Shya Oliver
Professor Hammett
Composition II
7 May 2019
The Depression Epidemic
Introduction
As individuals, when we hear the
term “illness” what comes to mind? Do we picture some elderly person in a
wheelchair or an individual that lacks hair due to some sort of
life-threatening cancer? Well, according to the World Health Organization the
mental disorder known as depression is the “leading cause of ill health and
disability in the world” (Roberts). Scientists have estimated that there are
approximately 300 million adults that suffer from some sort of depression
worldwide, and about 16 million of those adults reside right here in America
(Morin). The depression epidemic is an
epidemic that most are not even aware of. The symptoms for depression are not
always blatant and may be easy to ignore or “brush off”. Ironically, most
individuals that suffer from the symptoms of depression don’t even realize that
they themselves are suffering until they undergo a major depressive episode.
Since depression is a mental illness and doesn’t cause any obvious physical
symptoms it is tended to be overlooked for months or years at a time and even
when one gets treatment for the disorder, treatment usually does not cure this
disease. Due to the fact that almost 20 million U.S. adults have depression,
the question becomes will the depression epidemic actually ever end?
History
Depression has always been a health
issue for human individuals. Initially, depression was called
“melancholia”, which is originally
rooted from the Latin term “melancholy”. The earliest reports of melancholia
were seen in the literary works of ancient Mesopotamia (2000 BC - 1001 BC).
Obviously, the depression epidemic has been around since the dawn of time.
During the ancient times though, melancholia was ascribed as “demonic” and instead of being viewed as an
actual disorder, those who suffered from melancholia didn’t go to physicians to
get help but to priests instead. In the beginning, not only did the ancient
people of Mesopotamia lack knowledge towards melancholia but so did the people
of ancient China, Egypt, and Babylon (Nemade). All of these civilizations
viewed melancholia negatively; it was common that people with the disorder were
tortured, beaten, and starved.
Slowly but
surely, all sorts of theories about melancholia began to surface around the
world. In the 400’s BC, Greek philosopher and physician, Hippocrates
hypothesized that personality traits and mental illnesses were related to
balanced or imbalanced body fluids called humours (1). There were four humours
that Hippocrates theorized: black bile, yellow bile, blood, and phlegm.
Hippocrates categorized mental disorders into three categories; melancholia,
mania, and phrenitis (2). He thought that melancholia was a disorder caused by
an abundance of “black bile” inside the human spleen. The cure to melancholia
according to Hippocrates was something called “bloodletting” (3). Bloodletting
is the withdrawal of blood from an ill person in attempt to cure an illness. In
the final years of the before Christ (B.C.) era, the anatomical influence that
Hippocrates left started to fade. After the dramatic collapse of the Roman
empire in the 400 AD era, christianity had a huge influence on the entire
European continent making individuals feel that victims that suffered from
melancholia were possessed by dark spirits and demons (4).
In the 1400’s
to the 1800’s, while there were some advancements about the meaning of
melancholia or depression as it is now formally known, people that were
depressed were usually treated poorly and unfairly. In this year span, multiple
witch-hunts and punishments toward the depressed had occurred all over the
world and while mental asylums had come about in the 1800’s in western
societies, victims were usually abused and tormented.
Social
Effects
On a nationwide scale, approximately
33% of the homeless population suffer with some serious mental-illness,
depression being one of them (Mondics). Due to the defunding of
psychiatric-care centers and asylums, many of
these centers eventually close down. In the city of Seattle in the year of 2013, the mayor of the
city stated that the number of neglected mentally ill individuals on the
streets was “an emergency” (1). With the raising rates of depression and other
psychological disorders and defunding from the nation overall, it is convincing
that these percentages dealing with mentally ill and depressed will most likely
increase.
In the
African-American and Black community, depression has been ignored and commonly
misunderstood for centuries. In the U.S., roughly 45 million people identify as
Black/African-American and of those 45 million over 16% were diagnosed with a
mental health disorder in the past year or so (“Black & African American
Communities and Mental Health”). Depression
is an enormous health disturbance among African and Black Americans, a big
concern especially towards African and Black American women. A statement that
was published by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that
issues like poverty, parenting, and racial and gender discrimination and bias
put Black women at a greater risk for major depressive disorder or MDD (Hamm).
