Underestimated Illness: Depression

Aug 23, 2018

Depression is still something many people don't take seriously. Some have been educated or know a bit about it but most, who have never taken the time to get a deeper understanding for this long lasting mental illness, laugh or even jeer at those suffering from it. It's time that we educate ourselves about the problems a severe depression can cause and learn to better understand this often underestimated and oppressed chronic sadness.

Without going deeper into a psychological analysis and listing all possible variants, here's a rough summary: Not every depression is the same and not all of them last for the rest of your life. There are so many different forms of depression which depend on the individual suffering from it.

There is the so-called "mild depression". This is something most people will experience at least once in their lives. It is caused by tragic losses, failures and hard times (deaths, stress at work, heartbreak, etc.). It usually gets better with time and the psyche stabilizes again. During a mild depression, going about your daily life is still possible.

And then there's the "moderate and the severe depression", which can be far more extreme. People suffering from one of these may be unable or nearly unable to go about their daily life. Chronic and recurring symptoms like long lasting sadness, lack of motivation, disinterest, no or ravenous hunger, a growing sense of isolation, growing worries about your own skills or abilities, being unable to feel positive emotions, strong and constant tiredness and thoughts about death are only some of them. Everybody feels differently. Most feel almost worthless, their self-confidence erodes more and more and they feel guilt about everything they do.

A bleak outlook that ignores positive experiences, no way to get better in sight, why invest energy in anything at all? After all, nothing matters anyway...

Depressions are caused by many different reasons, often times reaching back to childhood. Neglect, abuse (physical or mental), expectations you can't meet, feelings of guilt, insults or bullying are some of these potential causes of a depression. Even if the experience was a long time in the past... the soul never forgets.
If a parent or grandparent is depressed, the chances for the child to become depresses get higher. Many people do not know this, but depression is inheritable!

A more in-depth analysis, done by a therapist for example, may be able to find out the root of the illness. After this has happened, an individual therapy which may be accompanied by medication can mitigate the symptoms and cure the depression completely or at least for the most part. Some therapies take weeks, others months or even years. It all depends on the severity of the depression.

And then there are those people who don't take all this "psycho stuff" seriously or even laugh at it. These people say stuff like "Don't be a wuss, everybody is sad sometimes" or "Just sleep in a bit, smile a bit more and think about how good you have it, others have it far worse".

Such sentences are poison for the soul and make everything worse.
You don't have to be an expert on depression, but telling a depressed person those things and "needling" them is not a good solution. It would be best, if you have no idea what it's like, to just say nothing. Even if it's meant well; if you've never been in this situation, you should keep your "good advice" for yourself.
After all, you shouldn't tell a person who has the flu: "Stop coughing, that's not helping you get better!"

Do you know somebody who's fighting depression? Offer them your support. Also share this article with your friends so they know that depression is a serious illness!

Our content is created to the best of our knowledge, yet it is of general nature and cannot in any way substitute an individual consultation by your doctor. Your health is important to us!