A recent newspaper article has caused a stir among readers, many criticising it for putting depression and sadness in the same box.
This is exactly the kind of publicity that keeps that stigma flag flying high; saying sadness and depression are one and the same and you can 'snap out of it', 'pull your socks up' or' 'perk up' The whole human race feels sad, bad, hysterical, violent' that all comes with the package; it's normal. Depression isn't an emotion it's a malfunction in the brain, as physical a reality as any other disease. You wouldn't tell someone with diabetes to stop taking the insulin and just feel better so why this tirade against a mental disease? It's also like telling someone with Alzheimer's to get over it and remember their name and what they did the day before. Alzheimer's is likewise a disease of the brain why no stigma there? Why only depression?
Mistaking sadness for depression is like confusing a pimple with cancer. People who are sad get over it, the biggest cause of suicide especially among men under 30 is depression; something you can't just shake off.the reason being is because it's too painful to be in a body that can't find any reason to go on living; it's agony not sadness. I've interviewed people with cancer who also have depression. They say the cancer is easier to deal with because they get sympathy and support, with depression they feel abandoned and made to feel they are being self-indulgent. Articles like this only increase the shame and guilt which exasperate the illness. Depression has been around even in Greek times and is experienced throughout the world ,why would someone think it's something we just dreamt up to get attention and a few free pills?
This is exactly the kind of publicity that keeps that stigma flag flying high; saying sadness and depression are one and the same and you can 'snap out of it', 'pull your socks up' or' 'perk up' The whole human race feels sad, bad, hysterical, violent' that all comes with the package; it's normal. Depression isn't an emotion it's a malfunction in the brain, as physical a reality as any other disease. You wouldn't tell someone with diabetes to stop taking the insulin and just feel better so why this tirade against a mental disease? It's also like telling someone with Alzheimer's to get over it and remember their name and what they did the day before. Alzheimer's is likewise a disease of the brain why no stigma there? Why only depression?
Mistaking sadness for depression is like confusing a pimple with cancer. People who are sad get over it, the biggest cause of suicide especially among men under 30 is depression; something you can't just shake off.the reason being is because it's too painful to be in a body that can't find any reason to go on living; it's agony not sadness. I've interviewed people with cancer who also have depression. They say the cancer is easier to deal with because they get sympathy and support, with depression they feel abandoned and made to feel they are being self-indulgent. Articles like this only increase the shame and guilt which exasperate the illness. Depression has been around even in Greek times and is experienced throughout the world ,why would someone think it's something we just dreamt up to get attention and a few free pills?
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