For decades, the Black community has learned to cope with depression and other
major mental illnesses by confiding in the church and instead of seeking
professional help from physicians and therapists, many blacks seek help from
ministers and pastors (1). This type of coping mechanism can be quite helpful
for Black women who aren’t really comfortable with the more medical and
therapeutic forms for mental health care and it can also hearten beliefs about
stigma surrounding mental health in Black churches (2).
Examples
Depression can affect even the most
unlikely of individuals. Alternative hip-hop artist, Kid Cudi is one of the
most influential artist of the 21st century. Having worked alongside other
legendary artist such as Jay-Z and Pharrell Williams, and winning a grammy,
Cudi has quite the resume, but even though he’s accomplished so much
artistically, Cudi wrote that “anxiety and depression have ruled his life for
as long as he can remember” (Park) . In 2013, Cudi opened up about his ongoing
struggle with both anxiety and depression on a detailed facebook post (Holden).
In this post, he tells fans that he has checked himself into a rehabilitation
center due to depression and suicidal urges (Yagoda).
Another
well-known individual that suffers from a severe case of depression is the
incredibly talented musical genius Kanye West. Kanye tweeted that he had been
diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the age of thirty-nine (Pasquini) . Bipolar
disorder is a disorder that functions in two different forms. One form is
called manic, and when one is in the manic phase they are usually very upbeat
and always full of energy. The second form of bipolar disorder is depression.
Individuals that suffer from bipolar disorder are usually hit with a more
severe case of depression to compared to the ordinary human. This is because
depression is three times more common than mania in bipolar disorder (Purse).
Being the
number one epidemic in the world, depression seems to be growing at such a
rapid pace and while help and concerns towards depression have grown over the
years, we still have a long way to go when it comes to understanding this
epidemic.
Solution(s)
Being that it affects approximately
300 million people worldwide and about
depression is the most common psychotic disorder that there is
(DuBois-Maahs). While this disorder affects so many individuals, never before
in history have we seen so much awareness and compassion towards those who
suffer with depression (Higbie). Seeing that awareness for the depressed has
spiked during the 21st century, it is quite ironic how studies have shown that
suicide rates have increased by thirty percent in about twenty five out of the
fifty American states (“Suicide Rates Rising across the U.S.”). So the question
becomes, how can we find a solution to the depression epidemic?
Usually
when an individual is diagnosed with clinical depression, a physician will
prescribe the individual with an antidepressant medication of some sort.
Antidepressants can be defined as drugs that “prevent” or “treat” depression.
Contrary to what most may assume and believe, antidepressants are not addictive
or intolerable. They are not like opioids or painkillers- meaning that you
don’t need higher doses of them to feel some sort of relief. While science and
medical professionals still do not exactly know how antidepressants work
chemically, these medications have clearly helped some people and even have
saved people’s lives (Rice-Oxley).
However, there are downsides when it comes to taking
antidepressants. Firstly, nowadays antidepressants are overly prescribed (1).
There are millions of Americans that take antidepressants yet a study shows
that nearly fifty percent of prescriptions were made for people who did not
even suffer from depression but from diseases ranging from insomnia to bulimia
(Sifferlin). These medications do not
work for everyone and the side-effects of these medications can cause a ton of
issues (2). The biggest reason as to why antidepressants can not be a solution
to the depression epidemic is because these medicines just treat the symptoms
of this disorder and not the causes (3). Meaning that these medications will
most likely only heal the patient temporarily and not “cure” the depression.
Camus and Absurdity
Albert
Camus, the french philosopher believed that death and mortality were the only
things to look forward to in a man’s life. In a sense, Camus’s beliefs and
depression do share one major similarity; hopelessness. Camus felt that life in
general was absurd and that there was no true meaning to life but death. When
an individual is severely depressed , it is common that they feel that their
own life is full of hopelessness and a lot of times this feeling may
unfortunately result in some sort of self harm or suicide.
