true. I’m here if you ever want a friend to talk to.
Can totally relate with your comment. Been telling a loved one who i talk to regularly about these issues, that it's the "end of the path" because i dont see any future, like ive hit an abstract brick wall, although nothing in my life (objectively) suggests i should feel this way... Stay strong, Stoa Eterna
+Giorgi Gudiashvili This is exactly how I feel. My memory is terrible... it's as if my memories are all there yet I have poor connectivity to them, I have no mental energy, emotions feel as if they're not there anymore for the most part(they are severely dull). My brain is chronically inactive despite my desire for it to be 'active'. Learning is very challenging, trying to comprehend what words I know should be easy to understand is a constant struggle. Many times I give up out of exhaustion, frustration, and when there are no signs of my mind making progress in trying to grasp the concepts. My mind is empty, blank... When I talk to people it's as if what I say didn't originate from me most of the time, and it's particularly difficult when I try to absorb even small amounts of information coming in from simple conversation..... I would try taking psilocybin mushrooms as I have heard they may reverse depression, but alas.... they're illegal and I don't have it in me to take that risk just yet. Although I have little to lose at this point.... Maybe I will have to try them soon and hope for the best.
There is nothing to look forward to but death, death will not solve depression, depression will persist even beyond death, depression is a crisis of existence, science can only ease the pain or fall short, find internal strength nobody can give you strength look deep within and forge some strength. forge yourself some strength to keep moving forward and endure and try and overcome the problem of existence known as depression.
People try to cheer depressives up. "Think of your lovely family!" Or "Why don't you play your guitar? You love to play the guitar." That just makes it worse because you're reminding the person that they lack the capacity to enjoy the things that they know they used to enjoy. You'd never walk up to somebody who just lost both hands in an accident and say, "Why don't you work on your model airplanes for a while? That always cheers you up." Um... Because I CAN'T!
Speaking as someone who's been depressed for the last 10 years (I'm 26) I watch this everytime things get particularly dark and it makes me feel better understood. As much as I cherish my loved ones; who are more than understanding of my faults, there is only so much I think they can truly empathize with.
I watched this for the first time just now and Im in tears I cant believe that someone just so eloquently just described I am the way I am. I cant believe it.
That's what makes depression so insidious. It's like severe depression makes some want to kill themselves and mild to moderate depression makes people (almost) wish they would because of the negativity and lousy attitude, etc. that even low grade depression causes. 40 + years I've been dealing with it now. Recent studies have shown that depression in people is more likely to make them be more realistic than most people because we tend to focus on preparing for the worst so if plans fall apart it's easier to process disappointment. Many victims of suicide never experienced clinical depression until something in their life acutely falls apart and they can't deal with it. Not trying to simplify this in any way because it is not simple.
I have Major Depressive Disorder and have since I was 8. Whenever I have an episode (like now) I watch this video. The clinical way of explaining it makes me feel understood and better in a way.
This lecture gave me 3 things i have never had my whole life about depression, Education, Validation, And Compassion. If more people were like this man, the world would be a much better place.
@task force whisky What you're describing are sad thoughts. Everyone naturally has sad thoughts when faced with difficulties in life. But depression is a different ballgame. Some people don't have those happy times you speak about. Constantly sad, anxious, self-doubting, and don't feel any reason to live. It's more complicated than just being happy or sad. These people need to revisit their past and reevaluate their lives by talking with a therapist about what's causing them pain. This takes time to fix.
@task force whisky First off all your spelling is laughable, second of all I am a Muslim woman, I don't drink, don't do drugs and don't have sex outside of marriage. And yet I suffered from depression since I was 13 after my mother passed away. I am more conservative than you'll ever be, and STILL I BELIEVE IN SCIENCE !!!! "Task force of whisky" telling to a Muslim woman she party too hard. I don't even know if it's stupidity or a disability at this stage 😂😂
I spent years struggling with major depression back when I was a teenager. Eventually I got diagnosed with Hashimoto's Disease (which he mentions at 31:58) and it genuinely opened up my path to recovery. I recommend anyone experiencing major depression to get their thyroid checked, just in case.
@oldmanhendo7183 Yes, it was, although there were a coulpe of contributing elements (the general hormonal upheval of puberty and one traumatic life event). And I said handling the thyroid issue "opened up my path to recovery" rather than "cured me of my depression" because sadly, regardless of the cause, by the time I had that solution I'd already spent years in that state of mind, which is difficult to snap out of in terms of mental habits, thought loops etc. Still, addressing the root cause made a major difference in my ability and willingness to try and get better and was a whole new person about a year later.
I really love the analogy about diabetics "You don't ask people with diabetics to stop babying themselves and stop having diabetics". I come from China, in my society, they call people with depression "weak". A few years ago, a celebrity committed suicide due to depression. Instead of rethinking what we could have done to save his life, people saying things like "what a coward", "if he has the courage to die, why didn't he man up to live?" Nowadays, depression got more attention and care. But most depression awareness related "success stories" are about "someone realized the situation and snapped out from it". Psychotherapy is highly uncommon and unaffordable and medication is so stigmatized. There is a long way to go. I hope eventually the understanding of depression is more well spread so more lives can be saved.
Theres that assumption that inside us all there is this center of calm rational thought. A higher mind. A higher self. I think that might be an illusion, Perhaps the true self, the soul if you like is not a godlike transcendent entity of immense power but a lonely scared child, when our biology or social structure is supportive we appreciate the power and confidence that support gives us. And we mistake the structure for the self, then when the structure collapses instead of accepting that work needs to be done to rebuild the structure, we think the individual is at fault.
from my own experiences of talking to these sort of people and trying to explain to them what bipolar disorder is in an objective way and my experience suffering with it, it quickly becomes an ideological discussion versus a fact and mathematic based discussion. as for why that is, he is exactly right in that rather than it being viewed as a medical issue, it is seen as a moral and emotional issue. and sure, there are moral and emotional components to it, as well as any other disease. my understanding is that just as Hansen's disease was a moral issue until modern initiatives, mental health will be viewed as the same until the societal understanding around mental health has changed. and that will only happen with repeated contact with the wider community, and a community effort of giving no credence to those who would seek to stigmatize such issues.
“The intensest light of reason and revelation combined, cannot shed such blazonings upon the deeper truths in a man, as will sometimes proceed from his own profoundest gloom. Utter darkness is then his light, and cat-like he distinctly sees all objects through a medium which is mere blindness to common vision.” ― Herman Melville
Yup we both have terrible governments and lack of real leadership. It's sad that American and Chinese governments work against each other because together we could be a massive force for good in this world.
sort of, it’s much less difficult to sound articulate when he so grossly glosses over “stress”. He claims to divide the lecture into two parts and that “understanding biology only explains 30-40% of depression” and then proceeds to lecture the entire hour on strictlt biology. Also he used the phrase biological psychiatry, which is a redundant phraseLol, what does he think psychiatry is??? Psychiatry is both an MD/PhD, it by definition already includes biology. Does he also call doctors “biological doctors”? But the initial point is that he clearly glossed over stress by trotting out some lame mid-1900s description of learned helplessness as a general descriptor of stress. This scans more like a feature-length Ted Talk, somewhat slick and quick-paced, and completely glossing over the mount everest dilemma which has yet to be scaled and is currently baffling modern thinkers. Cool that he can announce the current state of research fimdings (but to be honest anyone can recount his narrative and its convenient he has to bolt out the door), and he has a trusting delivery, paternally soothing even, but this ends like a Malcolm Gladwell book or a Fat-Free dessert, no substance upon inspection, no filling, and not even close to satisfying (especially if you ever cracked on single book in literally any single psychological field).
Davey Ineluctable Well Davey I think this was only a primer lecture on the subject, not only that but I don't really understand your frustrations. What more would you have added or taken away from this piece?
@@daveyineluctable5525 Almost all his other talks are about stress and different pathology, which is essentially the best place to be when so little progress has been made. It would seem to me that in spite of the question existing for a long time, according to what you are saying, it is still cutting edge. He explained that depression is grossly underappreciated as well with his example about wishing your senator's wife would get this disease so a foundation would be set up. It didn't strike me that there was more he could expound on without teaching you about a lot of other separate diseases first.
@@stupidtreehugger Firstly, I don't imagine that Robert Sapolsky's lectures are given to suit pharmacy interests. Maybe they are , but not for the reasons you are presenting. You say diet and lifestyle, but that is essentially what a pharmacy mediates with as an over-generalization to keep things conventional and stagnant. Look up Dr Jack Kruse and his work with Quantum biology. To say that the type of link you are sharing about exercise and robert sapolsky's work are mutually exclusive is a huge mistake. I think the point of him bringing up the "belt up and get over it" notion was to mock it's use by professionals who are ignorant that are forced to deal with depression people.
It’s been 6 years since the last time I left my house. Sometimes it gets so bad I won’t even leave my bedroom for months. I dropped out of high school because of depression. There were times that I pissed on my bed because I didn’t even have the energy to walk to my bathroom. It’s not always that bad but it always hurts. It breaks my heart every time I think I’m wasting my youth rotting on sadness in my bedroom for no reason. This started for no reason when I was 16, now I am 22, will be 23 this year. I’ll never get the time I lost back. No one died. No one hurt me. I don’t have any trauma. Nothing that justify my depression. Just sadness and at the absence of sadness, just emptiness. I am just waiting for my mum to pass away, so I can finish myself. I don’t want her to deal with it.
12 years ago (right around the time this video was posted) I took my first psychology class as undergrad, and fell in love with the subject. Today I discovered this video, and once again I'm enamored. Thank you Dr. Sapolski.
In addition to the lecture, he is a great human. I just noticed how he was emphasizing through the whole lecture that depression is not a “pull yourself together thing” because he must’ve felt the pressure and pain depressed people feel from their families and friend’s constant demanding of “pull yourself together” which in many cases makes the person feels that his pain is not real or is not worth the validation and that drags the person to increase the aggression inward thus worsening things. i applaud him for having this much wisdom and compassion for others
agreed. there is almost nothing more damaging than being told to "get over it" or "try harder" when you're in a depressive state. The guilt is internalized and the person suffers even more, sinking further into depression.
It is terrible - had a wife yell, ‘Snap out of it!’ after her leaving me, 5 months after purchasing a home, taking my 7 year old daughter with her; lose kid brother to suicide, she moves back in, but doesn’t understand my depressive state… like who the heck wants to feel constant despair and languish?
I added this video SO long to my "Watch Later" playlist. This was uploaded back in 2009. and I added this probably around 2016. It is now April of 2024. and I have just now gotten around to watching this finally...
Boy you nailed this regarding how a patient with MDD feels compared to someone who doesn’t have it. I cried watching this because it really hit home. You gave excellent insight that I hope more people understand. Thank you. Best lecture so far! ❤️
One of the statements that impressed me : genetics is not about inevitability, it is about vulnerability. This is such a profound statement on so many levels. Acknowleding our vulnerability is the key to valuing our strenghts and ability to hold each other well and caringly.
Yep, that was an excellent point, and encouraging for those who did end up having depression - you’re not MEANT to have it, you developed it because your body was more vulnerable to it by no fault of yours.
Watching this does give a bit of a dopamine kick, as we get lost in a lecture given by someone who understands us, and we think maybe there is hope after all. Then, of course, once the video is over, we snap back to a reality where no one really cares that much. Welp, time for my Cymbalta. Maybe the third time will be a charm.
