All Entries Tagged With: "brain"
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
Depression Myths- Part 1
Since “coming out” about my depression I have had varying responses to my blog. Most people have been very supportive and understanding. Many people have been able to relate. But there is a small group who have a harder time with my blog for some of the following reasons: 1- they have never experienced depression, or known anyone who was depressed therefore never had any real reason to educate themselves about depression, 2- they think depression is something bad or something to keep hidden and deal with on your own, or 3- they don’t acknowledge or recognize that depression is an actual medical condition, not just a fleeting bad day. I have found some common “Depression Myths” online from several sources (all cited at the end of this article). I have gone through and chosen some that I feel are the most common or at least the ones I’ve encountered in discussing depression with others.
1- MYTH: If you have depression you are depressed all the time.
Depression is most often something that comes and goes not something you feel 24/7. This misunderstanding about depression makes it deceptively easy for many with mild depression to believe they don’t really have a problem to address, but are just having “occasional bad days.” This is particularly concerning because the quicker you start taking care of yourself and get the help you need, the quicker depression can end and the easier it will be to heal.
-Leslie’s comments: Another side to this myth is to help others recognize that even though you are laughing and smiling you can still be depressed. See blog entry “Not always as it seems” for more on this subject”
2-MYTH: Depression does not affect children or teenagers – their problems are just a part of growing up.
We’d like to believe that all children experience a happy, carefree childhood, but that’s simply not the case. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, studies show that 1 in 33 children and 1 in 8 adolescents are depressed in any given year. Children are not as practiced at articulating their feelings as adults, so adults must take the initiative to look for and notice symptoms of depression in children.
-Leslie’s Comments: My first major bouts of depression occurred when I was in High School. My parents didn’t recognize my symptoms as depression and instead would continually ask me if I was using drugs (as in illegal drugs). Anyone who knows me well, knows how funny their suspicions were because they were so far from the truth.
3-MYTH: Depression only happens when something bad happens in your life, such as a breakup, the death of a loved one, or failing an exam.
Depression is more than just having occasional sad thoughts. While everyone experiences ups and downs in life, and often will feel sad for some time after a serious loss or disappointment, developing depression does not require a specific negative event. Prolonged periods of hopelessness, sadness, and lack of interest in things someone usually enjoys are symptoms of depression. Depression can arise suddenly, even when things in life seem to be going well.
-Leslie’s Comments: This myth seems to be particularly common. People always seem to want to know “Why” you are depressed, implying that something bad must have happened to make you feel down. While you can feel depressed and down for short periods of time after something bad happens, this is not classified as the medical version of depression.
4- MYTH: Serving others will cure depression.
Contrary to popular belief, service does not cure depression. Serving from an empty bucket is akin to squeezing water from a stone and will merely drain your already low reserves and make it less likely that you will have time to address your own needs and your own healing. We would never tell someone with a broken leg to just fast and pray to get better, neither will temple attendance or scripture study or service heal the imbalance that has occurred in the brain from accumulated stressors.
-Leslie’s Comments: From a religious point of view depression can sometimes be seen as simply allowing Satan into our lives and giving in to his negative influence. While service is always a good thing to do and can many times make you forget your own problems and worries you would never tell someone with cancer to just forget themselves and go serve someone else in order to fix their illness.
I will address an addtional 4 common myths in my next post.
Sources:
http://www.nmha.org/go/backtocampus/depression
http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/just-diagnosed-822-143.html
http://www.ldsmag.com/familyconnections/040524depression2.html
Increased Paxil Dosage
As I have mentioned before, I am currently taking Paxil to help me cope with Depression and other mental illnesses. My prescribed dosage is 30mg/daily. I’ve experimented (under the direction of a doctor) with my dosages and have found that any more than 30mg doesn’t do me any good. The only noticeable difference is my head is very hot (I mean this literally). Shortly after we got married I started to slowly decrease my dosage in hopes that within a year or so I would be off the drug completely. By March of this year (2008) I was down to 10mg/daily. Tareak couldn’t notice any difference in my moods or behaviors. The only thing I really noticed was that I had a harder time controlling my Trichotillomania. Things were going fine for a few months and then Tareak started to ask when I was going to go off of Paxil completely so that we could begin trying to start our family. This was the first time that either of us really realized how stable Paxil was making me before. When trying to discuss children my thought processes became very irrational and exaggerated. There were legitimate concerns and fears behind getting pregnant, but my imbalanced brain was not able to process everything rationally. At this point Tareak decided to back way off on the “baby-talk” and give me some space. He told me to let him know when I was ready to discuss starting a family.
Fast forward to November 2008 and Tareak is getting restless. He wants kids. He is afraid he is going to be an “old dad”. Tareak brought up the topic of children and I spiraled into a deep depression for several days. It has been 2 weeks now since my initial “Baby Breakdown” and things have only gone down-hill. We are now to the point where he can’t even say the word “Baby” without me breaking down into tears. I would say that in the last 2 weeks there have probably been between 6-10 major breakdowns. After recovering from 3 consecutive crying breakdowns last night I decided something had to change. One of the main benefits I receive from taking Paxil is the ability to think more rationally and control my thoughts. If I have a negative thought I am able to tell myself it is negative and unproductive and stop thinking about it. When I am not on Paxil I am not able to do this and my negative thoughts run wild.
Today I increased my dosage to 15mg. I will stay on 15mg until the end of January and if I don’t see any improvements I will go up to 20mg. The main purpose of increasing my dosage is so Tareak and I can talk about our plans to have children without a 3 hour crying episode every time. If I am able to reach a point where I feel like I am willing and ABLE to have a baby, we may need to consider the risks of me staying on Paxil while I’m pregnant. While studies have shown that there are increased risks for birth defects if on Paxil, sometimes the benefits of using Paxil can outweigh the potential risks. This obviously isn’t the preferred course of action.
After deciding last night to increase my dosage I felt like a failure. I thought I was strong enough and my brain had trained itself enough that I would be able to manage my thoughts drug-free. It is a huge let down and disappointment to finally admit to myself that I’m not to that point yet and I’m going to need to still rely on the drugs for an undetermined amount of time. Feeling bad about increasing my dosage obviously doesn’t help my depression, but hopefully the increased dosage will help.