“Depression Isn’t Real”, Says Andrew Tate — My Thoughts

“Depression is not real”, says figurehead of the ‘manosphere’ Andrew Tate (who I like, by the way).

The ‘manosphere’ is an internet sub-culture that promotes masculinity and men’s success. As expected, you see many advocates for masculinity who have gained massive popularity among the digital community, and these advocates are firm in their masculinity.

Since we are seeing a significant crisis with masculinity today, I see the ‘manosphere’ as a positive thing. However, I can’t entirely agree with the approach of some influencers. As for Andrew Tate, I think he has been misunderstood; and I’ve come to that conclusion after studying him for hours on end. But apart from that, there is rhetoric within this community that sends the message to young men that “depression is not real”.

Firstly, I need to point out that most people are not rigorous enough in how they articulate their messages. And nor do I think they should be, as language itself can be highly ambiguous. You can easily convey unintended messages without proper academic training, depending on how you deliver them and how they are perceived.

That’s what I think has happened with Tate and others regarding their claims that “depression is not real”.

When I first heard Tate and many others claim depression isn’t real, I met it with resistance. But I continued to listen to their messages, and I could break them down in a way that made sense. I concluded that there is some truth to their message, despite not being delivered correctly, which is why I’ve decided to reframe this statement in my own words.

For many people suffering from depression, it most certainly is real. I’ve seen it, I’ve felt it. It’s challenging to come to terms with because, unlike a physical illness, you can’t see it. Its intangible nature makes it such that it’s hard to comprehend, particularly if you’ve never experienced it. It’s so abstract and ambiguous, so I understand. But, when you pay close attention to those suffering from actual depression, you can see that the physical body takes its toll.

I’ll give you an example from my own experience. I experience bouts of chronic worry. I’ve experienced this since a young child. My grandfather, who I didn’t get to know properly, also experienced these bouts of chronic worry and anxiety. There’s a personality trait called ‘neuroticism’, and people who score high in this trait tend to experience mood swings easily, have low stress tolerance and are susceptible to high levels of fear and anxiety. Personality is said to be ~50% genetic. What does this suggest? — that one’s susceptibility to stress, low mood and anxiety mainly depends on their biology.

My bouts of chronic worry result in my stomach muscles and the muscles around my chest tightening. After a while, I feel pain in my ribs and back. The tightness in my stomach and chest put pressure on the muscles in my back and ribs, and my whole torso area feels cramping up. The last time I experienced this was a few days ago. I usually sleep on my stomach, but that night I had to sleep on my side so I could relieve the pressure being put on my back. My back was aching so much that I found it hard to get comfortable. The next day, my psychological symptoms had subsided, and so had the knots in my stomach and back. However, because they were so tight the previous night, I woke up feeling like I had performed an abs workout the day before. I had muscle fatigue, and my ribs felt battered and bruised.

The nervous system is so complex that it’s difficult, to sum up in a few words. However, I can say with certainty that our nervous systems have a lot to do with our anxiety and stress levels. Some people have underactive nervous systems. They are slow to react to things; they come across as calm or even docile, while others are wired and jumpy. The sensitivity of your nervous system to the external information constantly being received by the brain has a lot to do with your levels of neuroticism. This isn’t just a psychological concept; it connects to the physiological mechanisms that make up our anatomy.

Mental illness can also arise from high or low activity in specific brain regions. For example, scans have shown that people with depression have low activity in their left frontal lobe, which is responsible for generating positive emotions. Now, you can imagine what it would be like if the part of your brain that produces the joy and pleasure you feel from everyday life is not functioning optimally. What will result? — a lack of positive emotion; an inability to experience life’s simple joys and pleasures. An inability to experience positive emotion is part of the definition of depression. Not only can depression result from a lack of electrical activity in particular brain regions, but also a lack of blood flow. People who experience conditions such as depression, bipolar or schizophrenia usually suffer from a state in the brain called hypo-frontality — whereby blood flow decreases significantly in the area of the brain responsible for judgement, decision making and foresight. So, there is a biological basis for depression. With new and emerging technologies, we can gain a deeper insight into the physical features of these conditions.