Lecture objective: Reconciliation between the biological and psychological facets of depression 1:19: Sapolsky discusses the pervasive state of depression today 2:33: Sadness is distinguished from reactive and major depression, since one is transient, the other, seasonal, and the last one, chronic. 4:15: Sapolsky argues that depression, or anhedonia (inability to feel pleasure), is the worst illness one can be crippled with. 5:28: The vehemence of retrospective guilt and grief can take on a delusional quality in the depressed (explained with an anecdote). 7:40: Self-injury, psychomotor retardation (visible slowing of physical and emotional reactions, including speech and affect), and the counter-intuitive truth that patients are far less likely to mutilate themselves when severely enervated out of depression than right at the termination of the phase are presented (invaluable tip for anyone with depressed friends or family members). 9:20: The reason it isn't possible for some to get over it while others can isn't to do with will, but biology. The struggles of the depressed are as strongly founded on biology as that of a diabetic and it isn't prudent to expect them to snap out of it. *Part 1: The exploration of the biological facets of depression; namely, general physiological, neurochemical, neuroanatomical, and hormonal:* _General physiological:_ 10:32: Vegetative symptoms that indicate the very real, biological roots of depression: early morning awakening, sleep cycles (slow-wave sleep, REM sleep, deep sleep etc) markedly disordered, deceased appetite, elevation of stress hormones, etc. The point being that the bodies of the major depressives work differently. 12:36: Psychomotor retardation is often misconstrued as inaction, when in reality, underneath the semblance of inaction, the depressed individual's body is having a humongous stress response 24/7; there's a huge battle brewing inwards all the time. 13:46: Rhythmic patterns of onset of depression as a function of internal biological clocks is discussed, say, individuals who are affected only in winters or every January and so on. _Neurochemical:_ 14:55: Neurons, separated by microscopic gaps called synapses, communicate with each other using chemical messengers known as neurotransmitters, of which a handful are relevant to us. 16:15: A) Norepinephrine: First implicated in depression in the early '60s, evidenced by the role of first-generation anti-depressants (called MAO inhibitors) developed at the time in inhibiting the enzymes responsible for the breakdown of Norepinephrine (allowing more frequent stimulation) in order to alleviate symptoms of depression. 17:58: The late '60s saw the discovery of a new class of antidepressants called tricyclic antidepressants, which had a similar effect on Norepinephrine, although realised through a different mechanism. 18:30: Further supported by the observation that a class of drugs named reserpine, typically used to manage high blood pressure by disintegrating Norepinephrine, induce symptoms of depression, the "Norepinephrine hypothesis" was formed, which correlated depression with a decline in Norepinephrine release. 19:15: It has been observed in rats that stimulation of Norepinephrine receptors makes them blissful, so much so they're drawn to triggering the stimulation more than food or sex. This was then called the pleasure pathway and is found in humans as well. 21:55: The problem was that Norepinephrine signaling usually changes within an hour upon consumption of the drug; however, may take weeks to help a depressed person. 22:25: B) Dopamine: Another neurotransmitter even more useful in the pleasure pathway. 22:40: C) Serotonin: The introduction of Prozac, belonging to a family of antidepressants called SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor) that works by increasing Serotonin signaling, brought Serotonin to the limelight, causing people to view Serotonin as the "new Norepinephrine". 23:23: In reality though, all the three neurotransmitters have important roles to play. Norepinephrine has to do with psychomotor retardation; dopamine, with anhedonia; while the absence of Serotonin ensues in an obsessive sense of grief and guilt (interestingly, drugs like Prozac that encourage Serotonin stimulation are also used to treat other obsessive disorders like OCD). 24:30 D) Substance P: A neurotransmitter that is an important element in pain perception, when curbed, was discovered to provide relief to the depressed. This is evidence that psychic pain isn't merely metaphorical, since the human body is using the same chemistry to feel the psychic pain of depression as it would physical agony. _Neuroanatomical:_ 25:26: Triune brain concept: A formulation that emerged in the 1940s discusses the human brain in terms of the reptilian complex, the limbic system, and the neocortex. The reptilian complex is the nuts and bolts of the brain in charge of regulatory functions like keep blood pressure, glucose, etc in check. The limbic system sits on top of the reptilian complex (which is rather exclusive to mammals and deals primarily with emotions, like fear, lust, rage, etc) and can communicate with it too, for instance, secrete stress hormones if circumstances demand so. Finally, up on top, lies the cortex, a hugely expanded area in primates, involved in several important functions like sensory perception, generation of motor commands, spatial reasoning, conscious thought, and in humans, language. 27:38: However; something more interesting happens when the neocortex works in conjunction with the reptilian complex and the limbic system,. If one is overwhelmed with sad thoughts, the neocortex has the other two parts functioning the same way they would if a person were being physically assaulted by a predator (stress response). 29:00 On a very simplistic level, depression is the cortex having sad thoughts and having the brain go along with it; and therefore, an equally simplistic recourse would be to just cut it off. This medical procedure is called cingulotomy, reserved for people who do not respond to any type of medication, therapy, electroshock interventions, etc. 29:29 The worry is that the neocortex is equally crucial in conjuring up abstract pleasurable thoughts that influence the rest of the brain, but Sapolsky argues that it is an essential intervention nonetheless since the patient in question wouldn't be a candidate for this procedure to begin with if they had the capacity for uplifting thoughts. _Hormonal:_ 31:31: A severe shortage of thyroid hormone can induce major depression. 32:43: Women have a higher incidence of major depression than men (around twice as much) and are the most vulnerable at certain points in their reproductive life: after they give birth (post-parturition depression), during their monthly cycles, and at menopause. 33:16: Sociological factors like general lack of control on account of societal norms are also associated with the higher occurrence of major depression in women. 33:38: On average, women tend to ruminate more on emotionally upsetting things than men do, but it is untrue that that makes them more prone to depression. 34:55: The secretion of estrogen, progesterone, and their ratio in women can influence the number of receptors and re-uptake characteristics of the neurotransmitters implicated in depression. 35:37: Adrenaline is the most well-known stress hormone; however, Sapolsky asserts that there is a much more important stress hormone in humans known as glucocorticoids (that come out of your adrenal gland during stress) since about half the people diagnosed with major depression have elevated levels of glucocorticoids. 36:41: Major stress can pre-dispose one to depression. This can be seen epidemiologically: usually, the precursor to a person's first major depressive episode is a stressful event in their life. They can eventually conquer it; however, succeeding experiences of such episodes of stress-induced depression can permanently predispose one to it with or without a stressor.
*Part 2: The exploration of the psychological facets of depression* _Freudian perspective:_ 38:28: If this is all one ever knows about the subject, one can not make any meaningful contribution. Hence, we must talk about the psychology of depression. 39:10: Freud refers the process of grief as mourning, while the term that characterises depression is melancholia. 39:56: In the Freudian view, after losing a loved one, most people are able to mourn and come out the other end; but some are unable to relegate the vehemence of the loss and the feelings brought along with it to the background, which is melancholia. 40:44: For a regular person, losing somebody indicates the only thing wrong is the loss; however, for a person with melancholia; two things are wrong: one is the loss and the other is having forever lost the opportunity to make things better with them. Hence, the aggression arising as a consequence of the loss is turned inwards -which is depression. _Experimental psychology:_ 41:59: The difficulty of interpreting Freudian views within the framework of modern science is contemplated as a premise for foray into experimental psychology. 42:29: The literature shows that for the same external misery, one can feel more stressed and be more at risk for stress-related disorders, if one doesn't have outlets, feels powerless and doesn't have anyone's shoulders to cry on. The pathological extremes of this is depression and cognitive psychology defines it as "learned helplessness" (learning to be helpless). The ability to identify that their current predicament is not their whole world is lost in the depressed and as a consequence, they dismiss any prospect of imminent help. 43:33: This behaviour is replicated in rats, where in one setting, they are subject to uncontrollable shocks until they learn helplessness; and then transported to another setting where they can avoid getting shocked by pulling a lever but don't bother to. 44:30: One of the most reliable findings in the epidemiology of depression is that if one loses a parent to death under 10 years of age, they are more at a risk of major depression for the rest of their lives. This makes sense, since these are the formative years of one's lives where one is learning about the effect they have on the world (cause and effect) as a way of gauging how much control they generally have in life, and losing a parent then might mean having to directly contend with the feeling of helplessness and loss of control for the child, pushing him/her that much closer to the edge of the "learned helplessness" cliff. *Part 3: Reconciliation* 45:32: The critical point of intersection between the two aforementioned schools of thought is "stress". 45:36: Depression has a genetic component, and runs more reliably in closer and closer relatives. In identical twins, if one has depression, the other has a 50% chance (25% for regular twins). 46:28: However; this also implies the other twin has a 50% chance of not getting depression; which shows as important as genes are, they are not more important than any other component. 46:52: Genes and depression are not about inevitability, rather, vulnerability, which is tied to a gene discovered recently that is relevant to whether or not one is likely to have depression. The gene comes in two versions, one of which bad (linked positively to the likelihood of depression). 47:50: A group of researchers studied 17,000 kids growing up in New Zealand to conclude that inheriting the bad version of the gene doesn't set one up for depression; however, if such individuals have a history of exposure to major stressors (parental divorce, physical abuse etc), their risk of depression goes up much quicker than their counterparts with the good version of the gene with a similar history. 49:46: Turns out, glucocorticoids regulate the function of this gene, causing all the pieces to fall naturally into place here. Thus, using stress as the link, it becomes possible to reconcile the psychology of depression with its biochemistry to create a wonderfully integrated model.
I suggest this lecture to people who don't really understand depression, it's almost always an eye-opener. Though I would never have the "bathing" conversation with them. Like when another depressed person asks you how your new antidepressant is working and you say, "I took a shower!" and they say, "Wow, that's great!" because they know exactly what you're talking about. :D
As someone with major depression, I want to thank this guy for not minimizing the condition. I've found the typical reaction of health care professionals is "so what," or "tough it up." The end result is that you don't get any help. It's the only disease where you get ostracized for your symptoms.
I have chronic fatigue syndrome and believe me talk about being dismissed or just talked to like I made these symptoms up, I have depression to as a result and after your blood tests are normal and since they have no way of measuring it you quickly start to realize real help is hard to find and I stopped going to doctors
@@mypud4068 You need to meet a good therapist. In life there are only 2 problems--mind and the body. To feel better reduce negative thoughts with a simple practice. Your breath and mind [brain] are closely related causing stress-anxiety. For a better life sit on a chair, neck straight, eyes closed and observe the sensations of your incoming--outgoing breath at the entrance of the nostrils for 5-10-15 minutes or more. Don’t fight your thoughts. With daily practice the mind will relax. No deep breathing needed. Do the practice without any expectations. Change happens from within by itself. Day or night, when taking a walk, at office, sitting in a park, when reading, before sleep etc sit or lie down and observe your breath. Like me, make this a lifetime daily habit to have a good life. Reduce negative social media. Avoid constipation as it affects the mind instantly. Best wishes. Senior Counsellor.
@@shyaaammeneen63 “All our anxieties relate to time. The major problems of psychiatry revolve around an analysis of the despair, pessimism, melancholy, and complexes that are the inheritances of what has been or with the fears, anxieties, worries, that are the imaginings of what will be.” Fulton J Sheen
@@NatronGG I’m a student at a university like Stanford (world league tables) and I agree with the commenter... what lecturers have you seen that are better than this guy? As a final year medical student, watching hundreds of lectures, I can easily say that I’ve never been more engaged in a lecturer than I have with him.
