Depression is a recognized illness, just as much as pneumonia or cancer.The main difference is that it can be much more subtle in it`s effects so many people will not recognize it in you and may unfairly criticize you without knowing that it is the illness that is responsible for your moods and behaviour.
It is more properly referred to as Clinical Depression and an awful lot of people are said to be suffering from it at any one time - about 5% of the population or 1 in 20! The figures increase for the chances of suffering from it at some time in your life - 1 in 5 of us do and it is the one of the most common psychiatric illnesses but thankfully it is also one of the most treatable as well!
The first stage in coping with this illness is to realize that you, or one of your family or friends may be suffering from it. If that is the case then they need to be refered, at first to their own doctor.They may be reluctant or worried about seeing their family doctor so may need help and encouragement to go, possibly by being accompanied by someone close as a support.
How do you recognise the signs?
I was diagnosed with severe clinical depression complicated by post-traumatic stress syndrome in Nov. 1999. If I use my own life as a case-study I can explain the signs much more easily.
A year previously, in Oct 1998, my car was wrecked by a breakdown truck that drove onto the main road that I was driving along without stopping.I ended up like the filling in a sandwich, surrounded by twisted metal and broken glass.When the police and ambulance people extricated me from the wreckage, miraculously apart from a few broken bones and lots of cuts and bruises, I was relatively unscarred.Unknown to me at that time my long term injuries would be mental and not physical.
After about five weeks I went back to my job as a science teacher in a large senior school.It took me some time to settle back into the routine again but I got down to work eventually.As the weeks and months went on I began to suffer the signs of depression, although I didn`t recognise them of course.The effects of depression can be very insidious, permeating slowly into all aspects of your life.
I began to feel very low for the majority of the time.Nothing I seemed to do would pick my mood up.I became indecisive, being unable or unwilling to make decisions.My concentration gradually deteriorated.
As my work suffered, I became devoid of energy. Lethargy sapped each little bit of it from my system. I went through each day in a daze of constant exhaustion. I couldn`t sleep beyond about 3a.m. I would lie there in bed, restless in a pool of perspiration.Thoughts of where I had gone wrong in my life would swirl around my brain.Other thoughts about my job.the future, money, relationships would plague my agitated mind.
Eventually, long before it got light I would get up, full of dread for the coming day, wishing that I could start again somewhere completely different in a new body and personality.My confidence had evaporated completely and I felt totally useless.I just wanted to hide away from people.At school, between classes I used to hide away in the toilets!I avoided contact with my colleagues.In meetings I sat silent as a stone, unable to speak.At lunch-times I would leave the school, travel into town and just walk around, anonymous.
Food became so difficult to consume.Weight dropped off me and I had to tighten my belt!Occasionally I would binge on two or three chocolate bars, something I`d not done since a kid.I would rush into the shop to buy, feeling very uneasy in the company of crowds.Any delays and I would rush back out into the open air.Claustrophobia of confined spaces with others present had set in.
Eventually my wife took me to the family doctor on the pretext of accompanying her visit.There our doctor spotted the signs of depression within minutes.This was the start of my gradual recovery.
Months of one-to-one therapy with a community psychiatric nurse, away from the stresses of work which I had to give up.Sessions with the psychiatrist as well prepared me for group sessions with others who had similar problems.These therapy sessions would help to relax us, teach us how to avoid stress and to begin to think positively.Of course the ever present support of my wife was invaluable as well as the medication(which is non-addictive - fluoxetine or prozac).
I am now quite well re-adjusted to society, although I have been advised not to return to teaching.I have found great relief and enjoyment in writing which I had never done before.Thank you to MouthShut for allowing me to express myself this way.It has done me so much good.I have also found a lot of comfort and enjoyment in music - I listened to very little before my illness.
It is very important if you suffer from any of these symptoms that you seek help.If you know of others who you suspect have depression then try to get them to seek help.Don`t allow them to suffer .It is possible that suicidal thoughts can enter the mind of the depressive.They may harm themselves or even worse, God forbid!
Reassure anyone afflicted by this illness can be beaten and that there is light at the end of the tunnel no matter that it may take a long time to get there.
I hope that this may help some of you out there and if it does, please let me know for feedback and encouragement are an important part of the recovery process.