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That's just an excuse. |
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Clinical depression is an illness. It is also a mental illness. There are varying degrees of
clinical depression and there are also varying treatments of clinical depression. I continue to use
the word clinical in front of the word depression because I want to make the point that there is a
difference between people who are feeling a normal period of sadness that will go away without
treatment and people who are disabled due to a major illness and are not able to live a normal or
healthy life unless they are treated. It is sad that you have such a misconception of a serious
health crisis. Clinical depression robs one that suffers from it of a normal life. These people
may have feelings of low self esteem, guilt, hopelessness, sadness, thoughts of death, weight gain
or loss, sleep too much or too little, find no joy in things they once loved to do, lose interest in
sex and experience aches and pains that are not explained by another underlying condition. There
are other symptoms, but you can check them out if you google depression. I have suffered from a
major depressive episode. I also suffered from anxiety and panic attacks. These, thankfully, were
related to hormonal problems and have gone away since I had a hysterectomy due to a painful
condition. Some of the medications used to treat the condition (endometriosis) worsened my
depression and suffering. I also work in the medical field. I have worked in the mental health
field. I have read many books on mental health. I am close to someone who serves on a Mental
Health Task Force in our community. The fact is that, for many, help is not available. People like
you continue to make that problem a reality. It is not only clinical depression that people need to
raise awareness of. Mental illness, as a whole, is still misunderstood and misdiagnosed. Lives
are lost. Untreated mental illness increases crime and is a contributing factor to drug addiction.
People with nowhere to turn, self medicate. These people, use recreational drugs and alcohol
because they are not able to get the proper treatment. In turn, the illness worsens.
There is a difference in feeling sad and in being diagnosed with clinical depression. Further,
situational depression, can escalate into a major clinical depression if the situation is not
remedied and goes on for a long period of time. For the majority of people who have a period of
sadness, the situation changes or they adapt to the change and the symptoms go away. For others,
the sadness does not go away and they slip further into a clinical depression. This is all due to
chemical responses in our bodies. Medications are chemicals. These chemicals have the ability to
help people go on to live a happy and productive life once again. For some, it is a lifelong
endeavor. For others, it is transient. I also want to make it clear that medications used to treat
depression are not all the same. They are also not "happy" pills. There is no "high" from taking
an antidepressant. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter. People who do not make enough naturally,
benefit from medications that block the reabsorption of serotonin so that it is left at a higher
level in their brain. The SSRI medications are believed to work this way. There are other types of
antidepressants, but I do not think you want a chemistry lesson here. I just wanted to offer some
proof that, for some people, there is a need for medication and that they are, indeed, suffering
from an illness. It is not in their minds or something they can will away. It is treatable and
people need to open their minds and grasp the concept that the human body is complex and, thus,
there are times that modern medicine is necessary to assist in a better quality of life. |
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A simple cold can become pneumonia, and a case of the blues can become a serious case of clinical
depression. It's a continuum. |
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It's a chemical imbalance in the brain, thus a mental illness. |
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I've lived with a parent who was most likely clinically depressed and later a lover who was actually
diagnosed as clinically depressed. I'll grant that there's a fine line which gets crossed at some
point. It may start as a feeling, a bad run of luck, but there are indeed some people in which the
condition has a wholistic effect, their body and mind perpetuate or repeat the depression and it
literally becomes a physical sickness. And I like MaYbCaKe's point that it relates to serotonin in
the brain.
But yeah, there are some who through the rarity of the occurance or the mildness or the short
duration of it really have no more than just a feeling of depression. Meanwhile there are others in
whom the body exhibits measurable metrics which can objectively prove that yes biologically
something is wrong.
On the flipside, is the opposite of Depression a mental illness? Euphoria? Manic behavior? Same
situation. It can be just a feeling, but in some cases the body systems can actually prove
something deeper is at work than just a feeling. |
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Depression can be a mental illness or a symptom of a mental illness or a symptom of systemic illness
or just a sign it’s time to make some changes in your life. |
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Depression must be a mental illness as it is connected to low serotonin in your brain, hence the
mental part =) |
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Depression is a mental illness |
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Your confusing sadness with depression. If your having a bad day some might say, "Oh I'm just
depressed today." The reality of it is that this person is just sad and will bounce back when their
environment changes. If this person felt like this for a few months regardless of environmental
factors then this person would be considered sick. I've had both depression and sadness and I know
there is a difference. I'm glad that you've posted this topic. It means that you don't know the
difference and that you are a "happy". |
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10 Nov 2008 01:21
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