Facing Up To Depression
May 17th, 2008 by zania
According to a recent survey by the National Institute of Mental Health, nearly 15 million people in the United States suffer from depression. I have no up to date figures for Europe or Australia right now (or anywhere else for that matter), so I cannot compare. My suspicion however, is that depression in the 21st Century Western World is pretty widespread and also on the increase.
I have several questions about this:
- Could it be that more people are ‘admitting’ to being depressed now? There is still a stigma attached to depression in some areas, but overall, society as a whole is beginning to realise nowadays that there is more to depression treatment than ‘pulling yourself together’.
- Could it also be that many of us who suffer from depression are recognising our illness for what it is, because we have much more knowledge on mental and emotional health than our grandparents, or even our parents did?
- Or could it be that we, as a world wide society, are actually more depressed today than our forefathers were?
I have no idea. I could argue that society is generally so stressful nowadays that more and more of us are bound to suffer from depression and anxiety. The pace of our lives and the worries we face are enough to make anyone stressed.
But is that really the case? Did not our grandparents who lived through the last World War have worries far worse than this? I cannot imagine the horror of living day by day not knowing whether your loved ones away fighting were living or dead. I cannot imagine, nor would I even want to imagine, the horror soldiers at war went through and still do today.
There are other examples I could state, but right now I want to actually question whether we, with our ‘modern societies’ should really be more depressed than our ancestors or our neighbours starving in the Third World.
My answer is, I guess it’s all relative. If you are going to be depressed, it may not matter where you live or what time you live in. It’s simply that we recognise depression and are ready to recognise it much more now.
So, as the average psychologist would say, “How does that make you feel?”
How does it make you feel when you realise that you cannot simply blame circumstance for that black cloud which hovers over your head so often and makes you so lethargic that you can hardly move?
How does it make you feel when you realise that, all the pioneering, new helpful discoveries to the benefit of all, anti-war legislation and even full out peace and prosperity could still leave you feeling ill and depressed?
Not great I bet. Same here.
I guess we all have to realise that what we have is an illness. It can be treated, but sometimes with difficulty and it may return again to haunt us still.
Does accepting that fact help us feel any better?
I can’t say how it makes me feel. Just “shit happens” I guess.
Welcome to the world of Fraying Edges.
I told you this was going to be dark some times.
