It
is currently 2:00 am and you cannot help but toss, turn, and tangle yourself in
the sheets as the clock ticks, as hours pass. You finally find the strength to
get out of bed but today is a bad day. You are overwhelmed with a sense of
fatigue and agitation, and the day has only just begun. Why do you feel this
way? What is consuming your energy and feeding off your mood? You are sixteen
years old, how can anything control your life other than your parents at this
age? These feelings of agitation and irritability, waking up early and not
being able to sleep through the night are all common symptoms of MDD, major
depressive disorder. Depression can target anyone but thrives in the adolescent
phase due to the many changes and stress that a child undergoes at this point
in their life (Young, 1). Everyone has “woken up on the wrong side of the bed”
before or “poured sour milk in their cereal” but imagine having one of those
bad days, every day, for unknown reasons. The epidemic of depression is
spreading like wildfire as the stresses of needing to feel accepted, peer
pressure, and social media warp teens into believing they are outlandish. Major
depressive disorder cannot be prevented, but statistics suggest that with so
many people seeking treatment, the epidemic of depression will continue to
decline in the US. Will you be the next victim?
History:
Depression is rooted in the term melancholia,
which can be traced back to Ancient Greece. Melancholia is coined from the word
“melancholy” which is a deep sadness or gloomy feeling. This disorder is
displayed on many Greek works of art that can be traced back as early as 400 BC
on a vase “that depicts a downtrodden and gloomy Orestes taking part in a
purification ceremony to get rid of the Furies — injustice-avenging spirits —
that hounded him after killing his mother. In Orestes, Euripides depicts
the tragedy’s protagonist as exhibiting many of the telltale symptoms of
depression: loss of appetite, excess sleeping, and lack of motivation to even
bathe, constant weeping, chronic exhaustion, and a sense of helplessness.”
(McKay, 1), all indications of depression that are relevant today.
Understanding the epidemic of depression is important to all because it can
affect your family, friends, and even yourself and is a sensitive issue to
endure alone. The manual of age and grace, the oldest book dated before time
began also holds characters that carried depression. In ancient historical
texts, King David shouts to the heavens “Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am in
distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief. My
life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because
of my affliction, and my bones grow weak (Ps. 31:9-10)” (Blazer, 1). The second
king of Israel and Judah are describing his inexpressible constant mood and
sensitivity of his feelings of dolefulness. Ancient Greeks and Romans
experienced melancholia and believed it was rooted in demonic possession, as
noted in historical texts written by philosophers, priests, and healers.
Priests were called into homes to perform “exorcism techniques such as
beatings, restraint, and starvation, designed to drive demons out of the
afflicted person’s body as treatment.”(RASHMI NEMADE, 1). As
time evolved, the public realized that melancholia was not just a mental
illness but a physical illness as well, and needed to reevaluate the treatment
phases. “Gymnastics, massage, special diets, music, and baths, as well as a
concoction of poppy extract and donkey's milk were used to alleviate depressive
symptoms” (Saisan, 1)after realizing the illness was not rooted in spirits and
demons. A Greek physician by the name of Hippocrates researched further into
the case and came up with three different classifications of depression,
believing cognitive infirmity was due to an imbalance of bodily fluids. The
three classification types were mania, melancholia (depression), and phrenitis
(brain fever). As years passed, many ideologies were formed regarding
depression. During the period of Enlightenment, many opinions many
opinions were rooted in religious bias despite the educational
documents/publications written about the sickness (RASHMI
NEMADE).
Social
Effects:
Our society connects the
idea of perfection and happiness being as one in the same, which places
emphasis on the individual’s ability to balance pressure and their emotions.