@5:37 the grief is so real. On a normal, uneventful day when I had my worst depression, I felt this overwhelming grief that was the same as when close family members had died previously, except there was no obvious trigger.
Holy crap, this is like the opposite of my childhood memories of church. I was not bored for a *second* listening to this guy, and that's rare. A riveting presentation.
Generally speaking, I tend to get just as bored if not more with the majority of (pseudo) intellectuals as i do (pseudo) religious teachers.....just saying.
This relates to the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) he mentions towards the end of the talk. People like me who had NPD/abusive/alcoholic parents quickly learn the "fawn" or "freeze" response because fighting back or standing up for yourself only leads to a worse beating. At a very young age, we are conditioned by parents to do nothing when our primary caregivers are putting us in real physical danger (the opposite of protecting us, which is their true role). The book "CPTSD from Surviving to Thriving" by Pete Walker really gets into this area and helps lifelong depressed people overcome childhood trauma and learn to take action instead of just sinking further and further down until we lose everything.
Thanks for this. I don't think depression will ever become socially acceptable like other disorders are. Behavior gets too mixed up with personality, and people get demonized for being weak, sad and self-absorbed/narcissistic. The symptoms are too nebulous, too blurry with character flaws, and people make the attribution error where they blame character over situation. It's always going to be a double bind for the depressed person.
I thought of something similar but I couldn't describe it as adequately as you did. Not only do these cultural beliefs of character and personality affect depression, but anything that's neurological like OCD, ADHD, or Autism because as you said, it's a fundamental attribution error.
Evan Urena you cant separate the person from these mental diseases. That is how they are distinct from things like diabetes, Parkinson’s, ext. I understand depression is a biochemical disease but I still feel like the insulin argument is a false equivalency. There is not CBT for diabetes, only medicine. That equivalency makes it so depressed people feel like they can only get better through medication, but that just isn’t at all true.
Liam Tomas You don’t get better per say. I see where you’re coming from but in comparing the diseases he purely meant it’s proven a biological issue, not a temporary mood or an affectation, or laziness. The treatment options are of course different.
Depression isn’t a phase, it is something you live with. It is always present, and somedays the battles are harder then others, and sometimes we unfortunately loose
This man is a true TEACHER. He believes that his message shouldn't be contained to this classroom and projects it to eternity, through this medium. Thank you, Professor.
This is crazy. I am being treated for major depression that is treatment resistant, and have been off work for almost 6 months now. I feel like this guy is talking about me. I wish I could figure out how to "come out the other side". Barely eat, sleep 4ish hours on a good night, go multiple days without sleep other times, hurt in major muscles and joints nearly 24/7... fly off the handle in a sudden fit of rage brought on by the tiniest things... walk down a flight of stairs, move laundry from the washer to the dryer, back upstairs, and nearly collapse from exhaustion. Do the dishes, nearly collapse. Mow the lawn, actually collapse. I obsessively dive into my hobbies to at least...try...to enjoy something. I feel like... I'm homesick for a place that does not exist, I have lost a loved one that I don't know, I am suffocating and uncomfortable and it just goes on and on to the point where I stop complaining about it because people around you can only take so much complaining, but I can't fix it and it never stops. I'm getting disturbingly good at pretending to be "ok".
Hi Anti, I do hope you're doing better, healing is a struggle and a hectic journey, just know you're not alone, you're amazing and I hope to be here when you begin to see the beauty of the sunshine again❤❤❤❤❤🤗.
The answer to your depression is Jesus Christ! I promise! Nothing else helped. I almost killed my self .. Jesus saved me. God of the universe who created you and who gave you life! A building has a builder , a painting has a painter, you being the creation, you have a creator ! You’re here for a reason . Invite Jesus into your life! He will cure your depression , no one and nothing else will!
And I’m not talking about some fake Jesus that the Catholics portray. Jesus is not white blue eye guy with long hair. That’s a false image. The real Jesus, Yeshua, was born in Israel . He was Jewish.
@@evelina.gukasyan Pretty shitty thing to say to someone. Join my cult or you’ll never get rid of your depression? You were better off not commenting at all.
@@rheinnabi5052 she did not say to join any kind of cult. Jesus brought me outta depression. She is right. She didn't say GO TO CHURCH. Jesus does save. It's the truth. Not shitty at all.... very kind and true. With peace and love!!!
I actually started crying when he said "it's not just a metaphor of depression as psychic pain." It was like my entire experience of life over the last ten years was validated.
@@ChristopherT_ My girlfriend and I bought a house and are moving this weekend, so I'm very stressed right now but still doing well! I was also diagnosed with ADHD pretty recently and I'm finding that life feels a bit more manageable now that I'm treating the root cause of my depression. Thank you for asking!
You missed a huge point. He literally said everyone experiences depression. He's experienced and analyzed it with his own mind and probably studied the thoughts of other educated people to understand it better.
@@OneTyler2Many He also said 15% get depression (MDD) before that 00:01:40 or 01:40 . Wiered me out with the "everyone gets depression" sentence he said also. I don't think his meaning of MDD and depression differed, but I guess it's like MDD = diagnosed and depression = non-diagnosed + diagnosed.
8:10 it’s really eye-opening lecture for public like us especially living in third country (lack of knowledge and awareness about this internal disease), I’ve been learning and exploring more about it ever since I’ve been battling with and now I know where I am at in those stages of depression.
wow...the accuracy of the exhaustion. it's so true, I literally have to push with EVERYTHING I have just to shuffle around, with my head down, sighing. I literally can't do shit.
Julia Ross is another quack selling diet as cure for everything. If you have a real diagnosed problem, consult with a real doctor with real responsibility.
Agreed! I definitely seeing results practicing self awareness throughout the day and meditating when i can ( which only happens maybe once a week and for just a few minutes). I have found that if you can somehow find just 1 good emotion in yourself towards the begging of the day, grab that puppy like you just found $1000 on the ground, let go of whatever thought brought this emotion on but try to keep the feeling and also try and amplify/cultivate/multiply the feeling. It is hard to describe exactly what i mean here but this method has given me some amazing days i didn't think i would ever have again after years of depression. The most important thing to remember is you are guaranteed pain and suffering in life, you cannot do much about that but you can practice methods such as meditation that change your perception and generally seem to give a person a sense of contentment and much more. I would also recommend giving Buddhism a look, the methods are straight forward and you can keep your religion, or keep being an atheist and still practice Buddhism.
6 років тому+8
If I found $1000 on the ground, I would pick it up of course, but other than that it would not effect me in anyway, 10 thousand a little bit, 100 thousand, a fair amount. The point is, depression means u don't care one jot for $1000!
My sister and best friend was working on her Doctorate in psychology in September 2002 when she took her own life. So many things that confounded and frustrated her, both professionally and personally, are so eloquently addressed here. She would have been thrilled.
@@jh0720 I think most would be just ad effective with dart board for diagnosis, you can tell you've found one worth their pay when they actually listen to you, usually they assume because of their education they know you better than you do.
The government 'covid' response has been a mental health disaster. These psychopaths can convince themselves that what they are doing is for the greater good but they seemingly have no regard for the collateral damage of these policies.
Suffered from it most my life. I have never heard or read anyone explain it like Dr. Sapolsky. When I feel depressed, I watch this video. Dr. Sapolsky is so knowledgeable and articulate. God bless all of us that live with what he describes so well.
I dealt with depression for 7 years and like he said it’s the hardest to amid and deal with.You do feel helpless and hopeless and I’ve had friends tell just snap out of it but it’s deeper then that.I’m glad Dr.Sapolsky was able to break down the science of depression.Depression has been stigmatized thru the years.I just hope people can understand it more and that anybody can suffer from depression.
I think more as a point of reference or people who have not experienced depression first hand and are skeptical of it authenticity as a debilitating disease.
Biology is everything having to do with the body and how it is affected. That means ANYTHING a human thinks or does is biology, be it your hormone levels, communication between body parts and the brain or the chemical structure. It's still biology. So what other possibility is there for a human to do anything? Biology is the umbrella term. But people take biology to mean something you can't help and therefore take it seriously, which they should because that's exactly what it is, out of your control.
"Thank you" because depression is deemed a moral failing, and a fault of character, and an embarrassing threat in that it might point at the observer being vulnerable as well; rather than a physiological malfunction amenable to medical treatment. Major depressive disorder has very little to do with normal conceptions surrounding the word "depression." Dr. Sapolsky didn't mention the cognitive dysfunction that can be associated with major depression; the memory problems, or the trouble concentrating, or the inability to apply logic to problems. These are devastating. How to explain that waking up exhausted and getting up and brushing one's teeth is like climbing a steep hill? This is much more basic than his laundry analogy. I'm left feeling, however, like this theoretical framework leaves me in the same old position; if it's the bad gene working with glucocorticoids, then why shouldn't I be able to -just snap out of it- if I/we now understand what's really going on?
@@tylertyler82 maybe because kids make up .0006% of covid deaths in the US. If you don't understand the anti-fragile nature of children, I pray to God you never have them.
As the parent of a young adult with depression that began very early for him, I wish I had seen this so many years ago. So many missed opportunities to validate his feelings, encourage him, love him harder when I did the opposite because I just didn’t understand. He isn’t nearly as hard on me as I am on myself about this. I just wish I could “fix” my baby.
Man, he explained the feelings i've been trying to explain to friends and family for about 15 years, in just under an hour. From now on when someone want's more information on depression I am going to reference this lecture.
I'm listening to Sapolsky, on UA-cam , for FREE. Amazing world we live in...
almost no excuse for not learning these days.
Don’t credit UA-cam , with today’s tech and without UA-cam ...someone else would do it , and with the same ease , never give a world Corp that redefines definition of words too much power , although it might be too late
with all due respect to him, for which I have loads, there is nothing that he is sharing here that is either highly technical or new data that you couldn't have found from another source.
@@leefithian3704
Yes, this.....
The same can be said about "professional" sports teams and players who the general public is stupid enough to pay millions of dollars apiece.
There are hundreds of other individuals who could make up a "team" who could beat the "superbowl winners" but they just aren't known about.
@@leefithian3704 I didn't credit UA-cam, I credited the world. I just said that UA-cam is where I'm watching him.
“Yea, I went to Stanford for a bit.”
Hey what's up classmate?
@@jecky82 Good, I'm just chillin' and studyin' depression and human behavioral biology from my friend Sapolsky here; the usual stuff, you know how it goes 🥱
Wbu classmate?
The people in the room could say that too. From their ages, looks like this is some kind of special presentation for non-students.
Yeah.
@@nikiyen6 Yep
It's honestly a beautiful thing that any old average Joe can listen to this without being enrolled in Stanford. Probably the coolest thing about the Internet imo.
Agreed. Genius. Perfect. And the guy looks like he could just as easily design and build a log cabin we could only dream of......
Totally agree!! I'm good at med terminology.. but who he is and his teaching technique.. they are why I know what's up.. i especially like how he moves allot. I was the kid in the back next to a window and I usually ended up staring out that window watching grasshoppers mate lol .. but not because I wanted to get an entomology degree. Lol I was stone cold bored . He keeps me focused ... Wish he was ALL my teachers All through school!
