Is depression a character flaw and a mental weakness?

A police officer who posted here recently said, "Anyone that relies on drugs has a character flaw and a mental weakness." If someone relies on prescription drugs to control depression, that implies that depression -- or any other mental illness -- is a character flaw, right?

What about someone who takes Lipitor for high cholesterol?

I'm pretty sure police officers have a rather negative opinion on anyone who has a mental illness, whether it contributes to a life of crime or not, but I'd at least like to get some confirmation here.

Benji

He, along with Tom Cruise, is entitled to his opinion regarding depression. They are both wrong.
Depression is a medical condition, in most cases, and often is treatable, or at least controllable, through a variety of medications.

To me, anyone who would make that statement DOES have a character flaw. Mental weakness is not out of the question either.

George S

You could call it a "mental weakness" in the sense it's a genetic limitation to the amount of stress we can tolerate before shutting down. Everyone reaches that limit if enough stress it impinged. Some reach it sooner than most or subjected to a lot more than most.

I assume the officer meant recreational drugs, but some officers can be as bigoted as anyone else could be.

Demoncatz N Rethuglicans

Depression is a chemical imbalance its been proven...prescription drugs make you worse...the only way to fight depression is to live a healthy and active life. And if it doesn't work you can goto therapy,

roadhazzards

It's due to a chemical imbalance in the brain, last time I checked it has NOTHING to do with a character flaw or mental "weakness".

Now alcoholism and drug addiction I'd agree are a mental weakness and a character flaw since you choose to consume those products.

firefightere210

if you can control your depression with medication its not a problem.if you dont take your meds it becomes a problem.i know several people who suffer from depression and they function just as well as a person without depression. but if you want to become a police officer it may prevent you from being hired.

AJay

Depression is a treatable medical illness involving an imbalance of brain chemicals called neurotransmitters and neuropeptides. Itâ€™s not a character flaw or a sign of personal weakness. Just like you canâ€™t â€œwish awayâ€ diabetes, heart disease, or any other physical illness, you canâ€™t make depression go away by trying to â€œsnap out of it.â€

Episodes of depression often follow stressful events like marital problems or the death of a loved one. People who have recurrent episodes of major depression are sometimes said to have "unipolar depression" (or what used to be called â€œclinical depressionâ€), because they only experience periods of low, or depressed mood (unlike someone with bipolar disorder who goes through periods of both low and high mood).

While depression sometimes runs in families, many people with the illness have no family history of depression. The exact causes of depression still are not clear. What we do know is that both genetics and a stressful environment, or life situation, contribute to its cause. Usually, itâ€™s not one or the other, but a combination of both.

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