"If in your head you undertake hatha yoga as a form of exercise or body building, you will end up with just what you reached for ... a more beautiful body. On the other hand, if you undertake hatha yoga as a form of yoga then it will, in a relatively short time, bring about a profound metamorphosis in your body calmness, sensitivity, and lightness ... all of which will facilitate your sadhana. "

Ram Dass

Is depression a problem of meaning or of medicine?

June 1, 2008

I'm impressed by this description of personal experience with depression on Julian Sheather's blog. Julian is deputy head of ethics at the British Medical Association. The blog entry raises thoughtful issues about autonomy, antidepressants and the oversimplified argument whether depression is best seen as a biochemical imbalance in the brain or as some kind of issue about life management. The true situation is more subtle and interlocking than any kind of easy "either-or" debate suggests.
antidepressants depression meaning autonomy control