Agreed
I've always searched knowledge. Stanford was the first university to allow or do this and it's awesome 😎
I’m 71 and I’ve been dealing with this since I was about 9. I’ve have countless therapists, physiatrists and more meds than you can imagine. No one ever really got it but this guy gets it. Someone gets it!
I’m 23 and scared of dealing with it for 50+ more years. Recently, it’s really felt hard to imagine myself dealing with it for even 7 more years; I doubt I’ll live to 30… Any advice?
@@tyler.walker travel outside the US the best advice i can give you.
@@AL-up3zb why ?
@@j.w.r.i2910 there is some wisdom to what he says, the shallowness of American culture and to some extent the whole of western culture is a large factor in why so many of us are depressed
Omg wow don’t know how you made it. I’ve had it for about 10 years and I’m only in my early twenties.
"It's a biochemical disorder with a genetic component with early exposure experiences that make it so someone can't appreciate sunsets"
Nothing has hit me harder than this
Christopher Everly can anyone else relate to the “too exhausted to do the “too tired to do laundry” scenario?
I'm realizing that I seem to have major depressive disorder. Talking to my kids lately, they'd suggest going or doing something, all i could think about were the problems... Um, i haven't done laundry in a couple months... Fortunately, I'm in that state where everything is too much trouble. So i'm confident i won't commit suicide anytime soon, that would be way too much effort... :)
"The meat and potatoes of human medical misery."
The inability to derive pleasure from _anything_ - it's called _ANHEDONIA!_
I only move from this bed if there's absolutely no other choice.
I use the sunrise/sunset analogy also, and music, nature, any hobbies I once enjoyed etc. (just smoking myself to death, really).
Dr Mark Tarnapulsky - if exercise were a drug it would be the most valuable one developed
ive never seen someone look more like a professor than this guy.
he looks more like John Kalodner the famous A&R snake
@@chrischoir3594 exactly! he got all my attention! i like him a lot.
I'm sure that's the effect he tried to achieve on purpose.
Really? He looks like an unkept bum.
You mean a wizard but without the robe?
"Depression is agression turned inward because you got nobody else out there to have these arguments" ~ well said
All the years I've spent in therapy I never heard depression explained to me, this was very healing for me. God bless this man.
Me neither, isn’t that wild?
@@halloweendancing no it isn't: it's a business, an industry: I heard a group therapist say once she had to 'make production'. Guess who are 'the product'? The clients. Not saying therapy is bad/useless per se but the way it's organized it's not really set up for success IMO because it's run as a business from the top and a business benefits from more (returning) clients.
@@yarly3180i feel like it's for us to ask and question About. Like it's for us to find out.
@@yarly3180L take. Therapy save my life and unless your therapists are evil people they want to help you. Same logic as saying all doctors don't help because they make money when you get sick again.
Don't worry the depression will come back
"It's a strange poverty of the English language, and indeed of many other languages, that we use the same word "depression" to describe how a kid feels when it rains on his birthday, and to describe how somebody feels the minute before they commit suicide."
Andrew Solomon, TED Talk Depression, the Secret we Share.
WORD!
@Levi Brennan true but we colloquially lump together meanings under a same word all the time which really gets in the way of understanding nuances especially with something like depression. Without the understanding of the nuances problem solving is flawed because which kind of "depression" is it this time? Or is it even depression?
@Levi Brennan You say :
"Can't blame the language for the ignorance of its speakers."
Unless "the ignorance of it's speakers" as you say, is a direct corollary of the in-exactitude and non-specificity of the majority of it's terminology and definitions.
I think maybe we should do what the Germans do, and jam words together to make a new word that is highly specific.
In this case, maybe something like "StrongKillSelf-HateLife-Feeling-Motivation" might work okay.
Then again, people still might get these concepts mixed up....
Guess what - this is the case in other languages too, although there are other words to describe this. Like Russian “тоска“.
I have a friend that is always saying, "but everyone gets depressed sometimes." She just doesn't understand the difference. Like I am being over dramatic or exaggerating. It frankly makes me mad when she says that.
"Depression is aggression turned inward."
Wow. That got me.
Not always, he was on some point and you (others did same) miss that point cuting his speaks on tiny quotes. Listen it to end.
Sopranos quote lol
Freud said it 100 years ago
I've always heard that the quote is... Depression is
Anger is Depression
Turned inward.
gotta be right.
most of (if not all???) my depression i can trace back to my seething sorrow and hatred for humans, and the fates we have constructed for our own species.
About 12 years ago we listened to this and it changed me life.
It helped me to realize I needed help.
So glad to live in the age where educational material like this is free to the public and that there are those who would also freely share it. Thank you!
I'd like to thank Stanford and Professor Sapolsky for making their educational materials like this lecture open to the public. This lecture was quite eye opening for me.
join communists.
@MrQlevert I
Me too. Thank you for saying this.
"It's a strange poverty of the English language, and indeed of many other languages, that we use the same word "depression" to describe how a kid feels when it rains on his birthday, and to describe how somebody feels the minute before they commit suicide."
Andrew Solomon, TED Talk Depression, the Secret we Share.
What did you learned? How it helped you? Anything remotely practical you never heard before?
"You can't shame me out of feeling depressed. If shame worked, then I would have shamed myself out of it long ago."
So smart, and so right. I hope you find a path that lets you deal with the negativity. CBT did a lot for me, but it's still a struggle.
I encourage you to read Taming Your Gremlins I believe by JD Carlson . Very simple read at first blush but has many different levels.
WORD!!! I had everyone telling me to “get over it” and “it’s been a year...” it’s like thanks, I’m cured.
If CBT helped then there's hope for you, as there's likely significant psychological factors. If you've been a chronic lifelong sufferer, without any environmental justification, and all psychological as well as pharmacological interventions have failed... well, join my lost cause group (if it actually existed).
could someone give the time stamp for that line ? i seem to have missed it.
Thanks :)
Actually people can shame you out of depression.
FYI, they released a 13 years later updated lecture version of this just recently.
Do you have a link?
@@mysticskexis7459 ua-cam.com/video/fzUXcBTQXKM/v-deo.htmlfeature=shared
@@mysticskexis7459 ua-cam.com/video/fzUXcBTQXKM/v-deo.htmlsi=3L1jB8OnySdkpNoA
@@mysticskexis7459 ua-cam.com/video/fzUXcBTQXKM/v-deo.htmlsi=3L1jB8OnySdkpNoA
ua-cam.com/video/fzUXcBTQXKM/v-deo.htmlsi=3L1jB8OnySdkpNoA
It’s really special that Stanford made this available to the general public.
As should be for all lectures
Excellent, no frills, no bull, no fancy language, explanation of depression.
It even has humour.
He is a Kage-level lecturer who turns the dry literature of experimental evidence into story-telling.
@@Bingewatchingmediacontent 3➗19= solve if you want. I know this sounds odd but i consume energy drinks Because of lethargy
The humor - okay fine - but the people in the back laughing about it is part of the problem - it feels like it is not taken seriously - for someone who is depressed this is not a laughing matter.
@J L Okay, tell us about the cure. I'd love to hear about a cure! Depression is so complex, what with the interplay of neural and hormonal dysregulation, genetics, individual experience, individual coping strategies, immune dysfunction and structural changes to the brain. Not to mention information yet to be unearthed and possible spiritual imbalance (if you approach health holistically). A cure would be incredible. Tell us about the cure. Share your knowledge with us all.
@J L tell us bby
It’s always nice to listen to a teacher who has passion for their calling.
Yeah, this guy fucking rules
@Quetzalcoatl agree. show respect to the man
@Quetzalcoatl Holy hell mate.. like you were paying attention to all classes in primary school and other schools you went to. Some people just don't care about some subjects and it's alright. People who never experienced depression or don't know anyone who experienced it might not care about this topic. There are people like that who live their entire life without experiencing it themselves. All they experience is sadness, so this topic might not interest them.
@Quetzalcoatl It's good then that they recorded this lecture and uploaded it publicly for everybody to see. Maybe some of the people who attended it back then will watch it again with different "set of eyes".
@Quetzalcoatl Of course. It make sense that in 10 years we would know more, but it looks like it's still not enough to figure out how to get rid of or reduce depression in people. At least in those who got depressed due to imbalance in brain chemicals, not other factors like something external.
I don't remember a time when I didn't have major depressive disorder. Not only did I learn some important new information from this video, I received something I didn't realize I needed so badly: validation.
Thank you for also addressing the semantics of words like "depressed". I often get asked why I'm depressed and then I realize they don't know what I'm talking about.
Thank you for this. Sincerely.
Watch his entire Human Behavioral Biology lecture series
Damn, as a MD I really envy the students in this class and wish my teachers were this good. He managed to convey a great summary of the literature of depression in such an easy way to understand for even a layperson and with great eloquence. This was an amazing lecture and I'm thankful this is free for anyone to watch
its a class offered to laypersons
Worse part is crying and having a complete breakdown at random and not knowing why. It just hits and you don't function again for days, weeks. That's the disarming part, I hope everyone who's suffering keeps fighting.
@task force whisky what does politics have to do with clinical depression ? 🤦♀️🤷♀️
@task force whisky hey man. Genuine question: Why do you want to be this way? It's the internet, so I figure its just to get a rise, clicks, a laugh etc. But...why do you want to make people feel so badly about themselves? Is this who you were called to be? What traces of yourself you want to leave behind to strangers?
@task force whisky That's about the answer I expected sadly.
@task force whisky Why do I drive you nuts?
Whisky, i gotta thank you bud. This exchange was so silly that it cheered me up. Thanks, have a good one!
My son had crippling depression and anxiety. Great guy…he overdosed and died thanksgiving eve. Great guy…I’ll miss him all my days left in this world. God bless you son
im sorry for your loss. till you meet again ♾
@@almalm3397 ❤️
Thank you for sharing your grief. It helps all who hear you.
Sorry for your loss!
Lost mine last Oct. He was miserable. Had been self-medicating for years.
I can totally relate, I actually tried to take my life and I can remember times when I prayed to God that I wouldn't wake up in the morning. I was going through a divorce and had recently lost both of my parents and through my divorce I lost everything and eventually found myself homeless. There is nothing worse than just existing and not living. Today I have a great job, a home, and the best life I've ever had, but I still deal with depression every single day of my life.
I'm so proud of you really, I can't imagine what that time must have felt like, I'm happy you managed to get better, it takes so much strength to get back up after all you've gone through. I hope you have a depression-free future.
I'm so glad things have improved. Well done for struggling/fighting each day.
I saw this video for the first time in 2013 when I had been diagnosed with major depression, and it meant so much for me. It really helped, and I’ve gone back to it over the years. Thank you Doctor Sapolsky
Thank you for sharing. It helps alot. How have you managed through it all these years?
@@PrinceKoopa It took a lot of time, like another seven years, but I finally pulled out of it, I’m happy to say. Therapy and the right combo of meds and, well, time.
@@Lopfff glad to hear it! You're a strong guy and made it out on the other side. Your story could certainly help others. Take care of yourself ❤️
@@PrinceKoopa You too man
@@Lopfff thank you!
he hasnt looked at a single note, great lecturer
I was thinking this guy has a massive sponge like brain. Its astonishing
Probably been doing it for a while
Does not looking at your notes make you a great lecturer?
