Feanor

"Enemy at the Gates". It's a British film starring Jude Law who plays a Soviet sniper in the battle of Stalingrad in WW2. It shows the brutality of Stalin's reign especially the appalling sacrifical treatment of Red Army soldiers.

Yes it works for me. The placebo effect proves that most people can beat depression without drugs but then most people don't have a rational philosophy to work with. The book I took those facts from concludes with vague statement: "you can train yourself to be happy".

Hello all, I'm very pleased to join this forum! I have been a long time reader and I have used the things I learned here and in Objectivist literature to good effect in my own life. I actually created an account with almost the same name before but I soon learned the mistake of putting a special character 'e' in the name. So a mod can delete the account 'Fëanor' if they wish. I chose the name Feanor because I am a fan of fantasy. In Tolkien's Silmarillion Feanor was the greatest craftsman ever to live and he created the objects of the greatest beauty by capturing the light of the Two Trees of Valinor in the Silmarils. When the Trees were destroyed Feanor refused to let his creations be sacrificed to save the Trees. I like to think that this is like Man harnessing Nature and refusing to let his achievements be sacrificed to the "greater good" (environmentalism in this case). But I'm sure this isn't what Tolkien intended as he had many environmentalist views and he used the character to show what he thought were the consequences of selfish pride. Anyway I look forward to contributing to the forum!

I agree with this view from personal experience and from what I've read on the subject. Here are some facts about depression which you may find interesting: Depression is the commonest illness treated by UK doctors and the fourth commonest in the world. Approximately 3.2 million people in Britain (7 per cent) are clinically depressed. 25 million (9 per cent) of Americans are clinically depressed at any one time. Between 1990 and 2000 the number of prescriptions written for depression every year in the UK rose by more than ten million. Depression is estimated to cost the British economy £8 billion a year through time off work, treatment costs, suicides and reduced productivity - equivalent to £160 a year for every man, woman and child. In Australia children as young as five are currently being treated for depression. According to recent studies by Science News half an hour's exercise three to five times a week has the same effect (or better) than drugs, regularly reducing symptoms by nearly 50%. It was also found that placebos are better at curing depression than drugs or herbal remedies. In a series of tests carried out over 17 years a Seattle psychiatrist named Dr Arif Khan found that St Johns Wort completely cured 24 per cet of cases, the anti-depressant drug Zoloft cured 25 per cent of cases, but the placebos completely cured 32 per cent of cases. In another study comparing the anti-depressants Prozac and Efexor with placebos the drugs had a 52% cure rate but the placebos still had an impressive 38%. And interesting as soon as the deception was revealed the patients' condition worsened rapidly. If you are reliant on anti-depressants it can cause your brain to stop producing it's own dopamine completely.