Dealing with depression: Veterans and First-Timers
Depression does not develop overnight. Instead, it is a sneaky disease that takes months to develop. Some will be able to recognize the initial symptoms and avoid becoming depressed. Others will be caught much more by surprise.
First-Timers
Going from being relatively content with your life to being depressed is a process. Before people become truly depressed, they will experience reduced versions of the symptoms of the disease.
These symptoms may include: Moodiness. Feelings of hopelessness. Low self-esteem. Decreased motivation towards work. Decreased interest in hobbies and pleasure. Wanting to be alone. Lack of energy. And changed sleep and eating patterns.
If you have never been depressed before, it is easy to downplay these symptoms. Not to think too deeply about them and what they mean. And to believe that these unpleasant, but still very normal human emotions will eventually pass.
Because people don′t realize the danger they are in, they often end up being pulled into their first real depression. This happens first of all because people don′t address the underlying issues in their lives that is frustrating them – whether this may be an unhappy relationship, unfulfilled dreams or being in a job that you dislike.
Secondly, people who haven′t tried being depressed before, often act in a way that only helps the depression grow stronger. In order to get out of a depression, you need to stay busy, socialize, ask for help and engage yourself in activities that require a real effort on your part.
However, when people haven′t suffered from depression before and don′t know how to deal with it, they tend to do the exact opposite: They isolate themselves. Don′t want to talk to other people. Don′t ask for help. And spend an increasing amount of time each day doing very little.
This sort of behavior, where you cut yourself off from the world, only helps the depression to get an even firmer grip on you and your brain.
Depression veterans
If you have had a depression before, you are much more likely to identify the symptoms leading up to a depression.
As a formerly depressed person, you know what the severe moodiness feels like. You know the feeling of having no hope and that everything sucks. You know how it is to have no confidence. Wanting to be alone. Feeling less and less motivated for work. And the diminishing interest in hobbies, sex and other things that you usually have enjoyed very much.
Because these people have such a personal experience with the symptoms of depression, it is much more likely not only that they will recognize the symptoms – but also that they will take them a lot more seriously.
They know how important it is to address the root causes of their current frustration. And that in order to get better, they need to fight against the depression – rather than doing what it is the depression is telling them to do.
A cultural knowledge deficit
No matter whether you have overcome it before or not, depression is a powerful disease that will take its toll on anybody it affects.
However, if you have dealt with it previously, you – and the people around you – are much more aware of what is happening. What traps you need to avoid. And what you need to do in order to get better.
If you have never experienced depression before, you are caught much more off guard. You – and your loved ones – have never seen you like this before. You don′t know what exactly is going on with you. And you don′t know what to do to get better.
Depression is a tricky illness. But the disease – and the cure against it – is well understood. Going through a depression will always be hard. But dealing with it is not rocket science. And you have good prospects of not plunging too deep into it, if you just know a little bit about the disease.
Considering these things, it is just not right that millions of otherwise healthy and normal people, every single year, fall prey to a disease that is both curable and preventable. And it certainly is not fair that to have the best chances of escaping depression, you need to have suffered from it before – or have a 5+ year university degree in psychology.
Ask for help – and offer it
Unfortunately, that is where we are right now. And until we, as a society, find a way to solve this we have to rely on ourselves and the people close to us to avoid becoming depressed.
So, if you have been more moody lately and fear that maybe you are depressed, ask somebody for help. Reach out to friends or family, a colleague from work, your teacher, your boss or somebody online and tell them what you are going through.
And if somebody close to you seems more down than usual, then do something about it. Ask them how they are doing – and what you can do to help.
Feeling alone is a main reason why people fall victim to depression. Connecting with others is a powerful first step to getting out of it.
Copyright ? Jens Lindberg Jensen 2019. All rights reserved.