@@shadowplayish That is not about the having a galaxy brain, it is about being familiar with your content and having talked about it many times previously. Even doing this takes a lot of effort and the lecturer's relaxed body language while talking in his course shows that he is incredibly experienced and well versed on his subject.
@@fenriswolf3589 Well said. Agreed.
The man speaks for hours, never says "um" and is coherent throughout, truly amazing. I like very much what he says, but LOVE how he says it,
Yep. I had a history teacher at Bard who went on to lecture at Harvard that I always noted did the exact same thing - never searched or stammered to explain. She repeatedly told me that it was because she knew the material so well for so long but what made her towering intellect even more awe striking was her equal surplus of humility. Really, really smart people are quiet; sans boast. I think it’s because they can see into the darkness so much further than us mortals and know of the vast complexities that we can only dream of.
speak for your whole life and speak about the same things it becomes second nature. like riding a bike
You don't know many people do ya?
0:41
@@huntersmith8733 of course he says it when he’s trying to find people places to sit - not when actually discussing the subject of the lecture.
Thank you Stanford for keeping this comment section open.
These discussion threads are like home for us.
My father lived through a lifetime of depression and still was able to raise a family. I suffered a minor version (Dysthymia) and it was extremely painful and difficult to get through.
It's encouraging to see that, 12 year after this lecture, depression is widely accepted as a biological disease, is often seen in public discourse on general health, and not longer carries the same kind of stigma as it used to (along with PTSD and other mental diseases), all thanks to the tremendous efforts from medical workers and researchers like Prof. Sapolsky in their tireless education to the general public. Salutation!
@@capybarawithanorangeonitsh4190 I have to exercise to extremes in order to be normal and outside at least 4 hours a day in sunlight, Sunbox saved my life along with medications. First time I felt the effects of Prozac was a major experience for me, wow this is how other people feel all the time?! And I am grateful for ECT, it has saved my life a number of times.
@@hejnye nah. Most people don't experience life high on Prozac.
Only because white people deal with it 🤷🏾♂️ yup I brought race into it. But it's true
perhaps it's widely accepted, but there's no evidence to suggest depression is a biological disease
ogga mup da didda BIX NOOD mufugguh.
I just want to curl up in a blanket and listen to him talk forever
......,from sunrise till sunset.......
I’m with you
I secrete so much oxytocin when I listen to Robert Sapolsky ...
Wow! That's what I'm doing right now
@@damian.gamlath Same. my back hurts tho.
...Please check out the updated version of this UA-cam lecture from Dr. Sapolsky. (Posted very recently).Very much worth viewing.
The basics in research and understanding of depression are still there, but new developments are always coming to light.
...and thanks, once again, for the ready availability of these lectures from Stanford. You remind me how much I miss working with people in the Sciences.
He is nothing less than a gift to humanity.
I had that exact same thought. Why can’t he be ultra famous?
This is why I hate that when someone commits suicide they're considered "selfish" and they "didn't think of the people around them" when they're literally talking about a person whose mental state was in such a bad place that they were willing to take the most extreme measure to end their own suffering.
It's missing the point that seriously depressed people get into the mental state where they believe the people around them would be better off if he/she was gone.
@@SW-fn7cl Exactly! They believe it is more selfish to stay alive when they are "worthless" and just dragging their loved ones down. Then they hear others say they're "just selfish" and feel even MORE worthless. There's nothing like a shame spiral to really guarantee a depressive will go through with suicide.
I once read this as an explanation for understanding suicide and it really helped me: the depression is like being inside a burning building and jumping out to a certain death beats being consumed by the flames.
Yes!
It’s literally the most selfish thing…
I lost my father to a brain tumor when I was 11 years old. I'm 16 now and still haven't lost in my battle against depression and I'm determined to never let it win.
More power and strength to you
Keep your head up bro. I lost my father, the greatest person on earth for me, at the age of 9. I'm 27 now, still keep him in my prayers every day. Try to focus on the good and be thankful for every new day you live and the fact that you have other family around and that you can look forward to being a great day one day too.
Well I'm glad you're winning dude. Jia you!
Keep fighting, I promise you you will feel better some day!!! never lose hope of that. things WILL get better.
I lost my father when I was 10, he died at the dinner table one night. I’m 39 and still treating it. I had two really major depressive episodes in my life, but I’ve been ok for a few years. Three pieces of advice for what sounds a lot like a younger me. 1. Don’t pour alcohol on it. It’s a short term fix to a long term problem ultimately makes it much, much worse. 2. Never stop going to therapy. It’s hard to find a therapist that you will gel with but don’t stop looking until you find one and don’t stop going once you do.
3. Be careful with the amount of medications they want to put you on. You may need them sometimes but a lot of meds ended up just making it worse for longer for me.
I’m really sorry about your father. Things can be ok. Every feeling is temporary, even though it may not feel like that at the time. Good luck.
This is one of the greatest one hour lectures anywhere. Sapolsky has a tremendous gift for distilling tons of complexities down into an hour that is digestible and understandable.
Then….you should read his book “Determined”. It’s phenomenal.
This man is a gift to the world.
This made me openly weep. I’ve struggled with major depressive disorder for 20 years, and to know that there is one person who completely understands exactly what I have felt is unreal. Thank you for doing this work.
amen, amen
Depression and obesity. I've had both forever. They are also the two diseases where everyone, including doctors, says "just get over it." Interesting. You can't "will" your hair to change color any more than you can take your metabolism and turn it into that of a person who has never been, and never will be, overweight. Same with depression. The diseases themselves are bad enough, but when the bumbling hordes step in and say "eat less, move more" and "just feel happy", it is 1,000 times worse. Do you tell someone having a heart attack "now, use your willpower to make it go away"? I feel your pain.
That's how I felt too: he described some of the elements of my depression so well that I had never even made some of the connections myself. He is a fantastic professor.
I’m sorry to hear that. Leave everything to god my friend. I pray you’re forever happy and all your dreams come true. I’m here if you ever want a friend to talk to.
Doctors are good for organs, bones, skin and body part issues. When it come to mental health they have no clue.
In my present experience depression is when you're 25 and feel like you're 80.
Not to shortchange your burden but you've at least had something to look back at. I'm like an 80-year old with the dullest possible life ;))
ungratefulmetalpansy nice
Can totally relate with your comment. Been telling a loved one who i talk to regularly about these issues, that it's the "end of the path" because i dont see any future, like ive hit an abstract brick wall, although nothing in my life (objectively) suggests i should feel this way... Stay strong, Stoa Eterna
+Giorgi Gudiashvili This is exactly how I feel. My memory is terrible... it's as if my memories are all there yet I have poor connectivity to them, I have no mental energy, emotions feel as if they're not there anymore for the most part(they are severely dull). My brain is chronically inactive despite my desire for it to be 'active'. Learning is very challenging, trying to comprehend what words I know should be easy to understand is a constant struggle. Many times I give up out of exhaustion, frustration, and when there are no signs of my mind making progress in trying to grasp the concepts. My mind is empty, blank... When I talk to people it's as if what I say didn't originate from me most of the time, and it's particularly difficult when I try to absorb even small amounts of information coming in from simple conversation.....
I would try taking psilocybin mushrooms as I have heard they may reverse depression, but alas.... they're illegal and I don't have it in me to take that risk just yet. Although I have little to lose at this point.... Maybe I will have to try them soon and hope for the best.
There is nothing to look forward to but death, death will not solve depression, depression will persist even beyond death, depression is a crisis of existence, science can only ease the pain or fall short, find internal strength nobody can give you strength look deep within and forge some strength. forge yourself some strength to keep moving forward and endure and try and overcome the problem of existence known as depression.
Nice to know I’m not lazy or crazy. Being told to “get over it” or “what do you have to be depressed about?” “You’d feel better if you…”
This was a flawless lecture and it deserved the loud applause at the end
People try to cheer depressives up. "Think of your lovely family!" Or "Why don't you play your guitar? You love to play the guitar." That just makes it worse because you're reminding the person that they lack the capacity to enjoy the things that they know they used to enjoy. You'd never walk up to somebody who just lost both hands in an accident and say, "Why don't you work on your model airplanes for a while? That always cheers you up." Um... Because I CAN'T!
Yes. This.
sounds tough bud
so what am I supposed to bring them down instead
What about those who have no skills
Yeah let’s compare someone losing their hands to someone being a whiney little bitch because they’re sad
Speaking as someone who's been depressed for the last 10 years (I'm 26) I watch this everytime things get particularly dark and it makes me feel better understood. As much as I cherish my loved ones; who are more than understanding of my faults, there is only so much I think they can truly empathize with.
I watched this for the first time just now and Im in tears I cant believe that someone just so eloquently just described I am the way I am. I cant believe it.
Lol
@@billiboussmith3700 me too
Aw hold on to hope guys
That's what makes depression so insidious. It's like severe depression makes some want to kill themselves and mild to moderate depression makes people (almost) wish they would because of the negativity and lousy attitude, etc. that even low grade depression causes. 40 + years I've been dealing with it now. Recent studies have shown that depression in people is more likely to make them be more realistic than most people because we tend to focus on preparing for the worst so if plans fall apart it's easier to process disappointment. Many victims of suicide never experienced clinical depression until something in their life acutely falls apart and they can't deal with it. Not trying to simplify this in any way because it is not simple.
I have Major Depressive Disorder and have since I was 8. Whenever I have an episode (like now) I watch this video. The clinical way of explaining it makes me feel understood and better in a way.
Amazing - 13 years ago but remains extremely relevant and eloquently taught.
"-everything is exhausting-" ....... this man gets the "hang" of this. all my respect
I am in a lethargy.
This lecture gave me 3 things i have never had my whole life about depression, Education, Validation, And Compassion. If more people were like this man, the world would be a much better place.
@task force whisky this has to be a joke bro wtf are u on 😭😭😭
@task force whisky What you're describing are sad thoughts. Everyone naturally has sad thoughts when faced with difficulties in life.
But depression is a different ballgame. Some people don't have those happy times you speak about. Constantly sad, anxious, self-doubting, and don't feel any reason to live. It's more complicated than just being happy or sad. These people need to revisit their past and reevaluate their lives by talking with a therapist about what's causing them pain. This takes time to fix.
@task force whisky Low IQ detected. Just saying.
@task force whisky youre pathetic.
@task force whisky First off all your spelling is laughable, second of all I am a Muslim woman, I don't drink, don't do drugs and don't have sex outside of marriage. And yet I suffered from depression since I was 13 after my mother passed away. I am more conservative than you'll ever be, and STILL I BELIEVE IN SCIENCE !!!! "Task force of whisky" telling to a Muslim woman she party too hard. I don't even know if it's stupidity or a disability at this stage 😂😂
I spent years struggling with major depression back when I was a teenager. Eventually I got diagnosed with Hashimoto's Disease (which he mentions at 31:58) and it genuinely opened up my path to recovery. I recommend anyone experiencing major depression to get their thyroid checked, just in case.
So your depression was primarily caused by a thyroid issue?
@oldmanhendo7183 Yes, it was, although there were a coulpe of contributing elements (the general hormonal upheval of puberty and one traumatic life event). And I said handling the thyroid issue "opened up my path to recovery" rather than "cured me of my depression" because sadly, regardless of the cause, by the time I had that solution I'd already spent years in that state of mind, which is difficult to snap out of in terms of mental habits, thought loops etc. Still, addressing the root cause made a major difference in my ability and willingness to try and get better and was a whole new person about a year later.