They paint a picture of a suitable life to those who view them on the outside;
looking in. Depression is common in schools around many high-populated
cities due to the imbalance of emotions and pressure. Melancholia is constantly
found in high schools as the weight of perfection is placed on their shoulders
when discussing class rank, GPA, and social time. This is usually where the
problem stems from; creating an overwhelming feeling to perform for a culture
who appears unaccepting yet in reality is just neutral and similar to you. Like
many disorders, depression alters one’s social life and competence to engage in
friendships. Depression is affiliated with constant mood swings and
irritability. It can also be the cause for a person’s inability to find
pleasure in activities, all which do not correlate with the ideal
friendship checklist requirements. It is widely observed that teens who do not
surround themselves with a core group of friends tend to be classified as
“socially awkward”. This name-calling act often seeps into gossip central where
the child becomes overwhelmed and repulsive. MMD also influences one's
educational performance, family interaction, and rewires the cerebrum to allow
an intellectual block to occur that most often of times can result in substance
abuse or other extremes. On a more personal level, the neighborhood, people’s
hide away safe place, peace chambers, homes, are compromised due to a
domino effect of this dramatized helpless side effect attitude. This illness
has become urbanized in neighborhoods due to uncivilized remarks as children
play together in cul-de-sacs and are easily influenced by the approval of
others and values of materialistic items and trinkets. What is one thing that
unites people from all walks of life and generations? The one thing that can
revive anyone's mood and express the emotional state of being they are coiled
in? Music. Music is therapeutic for many and assists those in all stages of
depression. Studies are begging to show the upward slope of the popularity and
effectiveness of music therapy. From playing and physically finding peace in
the production of sounds to listening to the intricate beats synchronizing,
even comprehending the consciously intentional words that reflect positivity or
the same spirits you are undergoing create an atmosphere of a solace
surrounding environment and future (Maratos, 1).
Examples:
Depression has many faces and is very
prevalent, which sanctions many support groups to be organized to tend to the
genres.
Depression
is very common in the workplace for the workplace is a venue linked to stress
and deadlines as well as money, the root of many problems today in America.
Whether it is how much more money someone has than you, to how well one can
manage their money, to not having a high enough salary to pay for basic needs
for a family, money, greediness, and stress are often used in the same
sentence. The workplace is where an income is rooted, and depression tends to
sprout from the source. Someone with depression will show a decline in their
ability to accomplish tasks efficiently and correctly around their coworkers.
It is hard enough getting out of bed in the morning for people with no
motivation, so getting out of bed to attend staff meetings that criticize the
work the ill individual has already done and pile on the work they have yet to
get, is difficult. This also correlates to a younger crowd when discussing the
issue of schooling for a child who suffers from depression. School days will be
missed for “mental health days”, grades will plummet or struggle to be
maintained due to lack of interest, and even the language they use will demonstrate
their distressed state of mental health (Bolyn, 1).
Solutions:
Depression is an illness with many
workable solutions that can be uniquely tailored to the individual’s needs.
There is no need to categorize depression for there are infinite causes of the
disorder, requiring an equal number of solutions. After properly researching a
specific depression and becoming properly educated on what it truly means, the
symptoms, and what may have sparked this disease, the effected individual will
be faced with many treatment options including therapy. Therapy is divided into
subgroups such as cognitive behavioral therapy, interpersonal therapy, and
psychodynamic therapy (Saisan, 1). These subgroups can be combined in order to
best adhere to the patient’s needs or they can be addresses separately. Therapy
is the most common type of treatment because the individual receives
advice from a physician who specializes in helping individuals understand the
illness and overcome the daily obstacles, while also receiving social time that
allows them to express their emotions in a safe place. Some
people fear the one-on-one intimacy that results of that specific type of
therapy treatment and prefer group therapy. There are many pros and cons to
both types of therapy. Group therapy allows the individual to actively listen
to people like them and socially interact with a diverse set of people, as
opposed to being invested in one counselor (Saisan 1). Therapists can also
prescribe a necessary prescription pill called an antidepressant that will help
with the symptoms and daily struggles of the disease. A family physician went
into moderate detail when addressing antidepressants by stating that “Depression
medication may be the most advertised treatment for depression, but that doesn’t
mean it is the most effective. Depression is not just about a chemical
imbalance in the brain. Medication may help relieve some of the symptoms of
moderate and severe depression, but it doesn’t cure the underlying problem, and
it’s usually not a long-term solution” (Saisan 1). Antidepressants
are a slippery slope as it can be a highly addictive. Another way to cope with
depression is to change the lifestyle of common day-to-day habits; one may not
necessarily need drugs or an accredited therapist to get well. A person with
depression can exercise more, change his or her nutrition habits, and in total,
attempt go to bed earlier to maximize sleep. “Not only does exercise boost
serotonin, endorphins, and other feel-good brain chemicals, it triggers the growth
of new brain cells and connections, just like antidepressants do” (Saisan
1). Better eating habits can make any person feel balanced, accomplished, and
skyrocket their
mental and physical health as well.
