Hal on clinical depression and PCT

CSGnet Archive CSG1994
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Having been a catalyst for lifting one or two people out of clinical
depression, I diagnose the problem as not having one's own reality and
feelings validated by others. Clinical depression is the feeling that
one's experience of the world is isolated and apart from others'.

So I come back to this: When one perceives that the motives
underlying others' apparent reference signals are shifting in
interaction with one's own succession of reference signals, a
clinically depressed person can emerge as a whole social animal from
the isolation the depression represents. l&p hal

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<[Bill Leach 940223.20:20 EST(EDT)]

940223.1000 Hal PEPINSKY@INDIANA.EDU

Hal, I don't have any trouble with what you said but I don't see how that
relates to my original question.

Indeed, as Bill P. indicated, possibly the biggest problem with the
question is the definition of what "depression" is.

-bill

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<[Bill Leach 940224.08:39 EST(EDT)]

940223.1000 Hal PEPINSKY@INDIANA.EDU

Hal, I think that my previous response was too vague and likely made no
sense to anyone reading it (though that is much the feeling that I had
about your posting to me). That is, what you said was clear enough, but
how it related to my original question was vague.

I won't pretend to remember or know what the definition of the term
"Clinically depressed" means. Your definition seems to be as good as any
other that I recall except that there seems to be an element of psychosis
present in your description.

One of the problems present in current human behavioural science is that
many abnormal behaviour terms are really matters of degree.

You said that depression was a condition where the subject perceives that
their own world view is not consistent with their perception of the world
view of others.

The implied goal here is that the subject wants their own world view to
match someone elses world view.

The problem (depression) then is that they have no transform available,
that they know of, that will adjust the perceived error without conflict,
yes?

Now show me the error of my thinking or understanding of your assertion,
if any.

Back to my original question (and I'll expand on what I was asking)...

Abnormal psychologists (ambiguity intended) assert that Clinically
Depressed people generally have a more accurate world view than do
non-depressed people.

Is this really true? If so why? What are the limitations on the term
"accurate"?

And I suppose that I could add: Is there any relationship between the
"rationality" of the "others" associated with this depression and the
validity of the assertion by psychologists?

-bill