– I do not feel well.
– Cheer up, man!
– Thank you! I feel better…– I feel depressed.
– Make a list of things that are good for you, and another list of things that are wrong for you. Prioritize them. Stop doing the things that make you feel bad, and do the things that are good for you.
– Wow! What a good idea! How I did not think it before? All done!
Most people experience great bewilderment when in our immediate environment there is a case of mental illness. Depression is one of the most common mental illness. It is a disorder that affects 4.3% of the world’s population. Spain exceeds this average, with an incidence of the 5.2% of the population. It affects more women, especially younger than 29 or older than 55. It is one of the causes of more frequent sick leave, although it is not so much as grounds for invalidity or permanent disability, and yet according to the WHO it is the main world cause of disability.
“Depression is the world ‘s leading cause of disability”
Depression is a complex phenomenon not without controversy and uncertainty. These disorders cause serious doubts that go from the scientific to the philosophical approach. It is considered that 30% of patients with depression can be misdiagnosed, confusing it in many cases with other pathologies. In addition there are psychiatrists who argue that much people are cataloged in this way when in fact they are just going through a bad time. Antidepressants have important side effects and taking them unnecessarily can be very harmful. According to some psychiatrists these medicines could, paradoxically, cause depression, turning an episodic event into a chronic illness. Clinical psychologist Gary Greenberg believes that the large numbers handled are a tragic farce, not because people are not depressed but because, according to him, in most cases depression is not a mental disorder, but a healthy response to an aberrant world. Bipolar disorder is usually confused with depression and according to experts, it takes an average of ten years for those affected to be diagnosed correctly. Regarding this, the psychiatrist Eduard Vieta, from the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona stresses that the symptoms of depression, being often atended you by primary care physicians, are a “huge challenge with the little time they have in consultations”, which causes sometimes are misdiagnosed and treated only with antidepressants despite misuse of these drugs may impair the prognosis of bipolar disorder “promote the activation of genes or brain mechanisms involved in this disorder.”
“Gary Greenberg believes that depression may not be a mental disorder, but a healthy response to an aberrant world.”
Generally speaking, depression and other mental problems does not start overnight , but part from a situation that degenerates gradually, manifesting its indications progressively. Experts believe that the sooner you start acting, the more effective the treatment will be and the less the possibility of a relapse. Then, is critical to ask ourselves: how can we detect the symptoms of depression in our loved ones, and in ourselves? And how should we act before these symptoms?
Sadness is a natural emotion that can be a reaction coherent in the face of the loss of a loved one, difficulties at work, problems of a couple or family members. It can also be related to hormonal changes or thyroid problems. What to do if its intensity increases and prolonged in time? Obviously, it is essential to obtain a good diagnosis and an adequate treatment. But is this all we can do for the person with symptoms of depression? Should we consider something else, in addition to directing it to a health professional?
How to support someone who has depression?
People who suffer from depression or any of its symptoms are in a position of vulnerability, with less energy to implement solutions and minor mental clarity to think about them. The support of family and loved ones is essential for the prevention and improvement of these disorders. How do we react when a family member or loved one has symptoms of depression?
“Given the symptoms of depression many friends and family respond without thinking, like a spring, offering useless advice that can be counterproductive.”
A common reaction is to try to encourage and give intuitive advice like those in the self-help manuals. Most of them are commonplace and useless trivialities that manifest spontaneously. It is curious to observe how before a hint of this in many cases relatives and friends respond almost immediately, like a spring, with phrases like “cheer up” or “make an effort to see the positive things” without having spent a single second to think about what they will say, without ask, inquire nor listen to the person who is suffering. To manifest so cheerfully that a solution to such a difficult problem is available could be counterproductive, since it can even blame the victim of his suffering. When facing problems optimism it is good, but the ‘positivism’ of the wishful thinking (“everything is gonna be alright”), so fashionable, can become especially cruel if that aim to convince the person who is suffering that “everything is great”, and we blame her for her “negative attitude” towards life. No, it is not true that “everything is great”. Trying to convince the person who is suffering that he has no problem is naive, stupid or cruel.
Support is not easy
People who need support often expresses their emotions and needs in one way or another. The fact that it is not done in the most appropriate way can be related precisely to the fact that there is a problem. For example, anger is a way to manifest problems. Interestingly, anger and sadness emotions appear to be inconsistent, so we might speculate about the appearance of shoots of anger as a possible transitory relief mechanism for people suffering from depression. It is impossible to be angry and sad at the same time. During a fit of fury, the depression disappears.