@@marvaz5073 gotcha. Well that’s awesome that you found that root though and are working towards recovery. Happy for you
This video, this lecture, this professor did more for validating me and my depression than I can even begin to explain. Probably saved my life.
I really love the analogy about diabetics "You don't ask people with diabetics to stop babying themselves and stop having diabetics". I come from China, in my society, they call people with depression "weak".
A few years ago, a celebrity committed suicide due to depression. Instead of rethinking what we could have done to save his life, people saying things like "what a coward", "if he has the courage to die, why didn't he man up to live?"
Nowadays, depression got more attention and care. But most depression awareness related "success stories" are about "someone realized the situation and snapped out from it". Psychotherapy is highly uncommon and unaffordable and medication is so stigmatized. There is a long way to go.
I hope eventually the understanding of depression is more well spread so more lives can be saved.
Theres that assumption that inside us all there is this center of calm rational thought. A higher mind. A higher self.
I think that might be an illusion,
Perhaps the true self, the soul if you like is not a godlike transcendent entity of immense power but a lonely scared child, when our biology or social structure is supportive we appreciate the power and confidence that support gives us. And we mistake the structure for the self, then when the structure collapses instead of accepting that work needs to be done to rebuild the structure, we think the individual is at fault.
from my own experiences of talking to these sort of people and trying to explain to them what bipolar disorder is in an objective way and my experience suffering with it, it quickly becomes an ideological discussion versus a fact and mathematic based discussion. as for why that is, he is exactly right in that rather than it being viewed as a medical issue, it is seen as a moral and emotional issue. and sure, there are moral and emotional components to it, as well as any other disease. my understanding is that just as Hansen's disease was a moral issue until modern initiatives, mental health will be viewed as the same until the societal understanding around mental health has changed. and that will only happen with repeated contact with the wider community, and a community effort of giving no credence to those who would seek to stigmatize such issues.
“The intensest light of reason and revelation combined, cannot shed such blazonings upon the deeper truths in a man, as will sometimes proceed from his own profoundest gloom. Utter darkness is then his light, and cat-like he distinctly sees all objects through a medium which is mere blindness to common vision.”
― Herman Melville
In the United States, we call people weak and make it very difficult and expensive to find mental health care. It’s a death sentence.
Yup we both have terrible governments and lack of real leadership. It's sad that American and Chinese governments work against each other because together we could be a massive force for good in this world.
Heck, he has such clarity of thought.
sort of, it’s much less difficult to sound articulate when he so grossly glosses over “stress”.
He claims to divide the lecture into two parts and that “understanding biology only explains 30-40% of depression” and then proceeds to lecture the entire hour on strictlt biology.
Also he used the phrase biological psychiatry, which is a redundant phraseLol, what does he think psychiatry is??? Psychiatry is both an MD/PhD, it by definition already includes biology. Does he also call doctors “biological doctors”?
But the initial point is that he clearly glossed over stress by trotting out some lame mid-1900s description of learned helplessness as a general descriptor of stress.
This scans more like a feature-length Ted Talk, somewhat slick and quick-paced, and completely glossing over the mount everest dilemma which has yet to be scaled and is currently baffling modern thinkers.
Cool that he can announce the current state of research fimdings (but to be honest anyone can recount his narrative and its convenient he has to bolt out the door), and he has a trusting delivery, paternally soothing even, but this ends like a Malcolm Gladwell book or a Fat-Free dessert, no substance upon inspection, no filling, and not even close to satisfying (especially if you ever cracked on single book in literally any single psychological field).
Davey Ineluctable Well Davey I think this was only a primer lecture on the subject, not only that but I don't really understand your frustrations. What more would you have added or taken away from this piece?
@@daveyineluctable5525 Almost all his other talks are about stress and different pathology, which is essentially the best place to be when so little progress has been made. It would seem to me that in spite of the question existing for a long time, according to what you are saying, it is still cutting edge. He explained that depression is grossly underappreciated as well with his example about wishing your senator's wife would get this disease so a foundation would be set up. It didn't strike me that there was more he could expound on without teaching you about a lot of other separate diseases first.
@@stupidtreehugger Firstly, I don't imagine that Robert Sapolsky's lectures are given to suit pharmacy interests. Maybe they are , but not for the reasons you are presenting. You say diet and lifestyle, but that is essentially what a pharmacy mediates with as an over-generalization to keep things conventional and stagnant. Look up Dr Jack Kruse and his work with Quantum biology. To say that the type of link you are sharing about exercise and robert sapolsky's work are mutually exclusive is a huge mistake. I think the point of him bringing up the "belt up and get over it" notion was to mock it's use by professionals who are ignorant that are forced to deal with depression people.
Ha! So succinctly elegant
It’s been 6 years since the last time I left my house. Sometimes it gets so bad I won’t even leave my bedroom for months.
I dropped out of high school because of depression. There were times that I pissed on my bed because I didn’t even have the energy to walk to my bathroom. It’s not always that bad but it always hurts.
It breaks my heart every time I think I’m wasting my youth rotting on sadness in my bedroom for no reason. This started for no reason when I was 16, now I am 22, will be 23 this year. I’ll never get the time I lost back. No one died. No one hurt me. I don’t have any trauma. Nothing that justify my depression. Just sadness and at the absence of sadness, just emptiness.
I am just waiting for my mum to pass away, so I can finish myself. I don’t want her to deal with it.
Did you tried some treatments? I am really sorry to hear. I am trying some things like TMS and antidepressents.
I tried ketamine therapy and it’s saved my life
One might look into the carnivore diet...
@@halloweendancing I'm going to do ketamine therapy next week, so this is encouraging. How soon did you notice a benefit?
I would ask the same question of have you been able to look into any kind of treatment?
12 years ago (right around the time this video was posted) I took my first psychology class as undergrad, and fell in love with the subject. Today I discovered this video, and once again I'm enamored. Thank you Dr. Sapolski.
In addition to the lecture, he is a great human. I just noticed how he was emphasizing through the whole lecture that depression is not a “pull yourself together thing” because he must’ve felt the pressure and pain depressed people feel from their families and friend’s constant demanding of “pull yourself together”
which in many cases makes the person feels that his pain is not real or is not worth the validation and that drags the person to increase the aggression inward thus worsening things. i applaud him for having this much wisdom and compassion for others
I just finished his book “Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers”, and I was left with the same impression - what a great human.
Yeah, I'm glad he kept emphasizing that it is not a case of "pull yourself together."
agreed. there is almost nothing more damaging than being told to "get over it" or "try harder" when you're in a depressive state. The guilt is internalized and the person suffers even more, sinking further into depression.
@@nikid3690 totally agree
It is terrible - had a wife yell, ‘Snap out of it!’ after her leaving me, 5 months after purchasing a home, taking my 7 year old daughter with her; lose kid brother to suicide, she moves back in, but doesn’t understand my depressive state… like who the heck wants to feel constant despair and languish?
this is genuinely one of the best lectures I've ever seen/heard
I could listen to this guy for hours even though I don't understand half of what he's saying.
In my opinion, the best explanation on depression on this site. And also a good video
You should watch His behavioral biology course from Stanford on UA-cam it is life changing in my opinion
Are you having major depression?
+David Geffeney Thanks, will watch .
I added this video SO long to my "Watch Later" playlist. This was uploaded back in 2009. and I added this probably around 2016. It is now April of 2024. and I have just now gotten around to watching this finally...
Boy you nailed this regarding how a patient with MDD feels compared to someone who doesn’t have it. I cried watching this because it really hit home. You gave excellent insight that I hope more people understand. Thank you. Best lecture so far! ❤️
One of the statements that impressed me : genetics is not about inevitability, it is about vulnerability. This is such a profound statement on so many levels. Acknowleding our vulnerability is the key to valuing our strenghts and ability to hold each other well and caringly.
It's true for a lot of diseases, but not for all... for some, it is about inevitability.
Yep, that was an excellent point, and encouraging for those who did end up having depression - you’re not MEANT to have it, you developed it because your body was more vulnerable to it by no fault of yours.
Yes my friend 😊
He knows this lecture backwards and forwards like a great actor. It's informative, entertaining, and hypnotic.
@task force whisky you need to get better at trolling my guy, it’s too obvious
Watching this does give a bit of a dopamine kick, as we get lost in a lecture given by someone who understands us, and we think maybe there is hope after all. Then, of course, once the video is over, we snap back to a reality where no one really cares that much. Welp, time for my Cymbalta. Maybe the third time will be a charm.
Incredible. I’ve suffered from this for decades and learned quite a bit. Thank you…incredible lecturer
Cannot get enough of this lecture. Listening to it, over and over again.
Lecture objective: Reconciliation between the biological and psychological facets of depression
1:19: Sapolsky discusses the pervasive state of depression today
2:33: Sadness is distinguished from reactive and major depression, since one is transient, the other, seasonal, and the last one, chronic.
4:15: Sapolsky argues that depression, or anhedonia (inability to feel pleasure), is the worst illness one can be crippled with.
5:28: The vehemence of retrospective guilt and grief can take on a delusional quality in the depressed (explained with an anecdote).
7:40: Self-injury, psychomotor retardation (visible slowing of physical and emotional reactions, including speech and affect), and the counter-intuitive truth that patients are far less likely to mutilate themselves when severely enervated out of depression than right at the termination of the phase are presented (invaluable tip for anyone with depressed friends or family members).
9:20: The reason it isn't possible for some to get over it while others can isn't to do with will, but biology. The struggles of the depressed are as strongly founded on biology as that of a diabetic and it isn't prudent to expect them to snap out of it.
*Part 1: The exploration of the biological facets of depression; namely, general physiological, neurochemical, neuroanatomical, and hormonal:*
_General physiological:_
10:32: Vegetative symptoms that indicate the very real, biological roots of depression: early morning awakening, sleep cycles (slow-wave sleep, REM sleep, deep sleep etc) markedly disordered, deceased appetite, elevation of stress hormones, etc. The point being that the bodies of the major depressives work differently.
12:36: Psychomotor retardation is often misconstrued as inaction, when in reality, underneath the semblance of inaction, the depressed individual's body is having a humongous stress response 24/7; there's a huge battle brewing inwards all the time.
13:46: Rhythmic patterns of onset of depression as a function of internal biological clocks is discussed, say, individuals who are affected only in winters or every January and so on.
_Neurochemical:_
14:55: Neurons, separated by microscopic gaps called synapses, communicate with each other using chemical messengers known as neurotransmitters, of which a handful are relevant to us.
16:15: A) Norepinephrine: First implicated in depression in the early '60s, evidenced by the role of first-generation anti-depressants (called MAO inhibitors) developed at the time in inhibiting the enzymes responsible for the breakdown of Norepinephrine (allowing more frequent stimulation) in order to alleviate symptoms of depression.
17:58: The late '60s saw the discovery of a new class of antidepressants called tricyclic antidepressants, which had a similar effect on Norepinephrine, although realised through a different mechanism.
18:30: Further supported by the observation that a class of drugs named reserpine, typically used to manage high blood pressure by disintegrating Norepinephrine, induce symptoms of depression, the "Norepinephrine hypothesis" was formed, which correlated depression with a decline in Norepinephrine release.
19:15: It has been observed in rats that stimulation of Norepinephrine receptors makes them blissful, so much so they're drawn to triggering the stimulation more than food or sex. This was then called the pleasure pathway and is found in humans as well.
