I’ve heard Dr. Robert Sapolsky say in a widely viewed lecture on YouTube that depression is like diabetes. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOAgplgTxfc&rco=1; See also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzUXcBTQXKM&t=0s). With diabetes your pancreas fails to produce enough insulin. Likewise, with depression, your brain fails to produce enough serotonin or your body produces the wrong balance of hormones or something like that. However, I find that depressive symptoms almost always can be explained by life dissatisfaction.
Take the following test and see what your score is. The test is 25 questions. A perfect score of +25 means you are one of the happiest people on the planet. Good for you! A score of 0 means your life is neutral. A score of -25 means you should, uh, be on suicide watch, maybe. If you score low (say, 0 or lower), then you probably shouldn’t attribute your depression to a chemical imbalance, and you probably shouldn’t expect taking a pill to do anything.
1) Are you as athletic as you’d like to be?
Yes +1
No -1
Mix +0
2) Is your diet where you want it to be most days? (Think both in terms of health and enjoyment)
Yes +1
No -1
Mix +0
3) Are you as attractive as you’d like to be?
Yes +1
No -1
Mix +0
4) Are you happy with your charisma? (Sense of fashion, ability to make others laugh, ability to give good first impressions, etc.)
Yes +1
No -1
Mix +0
5) Are you happy with your social life?
Yes +1
No -1
Mix +0
6) Are you happy with your romantic life?
Yes +1
No -1
Mix +0
7) Are you creatively satisfied? (Have you created what you want to create?)
Yes +1
No -1
Mix +0
8) Are you intellectually satisfied? (Do you have answers to the questions you want answered?)
Yes +1
No -1
Mix +0
9) Do you have the skills you wish you did?
Yes +1
No -1
Mix +0
10) Are you satisfied with your achievements?
Yes +1
No -1
Mix +0
11) Are you happy with your childhood experiences?
Yes +1
No -1
Mix +0
12) Are you happy with your adolescent experiences?
Yes +1
No -1
Mix +0
13) Do you have a good relationship with your parents?
Yes +1
No -1
Mix +0
14) Do you have a good relationship with your other family?
Yes +1
No -1
Mix +0
15) Are you happy with your finances?
Yes +1
No -1
Mix +0
16) Do you work a dream job?
Yes +1
No -1
Mix +0
17) Are you working on the most important problems you could be working on?
Yes +1
No -1
Mix +0
18) Are you self-improving most days?
Yes +1
No -1
Mix +0
19) Do you admire yourself?
Yes +1
No -1
Mix +0
20) Are you happy with your current living situation?
Yes +1
No -1
Mix +0
21) Do you like the city you live in?
Yes +1
No -1
Mix +0
22) Are you close with any of your neighbors?
Yes +1
No -1
Mix +0
23) Do you feel happy most days?
Yes +1
No -1
Mix +0
24) Are you where you want to be in life?
Yes +1
No -1
Mix +0
25) Are you satisfied with your mental health?
Yes +1
No -1
Mix +0
At the risk of oversharing, I give my answers to each question.
1) Are you as athletic as you’d like to be?
No. My poor performance in sports led to an asthma diagnosis when I was young. My breathing is quite bad. I can go for walks but that's about it. -1
2) Is your diet where you want it to be most days? (Think both in terms of health and enjoyment)
I'm working on it; when I get sugar cravings I am restricting myself to only fruit (not fruit juice). I'm keeping healthy snacks around like fruit, dried fruit, and nuts. I include protein and fiber in every meal to maximize satiation per calorie. And I take multivitamins each day. I minimize shopping and cooking as I'd rather spend that time reading or writing, so my meals tend to be basic. +0
3) Are you as attractive as you’d like to be?
On one hand, it would be nice to
know what it’s like to experience the halo effect, where social success and
opportunities come far more easily by luck of the genetic draw. On the other
hand, I don’t care too much because I’m aromantic. +0
4) Are you happy with your charisma? (Sense of fashion, ability to make others laugh, ability to give good first impressions, etc.)
No -1
5) Are you happy with your social life?
