> Depression (and anxiety and other conditions) are all, for the majority of sufferers, treatable with lifestyle changes.
That's quite a broad generalization. It's also naive and dangerous. All depression can't be treated with lifestyle changes, just as you can't cure type 1 diabetes or cancer through lifestyle changes. That statement is one of the biggest problems for people with mental illness: the stigma from the uninformed that someone who is depressed is weak, and that should "just get over it".
I didn't say all depression can be treated with lifestyle changes. Though my claim of this being true for the majority of sufferers is too bold. I should have stuck with my usual "many, if not most".
I wrote:
Depression (and anxiety and other conditions) are all,
for the majority of sufferers, treatable with lifestyle
changes.
To restate this (including my too broad claim):
The majority of cases of depression and anxiety are
treatable with lifestyle changes.
And lifestyle changes are not "just get over it" prescriptions. They're major and incredibly difficult. Things like, move to an area with a better climate. Quit your job and take one with less stress. End some relationships. Pursue (challenging) physical activities to get in better shape and get more sun and fresh air. Those aren't easy to do or resolve, but stressful jobs, inactivity, lack of sunlight, poor relationships are the sorts of stressors that lead to many instances of anxiety and depression. Identifying the causes is incredibly important, and saying that people can't and that they can't effect change to improve themselves and their situation removes their self-agency, making them feel they are weak and incapable of controlling their own lives.
Drugs do work, and in many cases are necessary at least in the short-term. But they're poor solutions in the long-term for many, if not most, people who suffer from depression and anxiety.
Do you have any sources for your claims? "Majority of depression cases treatable with lifestyle changes" and "poor solutions in the long term for many".
These are some of the reasons people quit taking them, which can result in all sorts of tragic consequences if they don't stop taking them under guidance of a medical professional. Along with people who quit taking them because they "feel better". Cutting off these medications often results in a relapse (similar for anxiety medications). EDIT: And a lifelong dependence on a medication is a difficult thing for many people to deal with. When missing even one or two doses of these medications can result in a massive emotional shift, this is a fragile solution.
CBT (which is much more than just the "lifestyle" changes, my wording was, again, not the greatest) offers better handling of emotions and reduced risk (or mitigated effects) of relapse. Largely by developing coping skills and other mental/emotional tools in these lines.
What also can work well is a combination of both. But a serious risk with medication only is masking of the underlying problems. The individual can feel good, or at least not depressed or anxious, but the stressors and causes are still present. So when going off the medication (self-decided or medically guided) and re-encountering those stressors, they lack the skillset to handle it any better than they did the first time (without some amount of either self-directed or therapy-aided development of coping skills).
That's quite a broad generalization. It's also naive and dangerous. All depression can't be treated with lifestyle changes, just as you can't cure type 1 diabetes or cancer through lifestyle changes. That statement is one of the biggest problems for people with mental illness: the stigma from the uninformed that someone who is depressed is weak, and that should "just get over it".