21:55: The problem was that Norepinephrine signaling usually changes within an hour upon consumption of the drug; however, may take weeks to help a depressed person.
22:25: B) Dopamine: Another neurotransmitter even more useful in the pleasure pathway.
22:40: C) Serotonin: The introduction of Prozac, belonging to a family of antidepressants called SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor) that works by increasing Serotonin signaling, brought Serotonin to the limelight, causing people to view Serotonin as the "new Norepinephrine".
23:23: In reality though, all the three neurotransmitters have important roles to play. Norepinephrine has to do with psychomotor retardation; dopamine, with anhedonia; while the absence of Serotonin ensues in an obsessive sense of grief and guilt (interestingly, drugs like Prozac that encourage Serotonin stimulation are also used to treat other obsessive disorders like OCD).
24:30 D) Substance P: A neurotransmitter that is an important element in pain perception, when curbed, was discovered to provide relief to the depressed. This is evidence that psychic pain isn't merely metaphorical, since the human body is using the same chemistry to feel the psychic pain of depression as it would physical agony.
_Neuroanatomical:_
25:26: Triune brain concept: A formulation that emerged in the 1940s discusses the human brain in terms of the reptilian complex, the limbic system, and the neocortex. The reptilian complex is the nuts and bolts of the brain in charge of regulatory functions like keep blood pressure, glucose, etc in check. The limbic system sits on top of the reptilian complex (which is rather exclusive to mammals and deals primarily with emotions, like fear, lust, rage, etc) and can communicate with it too, for instance, secrete stress hormones if circumstances demand so. Finally, up on top, lies the cortex, a hugely expanded area in primates, involved in several important functions like sensory perception, generation of motor commands, spatial reasoning, conscious thought, and in humans, language.
27:38: However; something more interesting happens when the neocortex works in conjunction with the reptilian complex and the limbic system,. If one is overwhelmed with sad thoughts, the neocortex has the other two parts functioning the same way they would if a person were being physically assaulted by a predator (stress response).
29:00 On a very simplistic level, depression is the cortex having sad thoughts and having the brain go along with it; and therefore, an equally simplistic recourse would be to just cut it off. This medical procedure is called cingulotomy, reserved for people who do not respond to any type of medication, therapy, electroshock interventions, etc.
29:29 The worry is that the neocortex is equally crucial in conjuring up abstract pleasurable thoughts that influence the rest of the brain, but Sapolsky argues that it is an essential intervention nonetheless since the patient in question wouldn't be a candidate for this procedure to begin with if they had the capacity for uplifting thoughts.
_Hormonal:_
31:31: A severe shortage of thyroid hormone can induce major depression.
32:43: Women have a higher incidence of major depression than men (around twice as much) and are the most vulnerable at certain points in their reproductive life: after they give birth (post-parturition depression), during their monthly cycles, and at menopause.
33:16: Sociological factors like general lack of control on account of societal norms are also associated with the higher occurrence of major depression in women.
33:38: On average, women tend to ruminate more on emotionally upsetting things than men do, but it is untrue that that makes them more prone to depression.
34:55: The secretion of estrogen, progesterone, and their ratio in women can influence the number of receptors and re-uptake characteristics of the neurotransmitters implicated in depression.
35:37: Adrenaline is the most well-known stress hormone; however, Sapolsky asserts that there is a much more important stress hormone in humans known as glucocorticoids (that come out of your adrenal gland during stress) since about half the people diagnosed with major depression have elevated levels of glucocorticoids.
36:41: Major stress can pre-dispose one to depression. This can be seen epidemiologically: usually, the precursor to a person's first major depressive episode is a stressful event in their life. They can eventually conquer it; however, succeeding experiences of such episodes of stress-induced depression can permanently predispose one to it with or without a stressor.
*Part 2: The exploration of the psychological facets of depression*
_Freudian perspective:_
38:28: If this is all one ever knows about the subject, one can not make any meaningful contribution. Hence, we must talk about the psychology of depression.
39:10: Freud refers the process of grief as mourning, while the term that characterises depression is melancholia.
39:56: In the Freudian view, after losing a loved one, most people are able to mourn and come out the other end; but some are unable to relegate the vehemence of the loss and the feelings brought along with it to the background, which is melancholia.
40:44: For a regular person, losing somebody indicates the only thing wrong is the loss; however, for a person with melancholia; two things are wrong: one is the loss and the other is having forever lost the opportunity to make things better with them. Hence, the aggression arising as a consequence of the loss is turned inwards -which is depression.
_Experimental psychology:_
41:59: The difficulty of interpreting Freudian views within the framework of modern science is contemplated as a premise for foray into experimental psychology.
42:29: The literature shows that for the same external misery, one can feel more stressed and be more at risk for stress-related disorders, if one doesn't have outlets, feels powerless and doesn't have anyone's shoulders to cry on. The pathological extremes of this is depression and cognitive psychology defines it as "learned helplessness" (learning to be helpless). The ability to identify that their current predicament is not their whole world is lost in the depressed and as a consequence, they dismiss any prospect of imminent help.
43:33: This behaviour is replicated in rats, where in one setting, they are subject to uncontrollable shocks until they learn helplessness; and then transported to another setting where they can avoid getting shocked by pulling a lever but don't bother to.
44:30: One of the most reliable findings in the epidemiology of depression is that if one loses a parent to death under 10 years of age, they are more at a risk of major depression for the rest of their lives. This makes sense, since these are the formative years of one's lives where one is learning about the effect they have on the world (cause and effect) as a way of gauging how much control they generally have in life, and losing a parent then might mean having to directly contend with the feeling of helplessness and loss of control for the child, pushing him/her that much closer to the edge of the "learned helplessness" cliff.
*Part 3: Reconciliation*
45:32: The critical point of intersection between the two aforementioned schools of thought is "stress".
45:36: Depression has a genetic component, and runs more reliably in closer and closer relatives. In identical twins, if one has depression, the other has a 50% chance (25% for regular twins).
46:28: However; this also implies the other twin has a 50% chance of not getting depression; which shows as important as genes are, they are not more important than any other component.
46:52: Genes and depression are not about inevitability, rather, vulnerability, which is tied to a gene discovered recently that is relevant to whether or not one is likely to have depression. The gene comes in two versions, one of which bad (linked positively to the likelihood of depression).
47:50: A group of researchers studied 17,000 kids growing up in New Zealand to conclude that inheriting the bad version of the gene doesn't set one up for depression; however, if such individuals have a history of exposure to major stressors (parental divorce, physical abuse etc), their risk of depression goes up much quicker than their counterparts with the good version of the gene with a similar history.
49:46: Turns out, glucocorticoids regulate the function of this gene, causing all the pieces to fall naturally into place here. Thus, using stress as the link, it becomes possible to reconcile the psychology of depression with its biochemistry to create a wonderfully integrated model.
thank you so much for this. I hope you are having a great day
Thank you so much!
I was looking for it through aaall the comments
@@guhanpurushothaman9313 thank youuu
I sincerely hope you are having a great day, thanks a lot for this!
This has helped me to understand my sister’s suicide 12 years ago.
I'm sorry for your loss. I hope you and your family are doing better now. Sending love your way.
So sorry Karen for the loss of your sister:'(
It's a shitty illness, I'm glad some people never have to experience it
Sorry for your loss 🙏 ❤️
Very sorry for your loss, i couldn't imagine what that's like to go through. All the best, and sending love to you and your family
I suggest this lecture to people who don't really understand depression, it's almost always an eye-opener. Though I would never have the "bathing" conversation with them. Like when another depressed person asks you how your new antidepressant is working and you say, "I took a shower!" and they say, "Wow, that's great!" because they know exactly what you're talking about. :D
Terrific. I'm recommending this to my clients. Thank you so much Stanford for putting this online
As someone with major depression, I want to thank this guy for not minimizing the condition. I've found the typical reaction of health care professionals is "so what," or "tough it up." The end result is that you don't get any help. It's the only disease where you get ostracized for your symptoms.
I wish everyone had to experience depression for just one day so they wouldn’t be so tactless about it.
The last line, so true!
I have chronic fatigue syndrome and believe me talk about being dismissed or just talked to like I made these symptoms up, I have depression to as a result and after your blood tests are normal and since they have no way of measuring it you quickly start to realize real help is hard to find and I stopped going to doctors
@@mypud4068 You need to meet a good therapist. In life there are only 2 problems--mind and the body. To feel better reduce negative thoughts with a simple practice. Your breath and mind [brain] are closely related causing stress-anxiety. For a better life sit on a chair, neck straight, eyes closed and observe the sensations of your incoming--outgoing breath at the entrance of the nostrils for 5-10-15 minutes or more. Don’t fight your thoughts. With daily practice the mind will relax. No deep breathing needed. Do the practice without any expectations. Change happens from within by itself. Day or night, when taking a walk, at office, sitting in a park, when reading, before sleep etc sit or lie down and observe your breath. Like me, make this a lifetime daily habit to have a good life. Reduce negative social media. Avoid constipation as it affects the mind instantly. Best wishes. Senior Counsellor.
@@shyaaammeneen63 “All our anxieties relate to time. The major problems of psychiatry revolve around an analysis of the despair, pessimism, melancholy, and complexes that are the inheritances of what has been or with the fears, anxieties, worries, that are the imaginings of what will be.” Fulton J Sheen
This guy is literally one of the best lecturers I've ever heard
then you probably haven't seen many lectures.
@@NatronGG I’m a student at a university like Stanford (world league tables) and I agree with the commenter... what lecturers have you seen that are better than this guy? As a final year medical student, watching hundreds of lectures, I can easily say that I’ve never been more engaged in a lecturer than I have with him.
@@je6874 Ah, you will certainly appreciate this ua-cam.com/video/ubczoEAv5is/v-deo.html
James Reed fair
@@je6874 Watch out "Gary Yourofsky" on youtube, might disagree with the guy but he is the best orator I ever heard.
@5:37 the grief is so real. On a normal, uneventful day when I had my worst depression, I felt this overwhelming grief that was the same as when close family members had died previously, except there was no obvious trigger.
this lecture made me cry multiple times but it also made everything feel so validating for me
The cadence of his voice can have you ensnared in his lectures for hours.
Makes me nauseous.
Holy crap, this is like the opposite of my childhood memories of church. I was not bored for a *second* listening to this guy, and that's rare. A riveting presentation.
I thoroughly enjoyed your comment, haha.
Generally speaking, I tend to get just as bored if not more with the majority of (pseudo) intellectuals as i do (pseudo) religious teachers.....just saying.
Real knowledge will always be intellectually satisfying in ways that hogwash cannot.
+kosk11348 Well said!
kosk11348 Amen.
This was a really detailed explanation of what I'm going through and have been for about 20 years. I really appreciate it
Fascinating lecture. Very well presented by Professor Sapolsky as well. Thanks to Stanford and staff for all the great online material,
The concept of depression as "learned helplessness" hit me like a truck
It's a complex disorder; the're are descriptions far and between.
This relates to the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) he mentions towards the end of the talk. People like me who had NPD/abusive/alcoholic parents quickly learn the "fawn" or "freeze" response because fighting back or standing up for yourself only leads to a worse beating. At a very young age, we are conditioned by parents to do nothing when our primary caregivers are putting us in real physical danger (the opposite of protecting us, which is their true role). The book "CPTSD from Surviving to Thriving" by Pete Walker really gets into this area and helps lifelong depressed people overcome childhood trauma and learn to take action instead of just sinking further and further down until we lose everything.