While Camus
felt that life was meaningless in a way, he believed that depression and
suicide were “insults to existence” (Hecht). Camus acknowledged that he knows
how typical, depressing, and uneasy life can be, but he believes that life is
just a big absurdity.
Conclusion
Although
the feelings and awareness towards depression have come such a long ways since
the ancient Mesopotamia days, we are still in a depression epidemic. For as
long as this disorder has been around, there is still no solid solution and
there may never be one. Rather it be a mild case of the disorder or a more
severe case, more than 300 million individuals worldwide regardless of
ethnicity, age, and gender suffer from some sort of depression and the
scientists only expect for that number to grow. Since depression is not the
easiest disorder to diagnose or to treat, many people go months and even years
without getting any proper treatment. Unfortunately, while the awareness
towards those with depression has grown tremendously, it does not look like the
depression epidemic will come to a halt or an end anytime soon.
Work Cited
“Black & African American Communities and Mental
Health.” Mental Health America, 3
Apr.
2017,
Dubois-Maahs, Jessica.
“The Top Five Most Common Mental Illnesses - #1 Mental Health Blog.” Talkspace, 24 Oct. 2018,
Hamm, Nia. “African-American Women and Depression.” Psych Central, 8 Oct. 2018,
psychcentral.com/lib/african-american-women-and-depression/.
Hecht, Jennifer. “The
Absurd Courage of Choosing to Live.” The On Being Project,
onbeing.org/blog/the-absurd-courage-of-choosing-to-live/.
Higbie, Elizabeth. “The
Cure to Depression Epidemic? Finding Meaning and Purpose.” Catholic Charities of Denver, 25 July 2018,
ccdenver.org/the-cure-to-depression-epidemic-finding-meaning-and-purpose/.
Holden, Maddie. “Kid Cudi and Depression: Why It Matters.” Highsnobiety, Highsnobiety, 1 June 2017,
www.highsnobiety.com/2017/04/07/kid-cudi-depression-rehab/.
Mondics, Jamie. “How Many People with Serious Mental Illness
Are Homeless?” Treatment
Advocacy Center,
Morin, Amy, and Lcsw. “How Many People Are Actually Affected
by Depression Every Year?”
Nemade, Rashmi. “Historical Understandings Of Depression.” Mental Help Historical
Understandings of Depression Comments, www.mentalhelp.net/articles/historical-understandings-of-depression/.
Park, Madison. “Kid Cudi Checks into Rehab for Depression.” CNN, Cable News Network, 6 Oct. 2016,
Pasquini, Maria. “Kanye
West Reveals He Was Diagnosed with a 'Mental Condition' at Age 39:
'It's
a Superpower'.” PEOPLE.com,
people.com/music/kanye-west-diagnosed-mental-condition-39-interview/.
Purse, Marcia. “Major Depressive Episodes in Bipolar
Disorder.” Verywell Mind,
Rice-Oxley, Mark. “Drugs Alone Won't Cure the Epidemic of
Depression. We Need Strategy
Mark Rice-Oxley.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 3
July 2017,
Roberts, Rachel. “Depression Now Biggest Global Cause of
Illness and Disability.”
The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 31 Mar. 2017, www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/depression-ill-health-who-disability-leading-cause-worldwide-world-health-organisation-a7659696.html.
Sifferlin,
Alexandra. “Half of the People Taking Antidepressants Aren't Depressed: Study.”
Time, Time, 24 May 2016,
time.com/4345517/antidepressants-depression-insomnia-depression-migraine/.
“Suicide Rates Rising across the
U.S. | CDC Online Newsroom | CDC.” Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention,
www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2018/p0607-suicide-prevention.html.
Yagoda, Maria. “Noah Cyrus on Her Depression and Anxiety,
Plus More Stars Who've Shared
Their Mental Health Struggles.” PEOPLE.com,
people.com/health/stars-who-have-mental-illnesses-mental-health-issues/.
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