Do these symptoms sound familiar to you? Fatigue. Insomnia. Loss of appetite. Aches and pains. Most of us with these symptoms usually assume we're suffering from an ailment that's physical. Sometimes we're right. But, how often do we realise that what is really wrong is depression?
Even in good times, there are millions of new cases of depression every year. Yet many of those people - more than a third, according to a recent report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration - never receive treatment. This is despite the fact that nowadays there are more ways than ever to get help.
One reason is simple confusion over what the illness feels like. The common idea that depression means ‘feeling sad' has a lot of truth to it. Other symptoms could be emotional numbness, a sense of worthlessness, hopelessness, even thoughts of suicide. But for many people, the experience is a bit more blurry - a series of changes affecting them not just emotionally but also physically and mentally.
Historically, British people have always ignored the effects of our poor, wet weather. The heavy rain has always been there, so most carry on regardless. However, as the world shifts towards global climate change, water-related problems are arguably the most imminent and most personal. As Britain's temperature rises and weather patterns become more extreme, will our health be compromised by a lack of clean water and diseases spread by polluted floodwater?
And what of our mental health? Will our stoic disregard for the weather turn to mental depression or worse?
Health professionals, until now noticeable only by their absence in the climate change debate, will become increasingly important in helping us to understand and adapt to problems and in promoting behavioural changes that might avert the greatest threats.
What's the main difference between Western societies and those from the East? Many might cite such things as skin colour, dress codes, dietary habits etc. However, there is something much more important which those of us born and brought up in the West should take heed of - especially if we want to avoid the stress of mental disorders. It is how we, as a society, deal with each other.
Western societies are generally termed ‘individualistic', which means they encourage people to be independent from one another. Promoting self expression and the pursuit of individuality over group goals are paramount in such societies. It's what our schools teach us in order to promote personal growth and achievement. However, the underside of all this is that such styles of living are also much more likely to promote tendencies towards depression than for people from Eastern cultures, whatever the genetic factors each individual may possess.
Research supports the idea that depression can result from both genes and the environment, and an interaction of the two. In Western populations, people who carry the short version of the serotonin transporter gene (STG) tend to suffer major depressive episodes when they experience a number of life stressors.
We read a lot in the media about the rise in teenage pregnancies in the UK and the subsequent psychological distress - not just to the new mother but to the whole family.
And the rest of the nation?
Everyone has an opinion. You only have to read the hundreds of blogs on various sites to see that everyone, not just professionals, has a view on the problem. Inevitably, the elderly - who have seen it all before in one form or another - place the problem fairly and squarely on society as a whole. ‘Lack of respect for their elders' is a common refrain. ‘Young people have no respect for authority, don't understand or care about the consequences, no longer bother to get married first, so it's their own fault.....' or words to that effect.
Posted by: Gillian Green in depression on
Apr 29, 2009
No-one can really understand how difficult it is to move into our British culture until we listen to those who have tried it. Sometimes life can be so overwhelming that mental health issues can crop up where there were none before - even in the relatively young.
Read the following story and let us know if it ‘rings any bells' with you. Have you experienced anything similar in your life?
Anawara, 39, a British Asian, has had periods of feeling sad and tired throughout her life but until recently was too ashamed to talk about it.
Of all the tools to combat depression and negativity, humour is by far the best medicine - for both patient and doctor! Television and radio are both under-rated as purveyors of exactly this kind of medicine, no data ever being collected on the numbers of sick people made to feel appreciably better by switching-on at home and laughing uncontrollably at the comic of the day. From the comedians of yesteryear like Laurel and Hardy or Jack Benny, to Tommy Cooper or that special brand of comedian today like Jackie Mason who use ethnicity to make us laugh - we all have our favourites. By watching other people's mishaps, we laugh and feel instantly better.
But, is there a scientific reason for this? Here are a few examples:
Humour combats fear
At a recent seminar on bipolar disorder at St. Andrew's University, the personality Stephen Fry discussed his condition with psychiatric students and practitioners. He has also made a series of programmes for the BBC about his condition and how it famously manifested itself in 1995 when he walked out of the West End play Cellmates.
Other celebrities who also suffer from bipolar include Hollywood actors Richard Dreyfus and Carrie Fisher, and British comedians Tony Slattery and Jo Brand. It is interesting to note how sufferers working in the creative arts can diffuse their talents in such a positive way. Conversely, history is littered with undoubted sufferers who went undiagnosed: artists like Sylvia Plath, Virginia Woolf, Van Gogh and Hemingway.
There is an interesting character in Eastenders on BBC TV called Jean Slater (the mother of Stacey). In recent weeks, the storyline has followed Jean's personality fluctuations: from the highs when she was close to her son Sean, followed by the lows when he went away. It was only when Jean finally realised the seriousness of her condition that it was revealed she had bipolar disorder.
What exactly is bipolar disorder?
Posted by: Uticopa in self help, depression on
Dec 30, 2008
All my life I've been a pessimist. At least, that's what everybody tells me, so it must be true, mustn't it ? I was perplexed, therefore, to read in ‘The Times' that psychologists are at last coming round to the view that ‘constructive negativism' can be quite a good thing. Is this what I and many other people have ?
It all started with my paternal grandmother, who hailed originally from Eastern Europe. Her family, from the icy wastes of Lithuania, were long familiar with what we deem to be pessimism. It seems that those of us who descend from this part of the world are particularly prone to the syndrome, and now a genetic link has apparently been found. Of course, we all knew that really, deep down. There are so many of us who can recall our Russian/Polish grandmothers sitting with black scarves around their heads, despondent heads resting on a hand, giving that all pervasive and non-explanatory ‘oy' at all the injustices in life.
What a surprise, then, to discover that eminent researchers in the U.S. have been studying the syndrome and have come up with some surprising conclusions. Not only have they discovered a genetic link but also that to have a constructive negativism mindset is a good thing after all. How can this be, I hear you say ? We have long been conditioned, particularly by the Americans, to believe that optimism is everything. We must never be sad, depressed or despondent. We must instantly ignore the fact that there may have been a death in the family, for example, but jump up, smile, and get on with life.
Posted by: Uticopa in trauma, depression on
Dec 10, 2008
Physiologically speaking, the brain as the most important part of our lives. Yes, the heart is the ticking clock that keeps our organs functioning, but the brain is the controller without which the body is thrown into a directionless trauma bereft of instructions, devoid of organisation, floundering in uncharted seas.
So, consider the two case-studies below when, as so often happens, that unexpected trauma of injury to the brain occurs.
Case study 1.
Posted by: Uticopa in therapy, self help, depression on
Nov 25, 2008
Rising unemployment, negative-equity, house repossessions...is it any wonder many of us are feeling depressed and unable to cope? According to Mind, the mental health charity, as many as one person in five can expect to suffer from a mental health problem during their lives. With today's global financial meltdown, this figure can be expected to rise still further. So, what can be done?
First, you need to assess whether you are merely down in the dumps or actually suffering the classic signs of full-blown depression. Certainly, if you've been feeling blue for longer than a few weeks, you should contact your GP. If you feel that you would like to talk to a therapist who can help, you may want to consider contacting registered specialists through our site.
There are things you can do to improve your outlook on life: see below for everyday ways to help and remember, you're not alone. As many as nine per cent of the population suffer from mild to moderate depression at any one time.
