DEPRESSION

Bill suffered from chronic depression. He found himself tired, exhausted and unable to function normally a lot of the time. It was a major task to go to work. A smothering heaviness and sadness was the best way to describe his emotional state. His wife and kids did not know how to react to him, nor did his fellow workers. Bill too was puzzled and frightened at what he saw in himself. He was unable to explain his moods. He felt guilty for acting so negatively for what seemed to be no apparent reason. Yet, he could not change his feelings. The pervasive depression continued.

Bill exemplifies what medical science is now discovering about clinical depression. This type of feeling is not a case of the everyday “blahs” which we all feel at one time or another, but are able to surmount in time. True clinical depression is like a paralysis, a full-scale tumble into a huge void. Some people are completely immobilized by depression. Others, with less severe symptoms, manage to carry out their daily work and obligations, but only as they carry the burden of heaviness with them. Clinical depression can last for months at a time, and over a period of many years.

Research indicates that clinical depression is a factor in about 60% of all suicides. It afflicts about 30 to 40 million Americans. Twice as many women as men experience it. At any given time, about 6% of the population is suffering from it. In the field of mental health depression is so common that it is sometimes called the “common cold” of mental illness. Most disturbing about recent research are indications that the incidence of depression is increasing, and becoming more prevalent among teens and young adults.

For many years people thought that depression was simply due to psychological factors—sadness over job loss, family problems, etc. However, medical science is finding that the causes are more complex.

Today clinical depression is looked upon as an illness similar to ulcers or high blood pressure. It is due not just to psychological factors, but also to genetic factors. Persons who suffer from clinical depression probably carry an inherited susceptibility to the disease. The disease itself can be triggered by external happenings in the person’s home, work or personal environment, or by changes in body chemistry.

Today medical science is finding new ways to help persons who suffer from clinical depression. They know that a person exhibits changes in brain chemistry and activity during a bout with depression. They are finding medications (anti-depressant drugs) which help restore the brain to normal activity.

When medication is carefully monitored and treatment includes counseling, very positive results are being reported. Persons once paralyzed by clinical depression are able to function and move ahead with their lives.

Clinical depression may be a problem affecting you or someone in your family.   If so, see if the following are evident:

Fatigue, lack of energy and weakness

Insomnia, difficulty getting up in the morning

Irritability and restlessness

Feelings of guilt and low self-esteem

Loss of interest in activities and pleasures once enjoyed—e.g., sex, social life, etc.

Problems concentrating

Thoughts of death or suicide

Eating disorders—e.g., loss of appetite and weight—or—overeating and weight gain

Physical ailments which fail to respond to normal treatment 

Experts recognize that the depressed person typically does not have all these symptoms. However, if three or four are present they feel the individual may need professional help.