No; I have felt misplaced wherever I have been. I wish I could hang out with philosophers more -1
6) Are you happy with your romantic life?
If the question was “Do you derive
a great deal of enjoyment from your romantic life?” then I would say no,
because I don’t have one. But because the question is about being happy, I am
happy single because I am aromantic. +1
7) Are you creatively satisfied? (Have you created what you want to create?)
It would be extremely fun to create
a language (one that’s easy & fun to learn), create a fantasy lore system
that features a fictional, idealistic society that uses this language, and then
create a fantasy video game that uses that lore where the player learns the
language slowly throughout the game. I would also like to turn all the melodies
that pop into my head into full songs. I also have a dozen or so stories I’d
like to write. I might get some of these projects done eventually if I’m lucky
enough, but there is no way I’m getting them all done. -1
8) Are you intellectually satisfied? (Do you have answers to the questions you want answered?)
As an aspiring philosopher I think
I’m supposed to say no, because philosophers are aware of just how little they
know. While it’s true that debates can go on forever, from a broader, more
basic point of view philosophy is very intellectually satisfying. I make
progress every day. Philosophy gives you the only hope of building a worldview
you can be proud of. +1
9) Do you have the skills you wish you did?
The most important skill to me is
philosophical skill, and I’m pretty happy with what I can do there. I see my
weaknesses though, so it’s always a work in progress. I wish my skills in other
areas were way higher than they are, but they don’t matter nearly as much to
me. +0
10) Are you satisfied with your achievements?
No; After I’ve written more good
philosophy I will feel differently. -1
11) Are you happy with your childhood experiences?
It was pretty good overall +1
12) Are you happy with your adolescent experiences?
It was pretty bad overall -1
13) Do you have a good relationship with your parents?
My mom has dementia, making it
impossible to have any real relationship there. For other reasons too I would
say no -1
14) Do you have a good relationship with your other family?
It’s a bit complicated but not
really -1
15) Are you happy with your finances?
No -1
16) Do you work a dream job?
No -1
17) Are you working on the most important problems you could be working on?
Yes! I feel like philosophical
problems are the most important, and I’m working on those +1
18) Are you self-improving most days?
Yes, I’m working on myself
physically, mentally, and professionally +1
19) Do you admire yourself?
I admire philosophers; I admire
those who exhibit intellectual virtues such as passion for truth, bravery, and
so on. I exhibit those virtues which is very cool. Even though I’ve never loved
my circumstances, loving myself has not been an issue. +1
20) Are you happy with your current living situation?
No -1
21) Do you like the city you live in?
No -1
22) Are you close with any of your neighbors?
No -1
23) Do you feel happy most days?
No -1
24) Are you where you want to be in life?
No -1
25) Are you satisfied with your mental health?
No, I have a lot of anxiety and depression these days -1
My score is -10. Ouch! That’s awful!
This test is very simple and informal. Some of these questions should be weighed more than others. More questions could be added to get specifics about, for example, past trauma. The advantage though is that the test gives a quick and easy rough estimate of where you are (and what you could be working on).
Furthermore, this test includes only local questions, but could be expanded to include midway questions (how do you feel about your country, the state of the world, about social / political issues like gender and race; are you happy about how your governor is running things, etc) and broad questions (how do you feel about your eventual death, or the eventual death of your loved ones; are you happy about the way God is running things, etc).
If I’m being honest, expanding the test in this way would not improve my score at all!
I worry that depression is being treated as a disease (something has gone wrong with the body / brain) when it’s not a disease; it’s a natural consequence of living a low-quality life, or of experiencing trauma, or of holding depressing beliefs. It shouldn’t be surprising to find depressive symptoms given any of these. If someone believes life is meaningless and that there is no point in overcoming suffering or in making an effort, then of course that person is going to struggle to get out of bed. Unless we are prepared to say that chemical imbalances cause these depressing beliefs, then we shouldn’t assume a chemical imbalance when an alternative explanation is staring us in the face. Of course, I would have to engage the literature on the topic to have anything close to a proper argument.
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