Thanks for this. I don't think depression will ever become socially acceptable like other disorders are. Behavior gets too mixed up with personality, and people get demonized for being weak, sad and self-absorbed/narcissistic. The symptoms are too nebulous, too blurry with character flaws, and people make the attribution error where they blame character over situation. It's always going to be a double bind for the depressed person.
I thought of something similar but I couldn't describe it as adequately as you did. Not only do these cultural beliefs of character and personality affect depression, but anything that's neurological like OCD, ADHD, or Autism because as you said, it's a fundamental attribution error.
@@evanurena8868 Great thoughts! I believe much of the stigma is Fear.
Evan Urena you cant separate the person from these mental diseases. That is how they are distinct from things like diabetes, Parkinson’s, ext. I understand depression is a biochemical disease but I still feel like the insulin argument is a false equivalency. There is not CBT for diabetes, only medicine. That equivalency makes it so depressed people feel like they can only get better through medication, but that just isn’t at all true.
Liam Tomas You don’t get better per say. I see where you’re coming from but in comparing the diseases he purely meant it’s proven a biological issue, not a temporary mood or an affectation, or laziness. The treatment options are of course different.
This type of thinking reinforces depression and makes it worse.
I don't think i've ever understood myself this well. So eye opening. Thank you.
Depression isn’t a phase, it is something you live with. It is always present, and somedays the battles are harder then others, and sometimes we unfortunately loose
This man is a true TEACHER. He believes that his message shouldn't be contained to this classroom and projects it to eternity, through this medium. Thank you, Professor.
Word
Lies again? DMP DEP
This is crazy. I am being treated for major depression that is treatment resistant, and have been off work for almost 6 months now. I feel like this guy is talking about me. I wish I could figure out how to "come out the other side".
Barely eat, sleep 4ish hours on a good night, go multiple days without sleep other times, hurt in major muscles and joints nearly 24/7... fly off the handle in a sudden fit of rage brought on by the tiniest things... walk down a flight of stairs, move laundry from the washer to the dryer, back upstairs, and nearly collapse from exhaustion. Do the dishes, nearly collapse. Mow the lawn, actually collapse. I obsessively dive into my hobbies to at least...try...to enjoy something.
I feel like... I'm homesick for a place that does not exist, I have lost a loved one that I don't know, I am suffocating and uncomfortable and it just goes on and on to the point where I stop complaining about it because people around you can only take so much complaining, but I can't fix it and it never stops.
I'm getting disturbingly good at pretending to be "ok".
Hi Anti, I do hope you're doing better, healing is a struggle and a hectic journey, just know you're not alone, you're amazing and I hope to be here when you begin to see the beauty of the sunshine again❤❤❤❤❤🤗.
The answer to your depression is Jesus Christ! I promise! Nothing else helped. I almost killed my self .. Jesus saved me. God of the universe who created you and who gave you life! A building has a builder , a painting has a painter, you being the creation, you have a creator ! You’re here for a reason . Invite Jesus into your life! He will cure your depression , no one and nothing else will!
And I’m not talking about some fake Jesus that the Catholics portray. Jesus is not white blue eye guy with long hair. That’s a false image. The real Jesus, Yeshua, was born in Israel . He was Jewish.
@@evelina.gukasyan Pretty shitty thing to say to someone. Join my cult or you’ll never get rid of your depression? You were better off not commenting at all.
@@rheinnabi5052 she did not say to join any kind of cult. Jesus brought me outta depression. She is right. She didn't say GO TO CHURCH. Jesus does save. It's the truth. Not shitty at all.... very kind and true. With peace and love!!!
I've watched almost every single one of his lectures available but this is one of his most insightful, thanks Robert :)
I don't think anyone has ever described what I experience and have experienced for so long this well ever before. This means everything to me.
I actually started crying when he said "it's not just a metaphor of depression as psychic pain." It was like my entire experience of life over the last ten years was validated.
i hope you're doing well dude. i know its hard,but please keep going. sending love
@@jellibeans4440 thank you! I'm actually in a pretty good place lately, hoping I can keep it up :)
@@TrulyBadTiming im glad!! I believe you can
@@TrulyBadTiming how are you doing?
@@ChristopherT_ My girlfriend and I bought a house and are moving this weekend, so I'm very stressed right now but still doing well! I was also diagnosed with ADHD pretty recently and I'm finding that life feels a bit more manageable now that I'm treating the root cause of my depression.
Thank you for asking!
Sapolsky is a genius, I never thought someone who didn't get depression could understand depression so accurate.
Well u never know....
I like that he doesn't talk above people's heads. He speaks so people can understand.
How can you be so certain that he doesn't experience depression?
You missed a huge point. He literally said everyone experiences depression. He's experienced and analyzed it with his own mind and probably studied the thoughts of other educated people to understand it better.
@@OneTyler2Many He also said 15% get depression (MDD) before that 00:01:40 or 01:40 . Wiered me out with the "everyone gets depression" sentence he said also. I don't think his meaning of MDD and depression differed, but I guess it's like MDD = diagnosed and depression = non-diagnosed + diagnosed.
Absolutely brilliant and enlightening. Thank you for sharing
8:10 it’s really eye-opening lecture for public like us especially living in third country (lack of knowledge and awareness about this internal disease), I’ve been learning and exploring more about it ever since I’ve been battling with and now I know where I am at in those stages of depression.
wow...the accuracy of the exhaustion. it's so true, I literally have to push with EVERYTHING I have just to shuffle around, with my head down, sighing. I literally can't do shit.
Julia Ross is another quack selling diet as cure for everything. If you have a real diagnosed problem, consult with a real doctor with real responsibility.
Any time. My life expectancy will be higher.
Agreed! I definitely seeing results practicing self awareness throughout the day and meditating when i can ( which only happens maybe once a week and for just a few minutes). I have found that if you can somehow find just 1 good emotion in yourself towards the begging of the day, grab that puppy like you just found $1000 on the ground, let go of whatever thought brought this emotion on but try to keep the feeling and also try and amplify/cultivate/multiply the feeling. It is hard to describe exactly what i mean here but this method has given me some amazing days i didn't think i would ever have again after years of depression. The most important thing to remember is you are guaranteed pain and suffering in life, you cannot do much about that but you can practice methods such as meditation that change your perception and generally seem to give a person a sense of contentment and much more. I would also recommend giving Buddhism a look, the methods are straight forward and you can keep your religion, or keep being an atheist and still practice Buddhism.
If I found $1000 on the ground, I would pick it up of course, but other than that it would not effect me in anyway, 10 thousand a little bit, 100 thousand, a fair amount. The point is, depression means u don't care one jot for $1000!
N H Just don't be depressed, it's very simple
My sister and best friend was working on her Doctorate in psychology in September 2002 when she took her own life. So many things that confounded and frustrated her, both professionally and personally, are so eloquently addressed here. She would have been thrilled.
I’m so sorry for your loss
From what I've seen of psychiatrists it appears that many go onto the field to try to figure themselves out, there are some doing more harm than good.
@@jh0720 I think most would be just ad effective with dart board for diagnosis, you can tell you've found one worth their pay when they actually listen to you, usually they assume because of their education they know you better than you do.
I’m so sorry for you loss. So painful.
I’m so sorry for you loss. My heart is with you
I've almost watched this video for so many years.
I'm thankful for this. I have mental illness and the lectures opened my understanding to things.
I'd love for Stanford to do another one of these for 2021.
YES.
Instead of 15% it would be 30-40%
The government 'covid' response has been a mental health disaster. These psychopaths can convince themselves that what they are doing is for the greater good but they seemingly have no regard for the collateral damage of these policies.
@@BennyOcean pretty easy to declare lockdowns and increase restrictions etc when you set your own salary.
@@djtjpain It might be easy but it's tyrannical and millions of us are not ok with being governed this way.
Suffered from it most my life. I have never heard or read anyone explain it like Dr. Sapolsky. When I feel depressed, I watch this video. Dr. Sapolsky is so knowledgeable and articulate. God bless all of us that live with what he describes so well.
Sending you love, friend
Thank you so much making this lecture public. It felt amazing listening to Dr Sapolsky at work. I am truly grateful. 🙌🏻
I dealt with depression for 7 years and like he said it’s the hardest to amid and deal with.You do feel helpless and hopeless and I’ve had friends tell just snap out of it but it’s deeper then that.I’m glad Dr.Sapolsky was able to break down the science of depression.Depression has been stigmatized thru the years.I just hope people can understand it more and that anybody can suffer from depression.
"This screams biology". Thank you so much for this.
Why? Because you perceive the only alternative to biology as perhaps being self-blame? What if there are more possibilities?
I think more as a point of reference or people who have not experienced depression first hand and are skeptical of it authenticity as a debilitating disease.
Biology is everything having to do with the body and how it is affected. That means ANYTHING a human thinks or does is biology, be it your hormone levels, communication between body parts and the brain or the chemical structure. It's still biology.
So what other possibility is there for a human to do anything? Biology is the umbrella term. But people take biology to mean something you can't help and therefore take it seriously, which they should because that's exactly what it is, out of your control.
"Thank you" because depression is deemed a moral failing, and a fault of character, and an embarrassing threat in that it might point at the observer being vulnerable as well; rather than a physiological malfunction amenable to medical treatment. Major depressive disorder has very little to do with normal conceptions surrounding the word "depression." Dr. Sapolsky didn't mention the cognitive dysfunction that can be associated with major depression; the memory problems, or the trouble concentrating, or the inability to apply logic to problems. These are devastating. How to explain that waking up exhausted and getting up and brushing one's teeth is like climbing a steep hill? This is much more basic than his laundry analogy. I'm left feeling, however, like this theoretical framework leaves me in the same old position; if it's the bad gene working with glucocorticoids, then why shouldn't I be able to -just snap out of it- if I/we now understand what's really going on?
No it doesn't. It screams INHUMANE SYSTEM leading to INHUMANE LIVES!!!!
This should really be a intro video that all parents are required to watch if their child gets depression. It would solve so much confusion
agreed
Parents don’t even want to put masks on their kids to protect them.
@@tylertyler82 maybe because kids make up .0006% of covid deaths in the US. If you don't understand the anti-fragile nature of children, I pray to God you never have them.
As the parent of a young adult with depression that began very early for him, I wish I had seen this so many years ago. So many missed opportunities to validate his feelings, encourage him, love him harder when I did the opposite because I just didn’t understand. He isn’t nearly as hard on me as I am on myself about this. I just wish I could “fix” my baby.
All adults were once children needing that lesson too
I'm glad I found this. I feel like I'm not understood in any capacity and I want it to end. I want to meet this man.
thank you so much, this lecture really gave me a greater understanding of my condition, I've been suffering from bad depression since i was 12
I fell asleep a lot in college but not with professors like this guy. Man he's got a captivating delivery.
Man, he explained the feelings i've been trying to explain to friends and family for about 15 years, in just under an hour. From now on when someone want's more information on depression I am going to reference this lecture.
That’s how propaganda works. Now go take the chemicals that they assigned you...see if they make you feel better...
@@mickeywicked478 nice fallacy, dork
This dude explains it so well with such compassion.
Listening this on 13 March 2024