So, I’ve established that depression most certainly is real for some. The keywords here are ‘for some’.

A portion of people report depressive symptoms, run straight to their doctors and get prescribed anti-depressant medication. What these people failed to address before running to their doctor and being put on meds is the following;

• physical health — diet, amount of physical activity
• relationship health — socialising, positive interactions, supportive networks, healthy family life, healthy intimate life.
• career — working a job you can half tolerate, goals to work towards, a direction for your future, a plan, a strategy, some purpose and meaning.
• other — hobbies, skills and other lifestyle factors.

If you’re feeling depressed and the things I have listed above are lacking, then addressing those before running to the doctor to get your hands on meds is a good option. Many people who report depressive symptoms could resolve their issues by devoting their energy to these areas of their lives and getting them in order. Many followers of the ‘manosphere’ are young men who are out of shape, spend too much of their time behind computer screens, don’t work in jobs they enjoy, or don’t have any job, for that matter. In addition, they devote no time to their personal growth and have no plans for the future. If you’re one of these people, understand that the feelings of depression you feel result from not having these fundamentals in place. With some work, you can make depression a thing of the past.

And that’s the message these influencers like Tate are trying to convey. While the delivery and articulation of their message are misleading and uninformed, the root of their message has a lot of truth. I take this stance because I understand how the current state of our healthcare system works. Doctors and other professionals have become highly trigger-happy when assessing, diagnosing and treating mental health issues. A lot of medical practitioners will prescribe medication to people without even considering the lifestyle factors that lead them to the clinic in the first place. It works well for the bottom line of big pharma, an institution captured by the institution of big money and the bankers running them. Big pharma is a business, and many medical practitioners have been captured by old big pharma and medicine paradigms that involve masking symptoms rather than getting to their root cause.

As you can see, this mental health epidemic isn’t only a problem at the individual level. This is sociological — practitioners and institutions are also playing their role in this mess, and this mess is occurring at the institutional level, among other places. If you were a vaccine sceptic during the pandemic, as was I, you would understand what I’m referring to here. The collusion of government and institutions breeds scepticism. The pandemic reflected what is happening in the mental health space. Virus or psychiatric disorder; it’s a business opportunity with handsome rewards. “It’s for your health”, some claim. Perhaps on some level, this is true, but that argument on its own is not enough. It’s not as simple as that, especially when you consider corporate profits, the interpretation, or lack of, scientific data and the continuous barrage of rules and regulations imposed upon medical practitioners.

It’s not that I’m sceptical about our institutions themselves — quite the contrary. I believe our institutions are miracles to be celebrated. I’m sceptical about the humans inside of them because I’m human and know of my capacity to make decisions that benefit only myself. Perhaps, my scepticism comes from my classically liberal proclivities. Either way, I see many flaws in our current way of doing things, so I try to remain as vigilant as possible while also doing my best to maintain some rationality. You can change my mind on matters very quickly, providing you bring a good case forward.

This is why I believe the message that “depression isn’t real” is a valid one. Again, I will state that the delivery of this message is entirely misleading and ill-informed. However, when you dig deeper and cut through the ambiguity of the language used, you find the truth to this statement on some level. This message holds a lot of value to a lot of people out there experiencing feelings of depression. Try getting your life in order first. If you can do that and feel better about yourself, you’ve succeeded and can be free from depression. If you’ve done these things and still feel depressed, then it’s safe to assume that your depression runs much deeper than a few things in your life being out of order. That’s when it may be reasonable and responsible to turn to alternatives such as medicine and other forms of clinical treatment.

I’ll conclude by saying that whether your depression is a result of lifestyle factors or if it’s deeper, feelings of depression are real and painful. There’s no way around that reality, and one’s feelings should never be minimised or invalidated. Although I understand the message being conveyed behind the statement “depression isn’t real, ” I think it is dangerous. Depression, no matter what, should never be minimised or invalidated. People take their own lives from this thing. This is something to be taken seriously, and people who haven’t undertaken rigorous training in this field should not deliver sloppy messages that are susceptible to misinterpretation.

I’ll close with that.