All Entries Tagged With: "attitude"
“More than your biochemistry…”
This article was on the Psychology Today website. The author believes that “Depression is more a social problem than a medical one, and no purely biological cure will be found for it any more than biology alone will cure other social ills such as poverty or child abuse”.
I think this is an interesting theory and one that I definitely buy into. In the last month of improvements I’ve seen in my life, my medication dosages have not changed, but my attitude has- and this has improved my relationship with Tareak and my view of myself.
Let’s Expand Our View of Depression: You’re More Than Your Biochemistry
The costs of depression on a variety of levels are huge: Marriages and families splinter, individuals suffer, societies suffer the consequences of the often destructive behaviors of people coping badly or not at all with their depression, businesses suffer the negative effects of employees too disabled to function properly, the economic costs of greater health care expenses are greater for depressed patients, and there is the tragedy of suicide – lives lost to despair and apathy. Depression is a terribly disabling disorder, and despite significant advances in treatment, the problem continues to grow.
Depression is a multi-dimensional disorder. It has biological components based in genetics, neurochemistry and physical health, it has psychological components that involve many individual factors such as cognitive style, coping style, and qualities of personal behavior. And, it has social components, factors that are mediated by the quality of one’s relationships, including such variables as the family and the culture one is socialized into, and one’s range of social skills. The best, most accurate answer to the basic question, “What causes depression?” is, “Many things.”
Currently, the medical model of depression receives the greatest attention for a variety of reasons. The pharmaceutical industry in particular has invested tens of billions of dollars in advertising to the public as well as investing directly in individual physicians, encouraging all to define depression as a disease caused by a neurochemical imbalance that requires medication to manage. The lion’s share of research money goes to drug research, further elevating drugs to the status of being the source of hope for everyone who suffers depression. As a result, antidepressants are the most widely prescribed medication in the U.S., and are considered a first-line treatment approach, de-emphasizing the value of psychotherapy despite its success not only in treatment, but in the area of prevention.
It may sound extreme to some, but I stand by this statement: Depression is more a social problem than a medical one, and no purely biological cure will be found for it any more than biology alone will cure other social ills such as poverty or child abuse. This is not to say that antidepressant medications shouldn’t be a part of treatment, especially in those specific instances where there are clear benefits medication can provide over psychotherapy. Rather, medications should be used more carefully and with an associated recommendation for a well-considered skill-building psychotherapy.
The social side of depression is especially important, yet is terribly under-considered in most people’s consideration. We know, for example, that depression runs in families: The child of a depressed parent is anywhere from three to six times more likely to become depressed than the child of a non-depressed parent. The genetics research makes it quite clear that it isn’t entirely – or even mostly – faulty genes responsible, especially since there is no “depression gene.” It has more to do with the patterns of thinking, coping, behaving, and relating that parents (and other significant role models in our society) model day in and day out than it does one’s genetic makeup. When you have the largest demographic group of depression sufferers now raising children, it should surprise no one that their children are the fastest growing group of depression sufferers. After all, parents can’t teach their children what they don’t know.
Furthermore, the more distressed one’s marriage, the more likely one is to either already be or to become depressed. The quality of one’s marriage is a very large risk factor, yet many people never consider how powerful a good marriage can be in helping insulate its members against depression. These points provide excellent reasons to want to strengthen parents and marriages.
To think of depression as only an individual’s biochemical disorder, as if he or she isn’t a product of powerful social forces that operate in families, organizations, and cultures, or to reduce it even further to a purely biochemical phenomenon, is so terribly reductionistic as to disempower the very people who need help changing their lives, not just their brain chemistry. It’s true: You are more than your biochemistry.
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Love and Despair in the Air
With Valentine’s Day and our 2 year wedding anniversary only a few days apart, love has been in the air at our house this week. I have felt loved as Tareak has made the effort to do things he knows I’ll appreciate, and have also felt a tremendous amount of love for him as I’ve reflected on what he has to put up with on a daily basis.
Living with someone who is depressed isn’t easy. I believe depression is contagious. I also believe in the strong influence women have on the feelings in their home and on all who live in that home. Unfortunately at this time I am not creating a lot of positive and warm fuzzy feelings in our home, and I am constantly amazed at the positive outlook and attitude Tareak is able to maintain most of the time. There are times that my “down-ness” is just too much for Tareak to handle and he starts feeling the despair and hopelessness that I experience on an hourly basis. I look forward to the day when I too can have a positive attitude and the love and optimism in our home will be contageous. I’ll let you know when we get there, because you will all be invited to come and “catch” our smiles and optimism.
Depression Myths- Part 2
Here are the final 4 depression myths that I have encountered most often:
5- MYTH: You can choose to be happy if you wanted to- OR- You can will depression away. If you can’t, then you’re weak
This is like a slap in the face to someone with depression. Though our thoughts do create our lives, most people do not know HOW to stop their negative thoughts or know how to reverse the resulting physiological conditions. Suggesting to someone with depression that they can just choose to be happy ignores and invalidates their current reality. Since negative thoughts and emotions, over time, cause biochemical changes that disrupt the brain’s chemistry it’s not quite that simple to just choose happiness. Depression is not cured by willpower. It goes much deeper. Depression cannot be willed away any more than heart disease or diabetes can. It’s caused by chemical changes in the body, which cannot be overcome simply by positive thinking and grim determination.
-Leslie’s Comments: This is one of the myths that I’m most sensitive to. I don’t like the idea that uneducated people out there think I am weak or don’t want to be happy.
6-MYTH: People who think they have depression are just feeling sorry for themselves.
