“Depression is like a s*cking parasite which sucks vitality, happiness.joy, soundness of mind body and soul through its evil tendencies and may even sucks life also if not brought under control.”
My first encounter with this word was few years back when I heard it from a 5 year old child(my paternal uncle’s boy) that “Iam depressed because my homework is not finished and madam will beat me”! I was shocked to hear this sentence and seriousness of this sentence compelled me to think about the common usage of this term by everyone…. today, regardless of age!
What exactly the term depression means?
“Depression is a condition associated with sudden loss of interest in life combined with feeling of worthlessness. Normally joy, grief, sorrow are parts of every day life and small period of depression in response to our everyday problems is considered as normal while long periods of sadness and depression is abnormal and considered as clinical depression.”
HOW TO DEAL WITH DEPRESSION:
There is no magic wand available for any kind of Mental –disease or Behavirol /Attitudinal disorders. But you can follow these steps -
first perquisite for mental soundness is healthy thinking and positive attitude in life.So develop positive attitude towards life and changed your negative lifestyle as well as thoughts.Just as our body needs healthy food for it’s working our mind also needs healthy food for mental wellbeing and alertness . Dump unwanted, unhygienic thoughts from your mind.
Follow the maxim Don’t worry, Be happy .
3.Keep watch on your dietary habits and weight control. Eat healthy food to keep yourself active and fit. Exercise and proper nutrition should be looked at, not as a quick fix or an instant cure, but as an endevour to make our tomorrow a little better .Just a little more control over our emotions and our life situation……by ourselves .
4.Prepare monthly report for your depressive tendencies(mood swings or any other behavirol disorder) that are less in severity like depression due to day to day affairs/problems and watch their magnitude and duration .And if the problem persists after some time there is no harm in consulting a doctor .
• Don’t leads life of monotony and boredom .Take some time from your busy schedule to go on a vacation or engaged in recreational activities. Remember all work and no play makes jack a dull boy!
• In leisure time do things or hobby that gives you inner satisfaction because inner health is vital for physical health.You can engaged yourself into many hobbies like-music, gardening, reading and sleeping! When I am very depressed or stressed I just listen to my fav. MUSIC CD’s.
• There are some good meditation exercises, yoga asans(postures), relaxation exercises to soothe mind, body and soul.For this you can join some gym or purchase some good book on yoga .
Simple evening walking also acts like a stress buster.
• Others therapatic tools available are relaxation massage, aromatheraphy Depression worn out inner desire to live so it’s better if you share your problems with someone close to you as it has been found in many cases that person developed acute depression slowly and unknowingly. Emotinal catharasis is a good option.
• Don’t shy to consult doctor about your psychological or personal problem. These biases can prove harmful to your healthy life.
• Depression is related to age factor also .So ageing persons are required to keep watch on their mood swings and physical health.
• Depressive persons should take proper medication at initial stages.
• It’s my personal experience that having pets at home makes your life more joyful as it cut down your aloneness.
What else? Be realistic.
A CHANGE IN MIND SET, A CHANGE IN LIFE STYLE.
• Think life as a precious gift from god not as a burden. Don’t compromise with your health. Always remember “Sound mind acts in a sound body”.
Before we start:
It’s essential that you design any program of recovery to best reflects your personal situation and needs .
Finding cure for one’s depression becomes a matter of individual preferences in choice of method. Eventually you began to realize, at that point in time, your life problems were indeed, unsolvable. At that point you should decide to begin working on depression, instead of trying to solve life problems, over which you had absolutely no control.
That’s true that “With each failure we become more discouraged and more depressed. We eventually lose the placebo effect(positive expectation that what we are doing will eventually work)”.
Methods of treatment:
• Antidepressants
• Psycotherapy: Two common modes of treatment under this are
Interpersonal therapy: It identifies and modifies stresses in patient’s interpersonal life that increase or decrease depressive tendencies.
Cognitive Behavirol Therapy: It concentrates on irrational beliefs and attitudes that perpetuate depression.
Electroshock Therapy: It is applied to patients with acute depression that has not responded to medication . It consists of inducing a medically controlled seizure by passing an electric current through electrodes placed on both temples while patient is under ansethsia
Some suggested readings:
Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach
Undoing depression:What therapy doesn’t teach you and medication doesn’t give you by Richardo’conner
The bell jar by Sylvia plath.(it’s my fav.)
That’s all folks! Pl. Don’t forget to drop your comments!