In any case, hostility, irritability and violent outbursts are frequent in depressive processes. Of course, we can consider it unfair that someone behaves indiscriminately in an angry way with us. It is. It is unfair. But this should not prevent us from detecting that someone requires our support, and does not justify not lending it. To eventually receive cries or insults from a family member or loved one is not really a big problem. Mental diseases are.
If you know or suspect that your partner is going through a depression, and your partner yells and blames you for nonsense, instead of being offended and upset, you might think that right then your partner is momentarily relieving their depression. Instead of getting angry with your partner for his behavior, and creating a spiral of anger, you could rejoice internally and let the event pass and forget.
“To receive eventually grits or insults from a family member or loved one is not really a big problem. Mental diseases are.”
I’m not saying that it is easy. If we receive a bad response, an aggressive reaction and even unjustifiably violence will be not easy to ignore this situation to concentrate on the possible causes, try to understand and support. But let’s not forget that “is not easy” is also applicable to the person with a mental pathology (or in its initiation) and surely for them, the challenge is even more difficult.
Sarah’s experience
Depression is one of the topics that Sarah, data scientist, deals with in her blog. In this Article shows some misunderstandings and nonsense that exist in relation ng to this disorder.
You are suffering. You try as much as you can hide from others, fulfill all your responsibilities and be a “good girl “. But you are suffering and finally you overflow. At some point you touch bottom and express your emotional pain through an act of self-destruction that is impossible to hide. At that time people will be horrified t u around and you intern in a clinic where you will rest, you will recover and be healed by wise and understanding doctors and therapists.
But that’s not how it works.
Sarah emphasizes that good mental health care is not only difficult to obtain, but unfortunately mental health professionals are not magicians and there is no guarantee that therapy or medication will solve the problem. And yet there is a good chance that they produce social discrimination and stigma of mental illness, damaging professional, academic or family plans of development.
“The social stigma of mental illness does nothing but hinder its healing and prevention.”
There are so many stigmas associated with depression that many people prefer to hide it as much as possible. Since the rates of depression indicate that women are more likely than men, some consider that perhaps this is because they recognize less about discrimination pued behave, preferring to try to escape the pain by eating of alcoholic beverages, drugs or working excessively. Although it is not recommended, it is true that alcohol -socially acceptable- diminishes anxiety in an ephemeral way, so their abuse It could mask a depression. However, although men have historically had a alcohol consumption much higher than those of women, s recent study balance the balance of alcoholism between the sexes.
In any case, we can not ignore the social perception can cause recognize a mental problem becomes a path of no return, producing as a defense mechanism concealment of symptoms, which are left unattended everything until the problem is unsustainable and impossible to hide. To complicate things further, Sarah denounces that the mantra – undoubtedly defensible – What is being taught to young people today : “If someone has mental problems, you should get professional help“ has become a: “If you see someone with problems, do not try to help, tell them to seek professional help.” In his experience in college, “In college, I had a barrage of orientation sessions where we were told that if a classmate or friend was struggling with an emotional or psychological problem, that we should not attempt to handle the situation on our own, but should refer them to the school’s mental health facilities. Think, for a moment, about how wrong this is. They are teaching kids not to be kind to sad friends, but to report them to the authorities instead.“
Although frequently mental issues like depression have a great ability to both prevent and improve, if the pre dominant social paradigm in the perception of disability from mental illness, among other errors, assumes it’s irreversibility (false!) or justify the omission of emotional support protected by the “you must seek professional support” (which itself must be sought, but not the only) or “yesterday you screamed to me and I not deserve it “, this will greatly impede its prevention and recovery. In the case of disorders affecting n nothing less than one of every four people throughout his life, it seems more than justified endeavor, all trying to understand and learn how to properly handle these situations. This will result in the benefit and well-being of many people.In all likelihood, to some of them, our most beloved ones.
Tests
There are tests available online (1, 2, 3) based on detecting various symptoms of depression that although they do not have a formal diagnostic value, they do allow a first orientation about whether what one is experiencing is simply sadness or something more serious , and above all, alert if there are signs of needing immediate professional attention.
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