The closet devil:Depression
“I wanted to write down how I felt but somehow the paper stayed empty!Nothing could have explained it any better”
I read this somewhere, and all I could do was feel mesmerized by how a few words can convey an entire emotion.
Depression is a state of mind when everything seems to have stopped being of any value to you, and all we could do is feel tired, and a kind of tiredness which even sleep can’t fix. It’s not as dramatic as a physical illness maybe, but the effort we have to put in to conceal it ,to put up a facade that nothing is wrong, to potray you are strong, it is beyond anything else which someone who has not gone through it will ever understand. That amount of efforts we give in eats up on all our positive energy and that’s what mostly makes us so tired the entire day every day.
So today I would love to help my fellow peers and you lovely people, to understand what are the reasons ,you go through what you go through! Maybe knowing that the reasons can be clinical, can ease away a bit of the social anxiety of not being accepted or worse, being labelled as weak!
So to start with, i would like to shed some light to the fact that what we know about depression ,are the findings consistent with the patients of depression and we are still not confirmed if they are causes or result of the disorders.
Also ,depression is diagnosed as persistent low mood ,loss of interest,sadness even in usual activities for prolonged periods .
Findings in patients:
>Our brain is made up of various lobes,two of them are the frontal lobe and limbic lobe. In many patients of depression,the frontal lobe activity decreases while limbic lob activity increases. Frontal lobe is associated with the voluntary movements,language ,executive functions while limbic lobe is associated with emotional control.Therefore the movements of the person becomes sluggish,tends to stay less interested in most things most days and the emotional responses especially to stress are elevated.
>There is a raised concentration of certain chemicals(hormones) in our blood stream ,like cortisols ,which are major stress hormones. This hormones are released from hypothalamus ,which is also an area in the brain that communicates, via nerves,with both frontal and limbic lobe (among many other areas). So an abnormality in this communication is often associated with major depressive disorders.
>Now the third possiblity is also the basis of the drug therapy of depression. Two neurons communicate with each other via certain chemicals known as neurotransmitters.So there are excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters.A decreased level of excitatory neuro transmitters or increased metabolism of this excitatory neurotransmitters,are a consistent finding in clinical depression. These neurotransmitters are mainly Serotonin,Dopamine and Norepinephrine.
Now to be clear,depression actually is a result of combination of biological and psychosocial causes. By this I mean events which are psychologically disturbing ,like death of a very close person in a young age,physical or mental abuse at a young age,sexual abuse and many more such causes can also lead to clinical depression,they may act as the trigger to roll down the slippery slope of depression.
Treatment(drug therapy)
•5HT(Serotonin) reuptake inhibitors– The neurotransmitters are usually taken up back into the neuron releasing it, once it’s purpose is served.So we can increase its concentration by preventing the reuptake of the Serotonin.Drugs working on this principle are- Citalopram,Escitalopram,Venlafexine,Desvenlafexine
•MAOIs(Mono Amine Oxidase Inhibitors) -MAO is the enzyme responsible for metabolism or breakdown of the neurotransmitters mentioned.So inhibiting it helps raise their levels
E.g.-Isocarboxazid ,Phenelzine.
•Another group of drug are TCAs(Tri cyclic Antidepressants) which act in similar fashion as 5HT reuptake inhibitors,but these are not really used now due to their side effects such as Amnesia,Dry mouth,Sedation ,etc.
Having said all these,now the question is how to understand if you are suffering from clinical depression,right? So for that we follow DSM5 guidelines which provide the standards for establishing clinical depression.
Statistics
•Around 264million people are affected by depression
•10-15% of general population experience clinical depression at least once in their lifetime
•It is the leading cause of disability globally
•Close to 800,000 people commit suicides globally
I am attaching these stats here just to make a point that how much real depression is and is not just a myth of the weak minded. The only way we can fight this Closet devil is by acknowledging this as a serious problem as a society.This will give courage to those suffering from it to seek out for help at the earliest. I just can’t stress enough on how important mental health counseling is for a person fighting this tiresome battle against depression
P.s.-Always consult a psychologist before taking any meds.
Just remember one thing,you can make all the fun you want out of this disease,but it will stay funny only as long as it doesn’t knock on your or some loved one’s doorsteps!
Posted byRishavkarPosted inUncategorized
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