Sleep
is a necessity to all but is roughly observed by a few. Continual, regular
bedtime habits will relax and soothe. Sleep deprivation affects an individual’s
attitude and mood and when depressed, only develops more severe symptoms of
irritability and decreases their sanity levels (Saisan 1). Some
depression cases have a solution as simple as those just enumerated do. Others
may find therapy the best option for treating depression, but it may take time
to find the therapist that best fits their needs.
Absurdity:
Albert
Camus is a man who believed in nothing. His philosophy was that there was no
meaning in life, and to be able to survive, a person had to learn how to exist
without a purpose. The illness of depression is absurd in itself. In relation
to Camus, depression is the result of people realizing they have no purpose,
and not accepting it. Those affected by the mind disease are so engulfed in
trying to find a non-existent purpose for their life, that they wreck
themselves and drive themselves crazy and into a state of depression. Albert
Camus was fascinated with the action of suicide. He viewed suicide as a way out
for those who confessed that life is not worth living. In extreme cases of
depression, suicide can be a solution. Many view suicide as selfish, for the
person taking his/her life is only thinking of removing himself from the
hardship, not thinking about how their actions will affect friends and family.
Albert Camus thought the exact opposite; he had a mindset of the diseased
taking the best way out. Depression is directly related to the absurdity that
Camus religiously believed.
Conclusion:
Depression is a unique mental
illness that is tricky to fight for each case is particular to its host.
Depression has many faces, causes, and symptoms that can make
it hard to even get out of bed in the morning because of the overwhelming sense
of hopelessness and aggravation. Peer pressure, stress, and
social media can arouse the head game, with illness being the most common
cause. The Disease has traveled all across the globe, a universal sickness that
originated from the Greeks. To our advantage, modern day discoveries have
proposed solutions to depression such as multiple types of therapy, medication,
and simple lifestyle suggestions to help reduce the symptoms and constant
battle of depression. Depression is very real and considered a “closet”
illness. People in your schools, place of work, and on the streets could be
suffering from this disease and you may not be aware of the severity of it.
Works Cited
Blazer, Dan G. “The Depression Epidemic.” ChristianityToday.com,
www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/march/15.22.html.
Bolyn, Michelle. “Examples of Depression.” LIVESTRONG.COM,
Leaf Group, 14 Aug. 2017,
www.livestrong.com/article/102797-examples-depression/.
Maratos, Anna, et al. “Music Therapy for Depression: It Seems to
Work, but How? | The British Journal of Psychiatry.” Cambridge Core,
Cambridge University Press, 3 Jan. 2018, www.cambridge.org/core/journals/the-british-journal-of-psychiatry/article/music-therapy-for-depression-it-seems-to-work-but-how/2E07649AADFE2F027CF0F5951B89C004.
McKay, Brett and Kate. “The History of Depression.” The Art
of Manliness, 26 Jan. 2018, www.artofmanliness.com/2015/03/16/the-history-of-depression/.
Nemade, Rashmi, et al. “Historical Understandings Of
Depression.” Mental Help Historical Understandings of Depression Comments,
19 Sept. 2007, www.mentalhelp.net/articles/historical-understandings-of-depression/.
Posted April 21, 2017 by Karen Young. “Teens and Depression –
Why Teens Are More Vulnerable, and the Risk Factors Parents Need to Know
About.” Teens and Depression - Why Teens Are More Vulnerable, and the Risk
Factors Parents Need to Know About -, 25 Apr. 2017, www.heysigmund.com/teens-and-depression-risk/.
Saisan, Joanna, et al. “Depression Treatment.”
Depression Treatment: Therapy, Medication, and Lifestyle Changes That Can
Treat Depression, Jan. 2018,
www.helpguide.org/articles/depression/depression-treatment.htm.
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