When someone you care about is depressed... Mary Clark, Ph.D., http://mediwriter.com
What is depression? At times, we all react to our disappointments, pains, and losses with sadness and grieving. These feelings are a normal part of living and cannot be removed from our experience. So, how are we to know when someone we care about has moved beyond a temporary period of the blues into a depression possibly needing professional attention?
Here are some symptoms to look for:
Most people with depression will show some, but possibly not all, of these symptoms. If you know someone who has suffered with some combination of these symptoms for more than two weeks, please urge him or her to seek help.
What causes depression? Causes of depression vary among individuals. Some episodes of depression are strictly biological in origin, and often run in families. Other bouts of depression have a psychological trigger such as death of a loved one, breakup of a marriage or other significant relationship, loss of job, or illness. Causes are many, but the overwhelming result is to rob the person of the ability to experience pleasure in anything. Ultimately, some depressed individuals contemplate or attempt suicide to end the pain.
Help is out there. Often, the best place to start is with a general practitioner, who can rule out other diseases that can mimic depression. Psychological evaluation and counseling may be available through your local public health agencies. Most universities and some corporations also have counseling centers that offer treatment to affiliated individuals. Treatment by a private-practice psychologist or psychiatrist may be the best option for persons with medical insurance. Most health insurance policies now reimburse for mental health therapy, although unfortunately often at a lower rate than for other kinds of illnesses. Treatment is generally some combination of talk-therapy and medication. Medications for depression developed in the past decade (e.g., selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors, also called SSRIs) appear to have fewer side effects than did their predecessors.
As a supplement to--but not a replacement for--professional help, various types of personal support are probably available in your community. Support groups for persons with depression are common in most metropolitan areas. Check your newspaper for times and locations. Sharing feelings and experiences with others who understand the pain can be healing for the depressed individual. Volunteer peer counselors from your church or other community service group may also be able to help. Finally, make sure that the depressed person has ready access to the phone number of your local crisis/suicide hotline; keep it by the telephone. An empathetic ear can make all the difference in a crisis situation.
What does the future hold for a person with depression? For the immediate future, advise the individual to conserve energy and avoid making major decisions until he or she is feeling better. Over the longer term, the prognosis is variable. Some patients will have only one major bout of clinical depression in their lifetime. Others will have recurring episodes, sometimes growing more severe as they grow older. Such patients often require long-term therapy. Depression, by its very nature, is an isolating illness. But, with adequate treatment and support, it can be made less so. The darkness can lift.
For further information on depression, visit your local library or contact one of the many organizations that offer educational materials on the topic. Such organizations include the Alliance for the Mentally Ill (AMI), public health agencies, and universities. Some useful book titles include: You Are Not Alone by J. Thorne, Depression by D. Baker and E. Nestor, On the Edge of Darkness (deals with manic-depression) by K. Cronkite, and Darkness Visible by W. Styron. Help is also available on the World Wide Web. A couple of websites that I suggest are “Dr. GROHOL's Mental Health Page” at http://www.grohol.com/web.htm and “Andrew’s Depression Page” at http://www.blarg.net/~charlatn/depression/Depression.html. The latter page also provides a section where persons with depression can express themselves through poetry and essays.
Mary Clark is a freelance medical writer, and has volunteered for several years as a crisis counselor.
The above "When someone you care about is depressed..." was written by:
Mary Clark, Ph.D., http://mediwriter.com
Disclaimer--the above is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult your physician regarding medical treatment.