Depression affects about 19 million people annually in the U.S. alone. Some of the most prominent and well-known individuals who have suffered from a depressive disorder include Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, George Patton, abolitionist John Brown, Robert E. Lee, Florence Nightingale, Sir Isaac Newton, Stephen Hawking, Charles Darwin, J.P. Morgan, Barbara Bush, Ludwig von Beethoven and Michelangelo. Not exactly people who just sit around feeling sorry for themselves.
-Leslie’s Comments: I can see how it would be easy to look at someone with depression as being lazy, self absorbed or just plain feeling sorry for themselves, but this simply isn’t the case. See my blog entry, “I’m not lazy, I’m depressed” for more of my thoughts on this myth.
7- MYTH: Talking about depression only makes it worse.
While it is easy to understand why someone might be worried about discussing their depression, being alone with your thoughts is even more harmful when facing this disorder. A lot of people with mental health problems are stigmatized in our society, so the best thing you can do to help a friend is be a good, supportive, and non-judgmental listener if they choose to talk with you. If you are hesitant to discuss difficulties you might be facing with a close family member or friend, think about other people in your life, like spiritual leaders or faculty members who would be willing to discuss your struggles. If at any point, you feel so overwhelmed by feelings of sadness and hopelessness that you are considering hurting yourself, call 1-800-273-TALK for help.
-Leslie’s Comments: I’ve always maintained the attitude that honesty is the best policy. If you are depressed start out being honest with yourself and accepting the condition. Then work on feeling comfortable talking to others about your condition. Not only can you help others learn more about depression, it can be insightful to talk with people who’s minds aren’t in a depressed state.
8-Myth: Depression is not a real medical illness.
Clinical depression is a serious medical condition that affects not only an individual’s mood and thoughts, but also the individual’s body. Individuals coping with depression have a higher level of stress hormones present in their bodies, and the brain scans of depression patients show decreased activity in some areas of the brain. Depression is a real and serious condition. It is no different than diabetes or heart disease in its ability to impact someone’s life. It can have both emotional and physical symptoms and make life very difficult for those who have it. The medical community has acknowledged the seriousness of depression and recognizes it as a disease. While no one is completely certain what causes depression, we know that genetic and biological factors play a significant role in development of this disease.
-Leslie’s Comments: Like most mental illnesses, it has taken people a long time to recognize such conditions as “medical”. I look at my depression, trichotillomania, and other mental illnesses the same way as I look at my severe allergies. You learn to live with the illnesses and treat the symptoms with medication or whatever methods work best for you.
Hopefully after reading these myths you are a little more educated and will be a little more understanding of those who suffer from depression.
Sources:
http://www.ldsmag.com/familyconnections/040524depression2.html
http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/just-diagnosed-822-143.html
Misconceptions
When Tareak told me we would be going to Hawaii for a week in November I was excited. He commented that he hadn’t seen me so excited in a long time. Of course I was excited to go to Hawaii! In many ways I feel more at home on an isolated island in the middle of the Pacific than I do in Washington where I grew up. While I was happy about going to Hawaii, and happy while I was there, my depression didn’t disappear.
Tareak was excited for me to blog in Hawaii because he was sure we would see an extreme change in my outlook and attitude. I was tired in Hawaii. I didn’t feel like blogging. I was more active during my week long “vacation” than I am at home. In a typical week at home I leave the house about twice. I go to church on Sunday, and I will usually go to the grocery store once during the week. I don’t even have to step outside my house to check the mail, it is delivered to our door. While in Hawaii not only did I leave the house every day, I had much more social interaction than I do at home. As much as I love Kaya, my dog, she can’t replace human interaction. I enjoyed leaving the house daily, and I enjoyed talking to people other than Tareak (don’t get me wrong, I love spending time with my husband. Except for when he is at work, we literally spend every minute together and I like it that way). But all this activity and interaction left me feeling physically and mentally exhausted by the end of each day.
The Hawaiian sun is theraputic. Nothing compares to the feeling of the warm sun bathing your body in it’s rays. It truly is healing. Now time for a confession: During the 5 years I lived in Hawaii I went to the beach on average once every 2 months. Another confession. My little sister came with us to Hawaii this past week. Had she not been there I would not have gone to the beach, much less left the house. Just because I was in Hawaii did not mean that I didn’t suffer from depression.
As much as Tareak has learned these past few months, I still feel like he thinks there is a “quick fix” to depression. He thinks moving to Hawaii is that fix. He sees my extreme range of emotions when it comes to Hawaii. I can’t watch the shows on the Travel Channel about Hawaii- I cry every time. But stepping off the plane in Hawaii brings levels of excitement comparable to a child going to Disneyland for the first time. Tareak feels guilty that we don’t live in Hawaii. He thinks that if we lived there my depression would go away, or at least be easier to manage. Unfortunately, I don’t think this is true.
If we lived somewhere that was sunny more than 15 days each year, SAD would not be an issue. But SAD and Depression aren’t the same thing. SAD is just one more thing on top of the existing depression. For this reason Hawaii could be an ideal place to live one day. Another reason I enjoy Hawaii is the people. The 5 years that I lived in Hawaii, I lived on the North Shore. People who live here aren’t rich (even though their homes are worth almost $1 million). I always got the sense that the people were very content with their lives. For the most part they weren’t aspiring to make millions, they were happy to just have enough to get by. One of the triggers of my depression is my feelings of inadaquacy. I feel like I SHOULD be able to have a full time job. I feel like I SHOULD have been able to finish my degree. I feel like I SHOULD already have 3 kids. In Hawaii I never felt judged or looked down upon. I never felt like I SHOULD be doing anything in particular, I just felt accepted for who I was and the feelings of inadaquacy weren’t so strong.
I know the answer to conquering my depression isn’t in Hawaii. It may help me find the answer, but ultimately I need to look inside myself and heal from the inside out, and not rely on the sun to do all the work.