Depression A Real Illness!

“The disease is like a mental prison and the sufferer cannot just use their bare hands to pry the bars open and escape with ease.”

Most of us have experienced episodes of sadness at some points in our lives. This is normal. But depression is not just feeling sad or down. Depression is a low mood that lingers. If the mood persists for two consecutive weeks and interrupts normal activities it is classified as major depression.

Depression is a real illness. Some persons may not think of it as such because blood tests or other investigations are not used to confirm it, although certain types of scans show changes in the brains of individuals suffering from the disorder.

One way of looking at depression is that the brain tricks its owner into thinking that life is worse than it
actually is or may not be even worth living. The person with depression sees life through a dark, cloudy, murky lens. The primary symptom is sadness, accompanied by lack of interest in previously enjoyed activities. An
imbalance in some of the chemicals in the brain leads to disordered thinking and preoccupation with negative thoughts such as guilt, worthlessness and hopelessness.It is as if the wiring of the brain is re-routed, affecting not just mood, but sleep, appetite, memory and concentration.

To make matters worse, in addition to the mental anguish, depression can cause physical symptoms, such as aches and pains and digestion problems. As a matter of fact, many afflicted persons present with these physical manifestations, a phenomenon known as somatization, and if their physicians are not astute enough, the underlying
psychopathology can be missed.

And if pre-existing painful conditions exist, depression can make them even more unbearable, as it lowers the patient’s pain threshold increasing their sensitivity to painful stimuli. In addition, depression has the potential to worsen even non-painful medical conditions, as a stressed or depressed mental state can negatively affect the body’s immune and endocrine (hormone) systems, resulting in the worsening of a plethora of ailments.

There are many reasons for persons to experience depression, such as childhood abuse and trauma, loneliness,
poor social support and financial issues, but in many cases there may be a genetic predisposition. So there may not be an easily identifiable predisposing factor in an individual with depression, and this is what makes it so difficult for people around them to understand. Someone may be financially secure and surrounded by loving, loyal and supportive family and friends and still find themselves in the throes of severe and intense depression, leading to questions like “Why are you depressed?” or “What is there to be depressed about?” People suffering from depression are often told to “snap out of it”. But it doesn’t quite work like that.

If your team just got eliminated from the World Cup and you are in a funk, yes, you can snap out of it relatively quickly. But knowing what we know about the biochemical imbalances and aberrations in clinical depression, telling a depressed person to snap out of their depression is like telling an asthmatic during an attack to “get over it”. The disease is like a mental prison and the sufferer cannot just use their bare hands to pry the bars open and escape with ease.

If untreated, the illness has the propensity to plunge its victim into a self-perpetuating downward spiral. Depression induces feelings of fatigue, demotivation and inertia, often leading to missed opportunities and failure in studies, at the workplace and in relationships. When the sufferer looks back and realizes what he or she may have lost, or what may have passed them by because of their mental and physical lethargy, the feelings of
despair and worthlessness intensify, plunging them even further downward into their bleak emotional abyss.

The feelings of hopelessness may intensify to the point where ceasing to exist may appear to be the only pathway to achieve peace. To rational individuals this will seem to be an unacceptable cop out, but by the time major depression has reached this level of severity, rational thinking has now been abandoned and all that is on the victim’s mind is finding an escape route from the excruciating mental pain and unbearable chaos and turmoil.

Fortunately, in the majority of cases, depression can be successfully treated with psychotherapy, drugs or both, with success rates of 80% being reported. Exercising, social support, (including support groups,) and keeping pets are also useful in ameliorating symptoms.

Unfortunately, the stigma associated with mental illness and misperceptions about the disorder present significant barriers to treatment and, as a result, far too many persons live in misery from its debilitating effects and end up taking their own lives. Public education is needed, in order to dispel myths and facilitate a better understanding of the illness. In the meantime, if you think that you or someone you know may be suffering from depression, please get help!