Throw Away The Word Depression To Be Passionate About Career .
Life is not a bed of roses. We often go through the ups and downs of life and often give up to life situations. Bad mental health is still considered a taboo in our society. But personally going through a tough phase I can equally understand how others are suffering. I have no shame in saying that I was suffering from depression. With immense love of family and friends and with the help of yoga, I was able to fight it. I would like to make everyone aware of the difference between sadness and depression. I was diagnosed with Celiac disease (wheat allergy) and I took a one year break from studies and was still passionate about my career. I was about to almost give up but my family always supported and I got up again to fight the battle.
We often use this word “depressed" in our daily lives. Generally, sadness is a MOOD which is not persistent for a longer period, but depression which also known as clinical depression is a very common but a serious mental disorder, something different from general sadness which hinders your day to day routine. It is usually the impairment in personal, professional and social life.
There are numerous disorders and they are complex indeed to understand. To simplify the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and Indian Classification of Mental Disorders (ICD-10) divided the disorders into various categories each with respective and different coding’s. Psychiatrists and Psychologists usually take help of these manual’s to make an appropriate diagnosis.
Types Of Depression (according to the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM -5) by American Psychiatric Association (APA)):
Major depression disorder
Persistent depressive disorder (Dysthymia)
Premenstrual dysphoric disorder
Substance/medication-induced
Depressive disorder due to other medical condition
Symptoms:
People who are depressed are persistently sad and are unable to do their daily tasks. They often feel fatigued, start getting bored with the things they use to love, insomnia or hypersomnia (need for more sleep than required), overthinking, feeling guilty or hopeless, irritability, excessive crying, changes in appetite, feeling of worthless, social isolation, aggressive behaviour, brooding (overthinking) and the most important, the thoughts of suicide. It may seem like it is same as depression but it is not.
If these symptoms persist for 6 months, then one must move forward to seek professional health.
Causes For Depression:
There can be numerous causes for depression but if a proper diagnosis is done one can recover easily from depression. Few are of them are:
Biological Or Genetic Causes (Nurture): Sometimes people experience depression due to genetically predisposed factors.
Role Of Neurotransmitters: Due to the imbalances of neurotransmitters of serotonin and dopamine in the cortex of the brain, depression is likely to occur.
Role Of Neurohormonal Anatomy: Wide research on depression has proved that Imbalance of Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenocortical (HPA) in the brain can link to depression.
Role Of Environment (Nature): How a child is raised by his or her parents and a type of family (Nuclear Or Joint) Determines How A Child Is Going To Behave In Future. To add, due to extreme pollution and pollution-related diseases like asthma and other types of pollutions can lead to depression and other disorders like anxiety.
Role Of Culture: also matters as in what type of the culture we live will also determine the likelihood of the depression.
Socio-Economic Factor: The current status of the family and the social network of the person like the quality of friends highly affect the likelihood of the depression. Other various factors also like lifestyle, substance abuses etc. also contribute to depression.
Depression Linked With Diseases: Depression can worsen the condition of pregnant women. Her depression will eventually affect the growth of the foetus. Depression can worsen the condition of cancer, an asthmatic patient and can lead to obesity or diabetes.
Cure for depression:
Personally going through this phase, I discovered things which one should
1) Let Go:
Past or grudges should be like sand. It shouldn't be held in hand. So, let it go.
2) Self-love and Care:
Pamper yourself as if you are a kid. Wake up and say to yourself that you are important. You are worth.
3) Have a target for each day:
Wake up and have a goal for each day. And try all the possible ways to accomplish that goal. This way you will feel accomplished and you will feel a strange type of happiness
4) Yoga and Meditation:
Listen and preach whatever your spiritual guru says.
Practising certain yogic practices will help you to calm your mind and make your distance from negativity.
5) Start doing what you love:
Pursuing your hobbies like painting, music, dancing, etc. won't just help you to feel joyful but also help you to make and meet new friends.
Making new friends will help you create a social network and help you to recover from depression.
Music therapy is a great help in the relaxing mood and lets the unconscious feelings out.
6) Support and Love:
Support and love from family and friends will help you to recover fast. Understanding the need for love and attention, the families love and immense love can make wonders to that person’s life!
7) Follow a Healthy Lifestyle:
Eating a healthy diet and sleeping for 7-8 hours can help you to reduce the intensity of depression. Junk food is somewhere linked to depression.
8) Maintain a Journal:
Maintain a diary or a journal and write about how you feel and even the dream that you saw.
9) Don’t Label:
We, as a part of society, tend to judge or label an individual. So we shouldn’t judge a person on his or her on the basis’s of his mental health instead we should motivate him and encourages him.
10) Catharsis:
One should not control his or her emotions. If the individual wants to cry, let him. Or catharsis can be done via communication means talking to a friend or to a psychologist or we can write it down what we feel.
11) Appreciate Yourself:
Encourage and appreciate yourself for the little achievements you earn because self-motivation is the best gift you can give it yourself. Be proud of yourself.
12) Seek Help
Last but not least, there is no harm in seeking professional like a psychiatrist can prescribe you the medication which balance the release of neurotransmitters and psychologist can help you by doing some therapies so relax.
Depression is not a taboo, it is a disease, and it can be cured. There is a myth that people who seek help from a psychologist or a psychiatrist won’t label you as a “MAD” individual. We should help each other and prevent incidents like suicide.
ABOUT ME : A 22-year-old graduate student, whose passion is to become a clinicalpsychologist., diagnosed with celiac disease, I was disheartened and I gave up on everyone. People did criticize me but my passion, the fire of becoming a clinical psychologist will continue what come may. Writing, painting and reading are my favourite hobbies. I am currently based in Ludhiana. I always try to see the brighter side of every hard situation. A positive girl with a positive attitude who also loves fashion.
SAUMYA CHAWLA